Brexit eCommerce
Without a free trade agreement, customs formalities are causing a big headache for British eCommerce sellers that want to access the EU single market. But you don’t have to limit yourself to UK consumers. Autofulfil can store, pick, and pack your stock within the EU customs union from our fulfilment centre in Ireland, then manage international shipping across mainland Europe and the European Economic Area on your behalf.
How Brexit has impacted the UK eCommerce industry
The European Union (EU) is a major eCommerce market for UK business growth. In 2025, UK exports to the EU were worth £384 billion – 41% of all UK exports (House of Commons Library). The EU remains the UK’s largest trading partner, but Brexit has made cross-border selling significantly harder.
Cross-border online shopping post-Brexit poses new challenges, since every single shipment from the UK to the EU has to be treated as an international export/import shipment – requiring additional time and money spent on customs declarations & documentation, import inspections, Brexit shipping surcharges, EU tax obligations and customs duties to be paid prior to delivery, and managing unhappy customers.
UK goods exports to the EU fell sharply after Brexit and have not fully recovered. The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates Brexit has reduced UK trade intensity by 15% compared to remaining in the EU. For eCommerce sellers specifically, customs declarations on every order, VAT obligations, and carrier surcharges add 12–18% to landed costs – and that’s before the new EU customs charges that arrived in 2026.
Exporting to the European Union after Brexit
Fortunately, there’s an easy solution for UK eCommerce brands to get around Brexit challenges and continue to sell and ship products to customers in EU countries. By partnering with an EU-based fulfilment centre, such as Autofulfil in Ireland, many of the barriers of selling into other countries across Europe after Brexit are eliminated.
The process is simple
Import your inventory (in bulk) to our fulfilment centre in Ireland (one-time customs clearance per bulk inventory shipment).
When you receive an EU customer order, we fulfil that order the same day to your customers (no customs from Ireland)
Why should UK businesses fulfil eCommerce orders from Ireland?
When it comes to fulfilling and shipping online orders from the UK to the EU after Brexit, Ireland is the perfect gateway to Europe for UK-based online stores.
Ireland’s status as an EU member state and our close proximity to the UK means the low inventory freight importing costs into the EU.
Our longstanding relationships, shared native English language, and shared cultural characteristics make Irish and UK companies a natural fit for successful business partnerships.
Benefits of fulfilling UK to EU orders with Autofulfil
Faster and lower cost delivery to EU customers
No need for each shipment to go through customs clearance delays or incur Brexit shipping fees. Shipments that may take weeks to be delivered across the EU from the UK will be delivered from Ireland within 1-4 days, remaining compliant with all the relevant rules.
Faster shipping and lower costs = happy EU customers, and happy EU customers = more revenue growth for your business.
Less time spent dealing with customs procedures
Only deal with customs regulations once per bulk inventory shipment, rather than preparing customs documents for every individual customer order.
Less time spent dealing with complicated logistics headaches and unhappy customers means more time available to focus on making great products and growing your eCommerce business.
Autofulfil’s European eCommerce fulfilment services
Autofulfil provides full-service European fulfilment solutions, so you can chill while we fulfill. Our fulfilment services include:
Other benefits of EU order fulfilment for online retailers with Autofulfil
We’re automated
From your online store, to our warehouse floor, to your customer’s door
We’re accurate
You can always count on our 99.9% same-day accuracy rate
We’re experienced
Built by eCommerce retailers for eCommerce retailers in 2014
We’re capable
100,000 sq ft fulfilment centre with millions of items fulfilled per year
We’re affordable
Great value for EU customers with competitive rates on fulfilment & shipping
It just got more expensive: new EU customs charges from 2026
On top of the Brexit barriers that have been in place since 2021, the EU has introduced new charges that make shipping individual orders across the border even costlier:
- €3 customs duty per item - in force since 1 July 2026 on all low-value consignments (up to €150) entering the EU from outside. Charged per product type, not per unit. The seller or importer pays.
- ~€2 handling fee per item - expected from November 2026, covering customs processing costs. Final details are still being confirmed at EU level.
- Mandatory product identifiers (PIDs) - required on customs declarations from 1 November 2026.
Add it up: a low-value order shipped from the UK to an EU customer could soon carry €5 or more in new charges per item — before VAT and delivery. For a €20 basket, that's a 25% surcharge your customer either sees at checkout or gets asked for at the door.
The impact is already visible. Chinese imports to the EU have fallen 30–40% since the duty came into force in July (Euronews, August 2026).
The solution is the same one that solved post-Brexit friction: move your stock inside the EU. When orders ship from our Irish fulfilment centre, they're domestic EU parcels - no €3 duty, no handling fee, no customs surprises for your customers.
Last updated: September 2026
Want to learn more about expanding your brand from the UK into Europe?
Eliminate the customs friction, extra charges, and delivery delays that come with shipping from the UK into the EU. Request a quote and our team will contact you to answer your questions and provide a custom proposal for your unique business needs. Get started in as little as one week.