Robot packers and AI cameras: UK retail embraces automation to cut staff costs

Electronic shelf labels, returns machines, robot bag packers and yet more self-service tills – just some of the many technologies that UK retailers are embracing as they try to solve the problem of rising labour costs. Investment in automation was a constant drumbeat amid the flurry of festive trading updates from big retailers in the past few weeks, as they face higher staffing bills from April after the rise in the national minimum wage and employers' national insurance contributions (NICs). The investments could improve productivity – a key government aim – in an industry long reliant on cheap labour. However, they will also replace entry-level jobs and reduce the number of roles in a sector that is the UK's biggest employer. When the British Retail Consortium asked leading retailers' finance directors how they would be responding to the impending increase in employers' NICs, almost a third said they would be using more automation, although this sat behind raising prices, cutting head office jobs and reducing working hours.