UK & Global Warehouse Automation market looking strong

While the world economy in general, and the UK’s finances specifically, look uncertain to say the least, not every sector is having problems. Both the global and UK market for warehouse automation is looking exceptionally healthy. Both recently, and throughout 2022, projections for the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of the warehouse automation market have been very optimistic.

As recently as October 2022, the India-based Zion Market Research published a report projecting that the CAGR for warehouse automation would reach 8.1% all the way until 2026. This would make the global market for this technology worth a whopping £9.1 billion ($10.3 billion US). The reasons cited for this include the ongoing ecommerce growth market, the aftermath of the post-COVID surge in online shopping, and the range of overall advantages offered by warehouse automation technology generally.

8.1% CAGR is however one of the more conservative projections for this sector. LogisticsIQ who specialise more specifically in global transport and logistics (as their name implies) projected in their 2022 report that the warehouse automation sector would see growth reaching 15% CAGR between 2022 and 2027. This would push the market value to £36.4 billion ($41 billion US). Their focus for this lies with micro-fulfilment centres, automated cold storage, and also the containing post-COVID ecommerce boom.

Some other analysts don’t go quite this high, but they do agree that the overall projection is looking up. In early October 2022 Brandessence Market Research suggested that the warehouse automation market could expect to see 14.6% CAGR between 2022 and 2027. This outlook went into more specific detail, examining the extent to which specific sectors had opportunities for automation. The single biggest opening was highlighted in food services, marked out as 73% automatable. This was distantly followed by manufacturing, where there was a 59% automation opportunity, with agriculture coming in a close third at 57%.

One of the most optimistic growth projections goes further still. Allied Market Research published a report into logistics robotics. They suggested that the warehouse automation sector looks like it will see CAGR of 16.2% globally up to 2031. The two biggest factors highlighted were ongoing ecommerce growth, and the need for safer working conditions in warehouses.

As for the UK specifically, the projections are looking especially good. According to the managing director of Interact Analysis, Ash Sharma, the UK is on the path to becoming the largest market in Europe for warehouse automation. UK-specific CAGR for warehouse automation is projected at 24% for 2020-2025.

This has partly been fuelled by Brexit, which has complicated the labour market in such a way that automation is being examined more readily. However, the major explaining factor in this is the extent to which the UK has a mature and well-developed ecommerce marketplace. Amazon UK generates 9% of the tech giant’s revenue, making it their third largest marketplace after the US and Germany. This naturally means more investment in warehousing generally, making commercial space far more expensive. This in turn leads to more businesses looking to more ways to make their operation more efficient, accurate, and effective.

If you would like to learn more about how Wise Robotics can deliver that technology to your business, talk to us today. Or alternatively, book an appointment to see our Robotic Demonstration Centre. The first of its kind in Europe, there you can see the robots in action, and discover why you need to be joining the automation generation today.