A new survey from Global-e has found that the majority of retail firms in the UK have yet to develop a strategy for dealing with the country’s exit from the European Union, currently scheduled to take place at the end of October this year.

57 per cent of respondents confirmed that a lack of prior planning was present within their organisations, potentially exposing them to serious ramifications if this delayed Brexit deadline is not pushed back any further.

33 per cent of retailers also said that they had seen sales slump in the three years since voters across the country went to the polls to decide the fate of Britain’s membership status within the EU.

54 per cent said that they were worried about the impact that Brexit would have on their business, with 43 per cent saying that it is likely they will find it hard to keep up stock levels if the customs union crumbles.

57 per cent said that they would probably be forced to increase the prices of the products they sell once Brexit bites, which will perhaps make even more people turn to safe shopping online in order to secure the best possible deal.

Of course one of the upsides of Brexit from a retail perspective is that with the pound weakening against other currencies, more consumers from elsewhere in Europe have been looking to buy online with UK outlets. This is a small silver lining to an otherwise thoroughly dark cloud which continues to hang over nearly every industry and sector.

Declining retail sales seen over the past half year have raised more questions about what the future holds for retailers, many of which are already operating in challenging circumstances due to the fall in high street visits.