UK retailers still react too late to operational problems, UiPath survey finds

UiPath says a survey of 500 UK retail leaders found 69% of retailers only respond to operational issues after sales are hit, even as 97% have adopted AI in some form. The findings suggest retailers are struggling to turn AI investment into faster decisions before the critical Black Friday and Christmas trading period.

Why it matters: - UK retailers are heading into the 2026 Golden Quarter with strong AI adoption but weak decision speed, raising the risk of lost sales and margin pressure during Black Friday and Christmas. - The survey points to a gap between technology investment and commercial impact, which matters because timing, not just tools, is driving retail performance.

What happened: - UiPath surveyed 500 UK retail leaders ahead of the 2026 Golden Quarter. - 69% said they only react to operational issues after those issues have already affected commercial performance. - 97% said they have implemented artificial intelligence in some form. - 47% said they are still waiting to see measurable commercial value from AI. - 97% said they are confident of meeting their commercial targets during the 2026 Golden Quarter.

The details: - Delayed decision-making was the top barrier to agility during peak trading, cited by 43% of respondents. - Poor data visibility followed at 42%. - Inventory inaccuracies and legacy technology were each cited by 35%. - Margin protection was identified by 26% as the biggest commercial risk during the Golden Quarter. - Pricing and promotion strategy was named by 21%, and inventory visibility by 20%. - Taken together, 46% said either protecting margins or pricing and promotions was their greatest commercial challenge. - Stock visibility failures ranked as the most likely cause of underperformance during peak trading at 40%. - Operational bottlenecks followed at 39%. - 79% said most, almost all or all key operational decisions still require manual intervention. - The survey suggests retailers still lack the visibility, connected processes and orchestration needed to act before problems affect revenue.

Between the lines: - The findings suggest AI adoption alone is not enough if data, systems and teams remain disconnected. - The bigger issue is orchestration: retailers may have AI tools, but many still cannot turn insight into action fast enough to change outcomes. - UiPath Retail Director Catherine Frame said retailers do not have an AI problem, but a decision-making problem, and argued that AI only creates value when it helps retailers spot problems early enough to act. - Frame also said retailers often blame supply chain disruption when the deeper problem is incomplete or outdated information.

What’s next: - Retailers expect future peak-trading advantage to come from end-to-end orchestration, cited by 37%. - Faster execution was next at 35%, followed by AI-driven decision-making at 33%. - UiPath said the retailers best positioned for Black Friday and the wider Golden Quarter will be those that can spot issues early and coordinate action across pricing, inventory and operations. - The report is available via the full report and more information is available on UiPath’s website.

The bottom line: - UK retail is not being held back by AI adoption alone. The bigger challenge is turning data into decisions quickly enough to protect revenue during the busiest trading season.