Business estimates AI has saved 25 years of development time
and tens of millions of pounds, fast-tracking growth and enabling
challenger brand to compete with global retail giants
LONDON, Feb. 25,
2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Artificial Intelligence has
transformed OnBuy.com from losing £1 million per month to
delivering approaching £20 million gross profit in the last 12
months. The announcement comes after a record breaking year, which
saw over £150 million worth of sales through the online retail
platform.
Since 2016 OnBuy has disrupted e-commerce with a revolutionary
cashback offering, but early strategic decisions to implement
industry leading AI have played a pivotal role in its meteoric
growth over the last year.
The company, which spends over £100,000 a year on AI, estimates
that the technology has saved the business up to 25 years in
development time and tens of millions of pounds of costs.
Cas Paton, CEO and Founder at OnBuy, said: "Becoming
an AI-driven business has enabled us to scale further and faster
than many thought possible. Without AI, it may have taken decades
for us to achieve our current position competing with established
global retail platforms. The increased competition our platform is
providing is good news for sellers and consumers alike."
The world's first cashback marketplace - which has just been
named in the 2025 Sunday Times 100 Tech list of Britain's fastest-growing private technology
companies - is now using AI across the entire company for
operational efficiency, enhancing both customer and retail
experiences, and driving customer loyalty and retention. The
technology business is also using AI to reduce fraud risk, help
retailers improve sales performance and expediate the company's
international rollout across the EU and USA.
Paton added: "AI has democratised the tech landscape and
enabled ambitious challenger brands like ours to compete on a
global scale at a speed that simply wouldn't have been possible 20
years ago. It has also allowed us to free up resource to focus on
further developing our pioneering cashback offering, maximising
value for over 6 million of our customers.
"We haven't even scratched the surface of what AI can achieve
for our business, and we have a number of game-changing AI-fuelled
projects in development that will fuel rapid future growth."
OnBuy is planning to deliver a number of additional AI-driven
features in the coming months, including autocategorisation, which
will revolutionise how retailers list products on the platform.
Sentiment analysis, cross-selling, and automatic language detection
are also in development, which will improve functionality as the
business expands its presence around the world.
To further fuel its international growth this year the company
took the strategic decision to move its HQ from Bournemouth to London and launch a permanent base in
New York. The move is designed to
enable the challenger to attract the best tech talent from around
the world as it grows its headcount by 30% in 2025.
About OnBuy
With over 6 million customers, OnBuy is the largest UK
marketplace and the first in the world to offer instant cashback on
every product across its site.
The company's vision is clear: to support sellers and provide
the best value directly to customers. As a pure online marketplace
that does not stock its own inventory, the platform sets itself
apart by partnering with retailers, rather than competing against
them. This unique approach has enabled OnBuy to revolutionise
cashback rewards in the online marketplace to deliver tangible
cumulative value for customers, whilst offering simple fees and
clear policies for sellers, as well as the continuous advice and
support they require in order to succeed.
www.onbuy.com
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