Overcoming the Challenges of Implementing Warehouse Automation in Retail
15 min read
60-Second Summary
Retail has always been fast-paced, but lately, it feels like the speed dial’s been cranked all the way up. Customers expect next-day delivery. Labor is harder to find (and keep). SKU counts are ballooning, and distribution centers are being asked to do more with less faster than ever before. So, it’s no surprise that automation is on everyone’s radar. The good news? You’re not alone—and you don’t have to go all in on day one.
The Real Talk Around Automation
If you’re responsible for your company’s supply chain strategy, you’re likely being asked how automation can boost profitability, reduce labor costs, and maintain service levels. And if you’re running day-to-day warehouse operations, you’re balancing the need for efficiency with concerns about disruption, integration, and your team’s ability to adapt.
That’s the reality. Warehouse automation isn’t just about technology, it’s about people, systems, workflows, and long-term business goals.
And the path forward looks different for every operation.
Automation Doesn’t Have to Be All or Nothing
One of the biggest misconceptions about warehouse automation is that it requires a full overhaul. The truth is, smart retailers are taking a phased approach: Starting small, proving out success, and scaling with confidence.
In practice, many retailers are starting with targeted upgrades, such as sortation systems that can be easily integrated into existing layouts or goods-to-person modules that alleviate high-labor areas. These are scalable by design. You can add lanes, totes, or bots as volume grows, rather than buying for peak demand upfront.
This modularity lets you ease into automation—testing performance, proving ROI, and expanding overtime without taking your entire warehouse offline.
Retail Isn’t Like Other Warehousing
A lot of automation technology was built with manufacturing or wholesale operations in mind. Retail, by contrast, has a unique set of demands that make plug-and-play automation risky:
- Order volumes that spike without warning—Black Friday, flash sales, viral TikTok trends. You can’t always plan for what’s to come.
- Thousands of fast-moving SKUs—From tiny lipstick tubes to bulky coats, automation must adapt to constant changes in size, weight, and turnover rate.
- Returns at a massive scale—Retailers deal with returns up to 30% of the time. Inspecting, restocking, and reconciling that flow is hard to automate.
- Omnichannel fulfillment—You’re shipping to stores, customers, and even 3PLs, sometimes from the same facility, all at once.
- Tight real estate—Urban fulfillment centers or back-of-store operations leave little room for conveyor-heavy setups.
- Seasonal and temp labor—With constant workforce churn, automation must be intuitive and quick to learn.
- Customer experience pressure—Getting it right isn’t optional. One mistake and your customer might be gone for good.
Do these sound familiar?
What Retail Needs From Automation
The answer isn’t to avoid automation, it’s to be more strategic about how and where you implement it. Retail needs automation that flexes, scales, and integrates without demanding a full warehouse overhaul.
- Modular systems that let you start small and expand as demand grows
- Software that integrates easily with your existing WMS, WES, or ERP (legacy or modern)
- Compact designs that fit into space-constrained footprints, including vertical and oddly shaped zones
- User-friendly interfaces so seasonal or new hires can get up to speed in 20 minutes, not several days
- Scalable sortation and order takeaway that can keep pace with omnichannel and high returns
- Reliable ROI—not in 5 years, but often within 24 months
And above all, systems that don’t break your flow. Retail can’t afford to shut down a zone for weeks. Downtime isn’t just lost time—it’s lost revenue, broken promises, and damaged brand trust.
So How Do You Move Forward
Start with the pain point that hurts the most: Maybe it’s inefficient sortation, slow pick-to-pack speed, or a lack of real-time inventory visibility. From there, look for automation that can be piloted in a single zone and then expanded once its value has been proven.
Build a coalition internally. Show the data. Involve your team early to minimize pushback. And don’t forget that automation isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Retail needs tailored systems that solve retail problems.
See It In Action: How Boux Avenue Reduced Seasonal Labor by 33%
For Boux Avenue, a UK-based omnichannel retailer shipping over 30,000 SKUs, automation wasn’t just a nice-to-have—it became essential.
Each peak season, Boux Avenue had to hire as many as 250 temporary workers just to keep up with demand. Rising labor costs, risk of errors, and operational strain pushed them to find a smarter way forward. Their goal? Increase throughput without overloading their workforce.
By implementing a modular, high-throughput sorting solution, Boux Avenue transformed its fulfillment operations. After ramp-up, Boux Avenue achieved a throughput of 1,200 items per hour, reduced walking distance by two km per work assignment, and empowered employees to pick five times more orders per hour than before. Most importantly, it reduced temporary labor requirements by 33%, eliminating the need for approximately 150 seasonal workers during peak season.
And it all happened without compromising customer service. Boux Avenue still met its SLA for next-day delivery with a 4 PM cutoff. In fact, the system became such an integral part of Boux Avenue’s process that it now supports its day-to-day fulfillment year-round.
Ready to see how flexible, scalable automation can transform your warehouse like it did for Boux Avenue? Schedule a demo today and take the first step toward faster fulfillment, fewer labor headaches, and future-proof operations.
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