How British brands can survive if they embrace data and an agile strategy

With the UK’s largest brands continuing to face pressures, economic challenges and disruptions, adopting an agile strategy and operating model is becoming more important than ever, writes Jon Bance, Chief Operating Officer at Leading Resolutions.

The pandemic dramatically accelerated the rate at which “bricks-and-clicks” and online-only retail businesses replaced brick-and-mortar for preferred customer options. Whilst the UK high street has continued to meet, such as the cost-of-living crisis and spiralling inflation, the latest threat retailers will have to tackle is Donald Trump’s tariffs, which may hit consumer confidence and impact sales in an already fragile post-Spring budget environment.

Any entrepreneur will tell you that problems like these have always existed, especially in retail. However, if tariffs prove to be lasting, retailers with exposure to US stock will need to revisit their strategies and diversify into new markets. Retailers must not be deterred by technological, commercial or political turmoil; the temptation to be conservative amidst uncertain economic conditions can often stunt growth.

Instead, businesses must allow for flexibility within their channel strategy to cater to the shifting economy, while keeping a close eye on the desires of the consumer.

Using insights from AI and data, retailers can inform and streamline their digital delivery and services, enhancing the consumer experience and creating a business that is agile by design and able to thrive.

From high street shopping to digital experience

As shopping habits change and customers turn to e-commerce, footfall continues to decrease, with the British Retail Consortium reporting a further 5.4% decrease in March. While this can open gaps in the market for businesses to exploit, brands must be able to shift and adapt to meet the fast pace of online retail expectations.

Business leaders only have to look towards Woolworths to understand the importance of adaptability. Although they initially thrived due to the wide range of choice, customers started to demand more convenient shopping experiences. Despite Woolworths’ attempt to diversify, it still had competition from high street stores that were already selling desired products at lower rates, as well as popular browsing giants like Amazon providing the trifecta of shopping demands: convenience, options and low prices. Footfall fell from 7.5 million to 4.5 million customers in seven years, and by 2008, a 99-year-old business was gone.

While there’s nothing wrong with maintaining structures that have proven success previously, it’s best not to remain stuck there. To provide the desired online and in-store shopping experiences that customers increasingly expect, organisations should adapt their business model with digital capabilities and put data-led decision-making central to operations.

Data-driven insights can provide insights into customer price sensitivity, competitor pricing, and market trends to implement dynamic pricing strategies that adjust in response to changes, such as the roller coaster of tariffs. Beyond this, data analytics can allow retailers to understand individual customer preferences, shopping habits and past interactions, allowing them to tailor their offerings and communication to each customer.

Brands that embrace data analytics and AI innovation can deliver the best customer experiences with greater ease and bolster their success against other businesses.

Further reading: 10 ways AI technology can advance the retail sector.

Money in, money out, money saved

High business rates, increasing staffing costs and energy costs will continue to bring up the hard but essential questions. Are you aware of the differences between the “nice to haves” and the “absolute essentials”? Do you know where business expenditure is going?

From large-scale investments to minor operational expenses, effective cash flow management becomes critical for retailers to have insight into every expenditure so businesses can identify any wasteful spending and optimise their cash flow.

Organisations should revisit third-party contracts and identify all their dependencies to stay on top of overheads at a time when consumer spending is unpredictable. Brands that don't risk being undercut on prices by competitors that don’t have the substantial costs of maintaining multiple business premises and staffing numbers.

For example, leaders may identify services that are underutilised and could be scaled back, as well as future spending trends that provide insight to plan for consumer demands. Businesses may also find that between labour costs and business rates, exiting technology leases or optimising rent reductions through negotiation can be the difference between thriving or feeding a black hole of money loss.

Expect the unexpected with supply chain safeguards

With this evolution of e-commerce platforms and mobile payment systems, the potential attack surface for cybercriminals significantly expands. Any lapse in security can lead to severe and far-reaching consequences such as stolen data, system downtime and a decline in customer confidence which can all cripple any business, regardless of size.

We’ve seen the effect an attack can have through the examples of Morrisons and Sainsbury, two retail giants impacted by ransomware attacks on their supply chain software suppliers last year. The attack disrupted warehouse management systems for produce, which meant reverting to a backup process, and the time spent in crisis was irreparable.

The supply chain is one of the most valuable and weakest assets of a business, and the reliance on third-party vendors suggests that retailers need to diversify their supply chain to reduce reliance on a single supplier or region, as well as invest in improved oversight and monitoring of their partners’ cybersecurity measures.

This includes contingency planning; going through all the plausible ‘what if’ scenarios that could impact the business, and developing a mitigation plan and recovery strategy for each of the scenarios identified. Coupled with proactive communication strategies to inform employees, customers, and suppliers of operational changes, businesses can ensure that entire teams can work together to stay calm, execute the plan, and ensure as much business continuity as possible.

Adapting to thrive

For retailers, the implications are clear: data, not nostalgia, should be driving business decisions in 2025. In an increasingly price-sensitive market, especially with unpredictable tariffs, value and delivery must remain front and centre. Brands should plan for business continuity, employing cost-cutting measures where possible. This will create an agile business environment that reduces any slack holding the company back without compromising quality.

At the same time, the smart use of AI and data is crucial; this means not just collecting it but using it meaningfully to drive innovation through informed digital decision-making. This shedding and fine-tuning will give businesses the set-up they need to function at the most optimal rate and compete in our new world.