Performance improvement and cost reduction in a UK online retailer

A UK‑based online retailer had grown strongly during and after the pandemic. In 2023, demand stabilised and the business went through a restructuring.

Despite the restructuring, external spend on technology, logistics and marketing remained out of line with the new scale of the business. Leadership wanted to reduce cost while protecting service and growth.

The retailer faced several issues:

• Vendor contracts no longer matched actual volumes and service needs.
• Spend visibility across technology, logistics and marketing was patchy.
• Teams had limited time and experience to run a structured performance and cost review.

The CEO and CFO wanted a focused piece of work that would quickly identify savings and support renegotiations, leaving the organisation with stronger internal capability.

Ozkora was asked to run a 12‑week performance and cost improvement review, focused on external spend and key operational drivers. We:

• Pulled together data on contracts and volumes, including key service levels, from multiple systems to create a single view of addressable spend.
• Identified categories with the largest gaps between contracted and actual use, using an approach similar to that seen in other UK procurement and cost‑reduction programmes.
• Ran structured workshops with operations and technology teams, involving marketing where needed, to test where changes were feasible without harming service or revenue.
• Supported negotiations with a small number of key suppliers, working alongside the retailer’s own procurement team.
• Helped the retailer design and implement a simple performance and spend dashboard for ongoing management.

By the end of the 12 weeks and in the months that followed:

• The retailer achieved confirmed annualised savings of just over £6 million on an addressable external spend of roughly £70 million, comparable to savings reported in other UK cost programmes of this type.
• Licence and subscription levels across several technology vendors were reduced to usage levels that matched the size of the business.
• The retailer improved how it monitored key operational metrics, such as fulfilment times and delivery performance, so cost reductions did not undermine service.
• Procurement and finance teams reported that they were more confident challenging demand and managing contracts, thanks to new dashboards and clearer governance.

Ozkora’s work finished with an agreed savings plan and updated contracts, with internal teams set up to monitor performance against the new baseline.