Why ecommerce automation stalls, and how to get past it
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Almost every ecommerce business wants to automate more. In the Linnworks Market Survey 2026, just 2% of 500 US and UK ecommerce decision-makers said their business doesn’t need more automation anywhere.
So why doesn’t it happen? Among businesses that want more automation, 42% say cost holds them back, 39% name the lack of integration between their systems, and 31% say the automation they already have only handles simple cases.
Each of those blockers has a practical way through. This guide covers all three, and where to start.
What stops ecommerce businesses from automating more?
Cost, disconnected systems, and automation that can’t handle complex cases are the three most common reasons businesses don’t automate more. Each was named by close to a third of respondents or more.
- Cost of automation tools 42%
- Lack of integration between systems 39%
- Current automation only handles simple cases 31%
- Haven’t found the right tool 29%
- Too complex to configure or maintain 24%
- Don’t yet trust automation for the task 17%
- Not a business priority right now 14%
The mix shifts by market. In the US, integration comes first, with 43% of US businesses that want more automation citing the lack of integration between their systems, compared with 37% who cite cost. In the UK, cost leads, at 47%.
Appetite isn’t the issue. In the past 12 to 18 months, 53% of businesses adopted more automation or AI in their existing processes, and new technology becoming available drove more of those changes (23%) than cost pressure did (17%).
How to get past the cost of automation
Cost is the most common blocker, named by 42% of businesses that want more automation. Making the case starts with counting the cost of the manual work automation would replace.
Cost the manual work first. List the tasks your team repeats every day: allocating orders to warehouses, choosing carriers, updating stock across channels, fixing oversells. Estimate the hours each takes per week and multiply by an hourly cost. That number is your budget case.
Count what you already pay for. 38% of businesses consolidated their software tools in the past 12 to 18 months. If you pay for separate tools for listings, inventory, and shipping, one platform that covers all three can cost less than the stack it replaces.
Ask what’s included. 44% of businesses now expect AI and automation to come built into their operations software instead of as an add-on. Before you compare prices, check which automation features each vendor includes and which cost extra.
How to fix disconnected systems
39% of businesses that want more automation say the lack of integration between their systems holds them back. It’s also the most common barrier to adopting more AI in operations, named by 18% as their single biggest obstacle.
Automation can only act on data it can see. If orders sit in one system, stock in another, and shipping in a third, every rule needs a person to move data between them first.
Map where your team re-keys data. Note every point where someone copies an order, a stock count, or a tracking number from one system into another. Each one is a place automation currently can’t reach.
Ask how each connection works. For every system a vendor says it connects to, ask whether the integration is native or runs through a third-party connector, who maintains it, and what happens when a channel changes its API.
Connect inventory and orders first. Rules for routing, carriers, and stock only work when orders and inventory share one source of truth across every channel.
What to do when automation only handles simple cases
31% of businesses that want more automation say the automation they already have handles the simple cases and leaves anything complex to their team. That’s the split order, the bulky item that can’t go by standard carrier, the B2B order with its own paperwork.
Complex cases are common. The average ecommerce business handles just over four different order types, and half take B2B or wholesale orders alongside consumer orders.
List your exceptions. For one week, note every order your team handles by hand and why. That list is your automation backlog.
Test tools on your hardest cases. In a demo or trial, skip the standard order. Ask the vendor to show how their automation handles three orders from your exceptions list.
Look for rules that combine conditions. Rules that can combine conditions, such as channel, destination, weight, SKU, and order value, cover far more of the orders that currently need a person.
Where to start automating
Inventory accuracy, warehouse operations, and customer service are each named by more than a third of businesses as the places where more automation would make the biggest difference today. Inventory is the natural first step, because almost every other rule depends on accurate stock. For a step-by-step plan, see what to automate first in your ecommerce operation.
How Linnworks gets automation past the simple cases
Linnworks connects orders, inventory, and shipping across 100+ sales channels in one system, so automation rules can act on every order wherever it comes from. The Rules Engine combines conditions such as channel, destination, weight, and SKU to handle the orders that usually land on someone’s desk, and Spotlight AI spots repeated manual work and suggests rules to automate them. Together, they save Linnworks customers 52+ hours a month on average.
See AI and automation in Linnworks
See how your operation compares
The Linnworks Market Survey 2026 benchmark asks five quick questions about your order mix, automation, AI, and EDI, then shows how you compare with 500 ecommerce decision-makers, with a practical next step for each result.
Want to go further? Join Bill Peden and Lucy Allen for the ecommerce automation and AI webinar on November 12 at 10 a.m. CST, covering new survey data on AI and what to automate first.
FAQ
Cost is the most common blocker, named by 42% of ecommerce businesses that want more automation. Lack of integration between systems follows at 39%, and 31% say their current automation only handles simple cases, according to the Linnworks Market Survey 2026.
Almost all of them. Just 2% of ecommerce decision-makers say their business doesn’t need more automation anywhere.
Inventory accuracy is the most common place businesses say more automation would help, followed by warehouse operations and customer service. Accurate stock across every channel is the foundation for order routing, carrier, and listing rules.
Automation that runs on a single trigger can’t tell these orders apart, so orders that mix channels, B2B terms, bulky items, or custom work fall back to a person. Rules that combine several conditions, built on connected order and inventory data, cover far more of those cases.
Source: Linnworks Market Survey 2026, conducted by OnePoll among 500 US and UK ecommerce decision-makers, July 28 – August 4, 2026. Figures on automation blockers are based on the 490 respondents who want more automation.