Brexit eCommerce

How Brexit has impacted the UK eCommerce industry

The EU is a major market for UK eCommerce business growth. In 2020, UK exports to the EU were worth £251 billion (42% of all UK exports).

Exporting to Europe after 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 taxes and duties to be paid prior to delivery, and managing unhappy customers.

Exports from the UK to EU plunged 68% the month after Brexit regulations went into effect. Many UK eCommerce businesses continue to avoid selling products into the EU due to the added time, costs, and headaches posed by Brexit.

brexit ecommerce impact

Exporting to Europe 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 the EU. By partnering with an EU-based fulfillment centre, such as Autofulfil in Ireland, many of the barriers of selling into Europe after Brexit are eliminated.

The process is simple

Import your inventory (in bulk) to our fulfillment centre in Ireland (one-time customs clearance only per inventory shipment).
We’ll integrate your eCommerce platform with our warehouse management system free of charge.
Continue to sell your products online to your European customers & collect VAT at the point of sale.
When you receive an EU customer order, we pick, pack, and ship that order the same day to your European customers (no customs from Ireland to EU on customer orders = quick & easy delivery).

Why fulfill UK 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 eCommerce brands.

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.

ireland to UK ecommerce fulfillment

Benefits of fulfilling UK to EU orders with Autofulfil

fast ireland to UK fulfillment

Faster and lower cost delivery to EU customers

No need for each shipment to go through customs clearance delays or incur Brexit shipping surcharges. Shipments that may take weeks to be delivered across the EU from the UK will be delivered from Ireland within 1-4 days.

Faster shipping and lower costs = happy EU customers, and happy EU customers = more revenue growth for your business.

Less time spent dealing with customs clearance

Only deal with customs clearance once per bulk inventory shipment, rather than on 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 business.

focus on growing business
europe ecommerce fulfillment services

Autofulfil’s European eCommerce fulfillment services

Autofulfil provides full-service fulfillment solutions, so you can chill while we fulfill. Our fulfillment services include:

Other benefits of EU order fulfillment with Autofulfil

We’re automated

From your 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 fulfillment centre with 500,000+ orders fulfilled per year

We’re affordable

Great value with competitive rates on fulfillment & shipping

Want to learn more about expanding your brand in Europe?

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!