AI workflow assessment for UK online retailers - find the admin eating your margin.
We sit down with you for 60 minutes, diagnose where the hours actually go - stock reconciliation, supplier chasing, returns, listings, customer queries - and hand back a report built around how your shop runs: named tools, step-by-step recipes, and a prioritised plan to reclaim the time. Not a template.
The back-office admin that quietly eats a tight margin.
The orders go out, but nine hours of every person's week disappear behind the scenes: reconciling what the system says you have against what's on the shelf, chasing suppliers on late deliveries and credit notes, processing returns one at a time, writing listings for new stock, and the steady drip of 'where's my order?' queries.
Retail margins are tight enough that this time matters - it can be the difference between a profitable year and a flat one. You know AI could take some of it, especially on listings and customer replies. You just need someone to show you exactly where, and in what order, for a shop that runs the way yours does.
That is what the assessment is for. Not another app, not a generic tool list - a 60-minute diagnostic of your operation and a plan built around what will genuinely give you the hours back.
UK online retailers lose around £12,400 a year per person to back-office admin.
The median UK retail or e-commerce business loses 9 hours per person per week to admin. At a blended loaded cost of £30 an hour across the 46-week UK working year, that is £12,420 of lost admin time every year - for each person on the team.
£8,280
Shop floor or junior rate - 9 hrs/week × £20 × 46 weeks
£12,420
Typical mixed retail rate - 9 hrs/week × £30 × 46 weeks
£16,560
Manager or buyer rate - 9 hrs/week × £40 × 46 weeks
The 9-hour benchmark is the median from HoursBack assessment data (n=20+) across UK retailers and e-commerce operators, cross-checked against published UK SME productivity research. Your shop will differ - run your own numbers in the admin cost calculator for retailers, or read the full breakdown in cutting stock and supplier admin with AI.
The assessment is £799 - typically paid back in under a month for a shop running more than 100 SKUs.
Your six biggest time sinks - and what we do about each one.
We map your whole shop in the 60-minute session, then work backwards to the drains worth fixing first. Here is how that lands on the specific admin retailers feel.
Stock reconciliation and inventory
The weekly count of what's on the shelf, what's in the back, and what the system claims - then investigating every discrepancy. Two to four hours a week even for a tidy operation. We show which parts AI and a tighter integration can reconcile for you, and which still need eyes.
Supplier emails and order chasing
Confirming orders, chasing late deliveries, sorting credit notes for damaged goods - 15 to 30 minutes a supplier a week, hours across a full list. We give you drafts and a chase workflow so the back-and-forth stops living in your inbox.
Returns and refund processing
Read the email, check the order, issue the label, log it, update the stock, process the refund - 12 to 20 minutes a return, half a day gone in a busy week. We look at where a wired-up returns flow removes the repetitive steps.
Product descriptions and listings
Descriptions, titles, categories, SKUs and search-friendly copy for every new line - 20 to 40 minutes a product done well. We show you how AI drafts on-brand listings in seconds so a 30-SKU range stops swallowing two days.
Customer service queries
'Where's my order?', 'Can I swap the size?', 'Do you ship to the Channel Islands?' - each small, together 60 to 90 minutes a day. We set you up with saved, on-brand replies so the quick questions stop breaking your focus.
The growth you can't get to
New ranges, new channels and marketing that never happen because admin fills the day. Your report prioritises by hours reclaimed, so the time goes back into selling, not processing.
What this is - and what it isn’t.
The assessment is a diagnostic and a plan. Within two working days of your call you get a passcode-protected report: the AI and automation opportunities we have found for your shop, named tools with costs and setup time, step-by-step recipes, a prompt library, an impact-versus-effort ranking, and ROI worked out on your real numbers. It is written in plain English so you can act on it - no technical background needed.
It is guidance, not us doing the work for you. If the report flags something worth building - a returns-handling agent, say - the Custom AI Agent Build is a separate product from £2,500, scoped case by case. If you would rather implement the report’s quick wins yourself with someone beside you, the Implementation Kickstart (£349, 90 minutes) is there for that. The assessment always comes first.
Questions retailers ask us.
We're on Shopify. Is there anything we're missing?
Is customer data safe if we start using AI tools?
Will AI-written listings hurt our brand voice or SEO?
Is £799 worth it for a small shop?
One payment. A written plan,
a video walkthrough, and someone
checking in to make sure it happens.
A diagnostic session, personalised report, video walkthrough, and follow-up support. One payment, no ongoing costs.
Find out where your shop's hours actually go.
Book a 60-minute diagnostic. Get a report built around your operation within two working days, a video walkthrough, and follow-up support. Money back if it doesn't show at least 5 hours a week worth reclaiming.
Book your assessment →Not ready to book? Take the free 2-minute AI readiness quiz to see where your shop stands.