Interest rates are falling, costs are rising, and there’s more red tape than ever. If you’re running an ecommerce business, 2026 will test how well you understand your numbers.
Here’s what we’re seeing this year.
1. Lower interest rates and borrowing for ecommerce businesses
Interest rates were 5.25% in July 2025. By December, they’d dropped to 3.75%. The cost of borrowing has come down, and businesses are becoming more willing to take on debt for growth investments.
The opportunity is real, but only with the right preparation. Ecommerce companies using this strategically have clear cash flow forecasts showing exactly when that investment pays back.
Lower rates help, but only if you understand your numbers well enough to use the additional leverage properly.
2. AI accounting tools and the competitive gap in ecommerce
Large listed companies are investing heavily in AI for their finance functions. Processes that used to require a team of five now need one person with the right tools, and entire departments are being streamlined as a result.
Most ecommerce SMEs aren’t seeing the same shift. We regularly see companies still reconciling sales channels manually, exporting CSVs, and trying to make sense of platform fees in spreadsheets. It’s not that the technology doesn’t exist for smaller businesses, but implementing it requires time and money that’s already stretched thin.
Your larger competitors can process information and make decisions faster, and that gap keeps widening in 2026.
3. Wage increases and business costs: impact on ecommerce margins
We’re heading towards £10 a pint and £5 for an Americano. Hospitality is bearing the brunt. Minimum wage has increased, national insurance has gone up, and business rates have risen (though the government appears to be backtracking with another U-turn).
The same cost pressures apply to ecommerce. If you have warehouse staff or customer service teams, your payroll costs have increased. Unlike restaurants, you can’t simply raise prices without losing customers to competitors with lower cost bases.
Hospitality is showing you what happens when costs rise faster than you can pass them on. Staying profitable means tracking exactly what each product line costs after returns and platform fees, plus shipping and increased payroll costs. If you’re working from outdated figures, you might be selling at a loss without realising it.
4. Growing financial compliance requirements for ecommerce businesses
There appears to be no end of additional regulations for SMEs. The government is backing a “one size fits all” mentality that treats a £2M ecommerce business the same as a £200M corporate.
The problem is you’re dealing with the same financial reporting requirements as much larger businesses, but without their resources. You don’t have a finance team to handle it, which means you’re either spending your own time on VAT returns and tax filings, or you’re pulling focus away from running the business to manage the regulatory paperwork.
For ecommerce businesses, this means the time that would otherwise go into product development or customer acquisition is spent on filing requirements and tracking regulatory changes. You’re hoping you haven’t missed something that results in a penalty from HMRC.
The compliance work still needs doing, but it doesn’t bring in customers or grow margin. The businesses that manage this best have outsourced regulatory work, freeing up time to focus on growth.
5. Cost pressures are making fractional finance directors more attractive
Tax rises and inflation are slowing the appetite for new hires. For businesses with £1M-£20M revenue, hiring a full-time finance director often doesn’t make financial sense. You’re looking at an £80k+ salary, plus pension contributions, office costs, and recruitment time.
This continuous cost squeeze is making fractional FD services more attractive. You need financial expertise, but probably not five days a week. You need someone who understands ecommerce cash flow cycles, but you don’t need to carry the fixed overhead of a permanent hire.
Fractional finance director provide the expertise without the full-time salary commitment. You get monthly management accounts showing true profitability after platform fees and returns, cash flow forecasts extending 6-12 months ahead, and the ability to model different scenarios quickly when tariffs change or costs increase.
The support scales depending on where you are in the growth cycle. More support when you need it, less when you don’t, without paying for five days a week regardless.
6. Due diligence for ecommerce acquisitions is taking longer
Corporates are spending more time scrutinising potential acquisitions. They’re more cautious than they were a few years ago, and AI has made it easier to analyse financial data in detail.
They can work through more information more quickly, which means they’re asking more questions and looking deeper into the numbers. The result is acquisitions taking longer to complete.
During due diligence, issues surface quickly. If your management accounts are three months out of date or you’re still reconciling sales channels manually, buyers see it. Unclear margin calculations raise questions. These gaps either kill deals or significantly impact valuations.
Clean, well-organised financial records lead to smoother processes and better offers. When buyers see gaps in your financial records, they start questioning everything else. Even if you’re not planning to sell soon, having your financial records in good shape means you’re ready when opportunities arise.
7. Tariff uncertainty is dampening risk appetite for international ecommerce
For SMEs trading internationally, there’s continued uncertainty around tariffs, particularly with the Trump administration in the US. If you’re selling into the EU, there’s post-Brexit customs paperwork to manage. This is impacting UK entrepreneurs’ appetite for risk overseas.
If you’re sourcing stock from overseas or selling into international markets, tariffs can change with little notice. Modelling different scenarios before committing to large orders means you know what a tariff increase does to your margin. You can adjust order size or pricing strategy accordingly.
Model what a 15% tariff increase does to your margin before you place that stock order.
8. Specialist ecommerce accounting support is getting harder to find
Finding an accountant who understands ecommerce specific challenges is becoming more difficult. Large accounting firms are acquiring smaller practices across the UK, and this acquisition activity will continue in 2026.
This means less choice for businesses looking for specialist ecommerce support. Large consolidated firms focus on statutory accounts and compliance work at volume. They handle year-end accounts well, but they’re not typically set up to provide hands-on advisory support.
The detail that ecommerce businesses need doesn’t scale easily. Questions about stock purchasing cycles, platform fee reconciliation, or the timing differences between revenue and cash require specific knowledge. When you’re processing hundreds of clients through standardised systems, that level of support gets deprioritised.
What ecommerce businesses need from their finance team in 2026
The eight predictions above aren’t isolated trends. They’re interconnected challenges that all require the same thing: financial visibility.
Interest rates have dropped, but you need cash flow forecasts to know if borrowing makes sense for your stock cycles.
Cost pressures are mounting, but you need to see true profitability to know what you can afford.
Tariffs might change, but you need to model scenarios before committing to orders.
If you’re still reconciling sales channels manually or waiting weeks for month-end numbers, you’re reacting after problems have already hit your business.
We work with UK ecommerce businesses selling apparel, sportswear, and wellness products to provide outsourced FD services. This means monthly management accounts that show true profitability after all fees and returns, cash flow forecasting that accounts for your stock purchasing cycles, and the ability to model different scenarios when market conditions shift.
You make strategic decisions based on current financial data instead of outdated information.
If you’re tired of making financial decisions without knowing the full picture, let’s talk. Get in touch to discuss how we work with ecommerce businesses like yours.
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