With the long-tail impact of the 2024 Autumn Budget – and the estimated ~£5.6billion in extra costs it’s thought to have added to retailers’ balance sheets since April – retail businesses are still grappling with how to deliver store performance, drive efficiency and protect margins, while supporting frontline teams.

At YOOBIC’s Retail Excellence Forum Europe, we heard from Retail Economics, Morrisons and DFS on the current pressures facing retailers, and how they are adapting to mitigate against rising costs, while enhancing customer experience (CX) and boosting employee engagement.

The waves of disruption causing retail’s operational reset

“Retailers are having to deal with waves of change they’ve never had to deal with before,” said Richard Lim, CEO of Retail Economics.

He pointed to consumer-facing disruption, including the rapid growth of ultra-value players like Temu and SHEIN, the rise of pre-loved and the explosion of social commerce. He also called out operational challenges, such as tariffs and the ripple effects of last year’s Budget, as well as disruption from technology, especially Gen AI, that are impacting retailers,

And, as the waves of disruption keep coming, the macro-economic environment remains tough and consumer confidence “pretty soft”, retailers’ margins are becoming tightly squeezed. Lim outlined recent Retail Economics’ analysis of the UK’s 100 largest retailers, which showed average pre-tax profit margins have almost halved – falling from ~9.5% to just over 5% – in the last decade.

This acute pressure on margins means businesses are facing mounting pressure to drive operational efficiencies and boost productivity – and assess the tools they need to achieve that, Lim said.

Finding productivity in frontline employee empowerment

Streamlining operations to accelerate growth and mitigate pressures on profitability was one of the key drivers of Morrisons‘ decision to roll out the YOOBIC platform earlier this year.

Morrisons’ Productivity Director, Gordon Macpherson, and Senior Productivity Manager, Chris Evison, explained how the supermarket chain had selected YOOBIC to power its task management and communication for colleagues across all its UK stores.

As part of the estate-wide rollout, Morrisons now uses YOOBIC’s all-in-one mobile platform to digitise store operations, streamline task execution and improve real-time communication among frontline teams.

The platform not only plays a vital role in delivering operational efficiencies, it’s also helping to boost productivity while empowering frontline staff with the tools they need to enhance performance. This underscores Morrisons’ commitment to improving employee experience (EX) through technological advancement.

Clarity and connection drive EX at DFS

Sofa retailer, DFS, is another retailer turning to technology to bolster EX for frontline staff, and its Head of Internal Communications, Jenny Wood, outlined how it is building clarity and communication into frontline workflows.

With three brands within its group – DFS, Sofology and The Sofa Delivery Company – DFS employs 5,000+ colleagues across 212 locations. It has worked with YOOBIC to launch The Hub, its new centralised digital communications platform for its colleagues.

For the first time, all employee information will be unified on one central platform, helping to improve knowledge sharing and support staff in delivering enhanced CX across the business.

Available to employees via web browser or mobile app, The Hub includes task management, a company newsfeed and knowledge centre. It also provides the ability to connect with colleagues across different brands or functions.

Retail Economics, Morrisons and DFS were speaking at YOOBIC’s Retail Excellence Forum Europe, which took place in London on 01 October 2025.