OnBuy: AI democratises tech landscape and helps challenger brands compete on global scale

UK-based online marketplace OnBuy says that artificial Intelligence has helped shift its business 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 platform.

The company, which launched in 2026 and 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, says: “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.”

OnBuy is now using AI across the entire company for operational efficiency, with the aim of enhancing both customer and retail experiences, and driving customer loyalty and retention. It is also tapping AI to reduce fraud risk, help retailers improve sales performance and expediate the company’s international roll-out across the EU and USA.

Paton adds: “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 six 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 to improve how retailers list products on the platform. Sentiment analysis, cross-selling, and automatic language detection are also in development.

RTIH AI in Retail Awards

RTIH, organiser of the industry leading RTIH Innovation Awards, proudly brings you the first edition of the RTIH AI in Retail Awards, which is now open for entries. 

As we witness a digital transformation revolution across all channels, AI tools are reshaping the omnichannel game, from personalising customer experiences to optimising inventory, uncovering insights into consumer behaviour, and enhancing the human element of retailers' businesses.

With 2025 set to be the year when AI and especially gen AI shake off the ‘heavily hyped’ tag and become embedded in retail business processes, our newly launched awards celebrate global technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world and the resulting benefits for retailers, shoppers and employees.

Our 2025 winners will be those companies who not only recognise the potential of AI, but also make it usable in everyday work - resulting in more efficiency and innovation in all areas.

Winners will be announced at an evening event at The Barbican in Central London on Thursday, 3rd July. This will kick off with a drinks reception in the stunning Conservatory, followed by a three course meal, and awards ceremony in the Garden Room.

Please email our Editor, Scott Thompson, if you have any questions or need further information: scott.thompson@retailtechinnovationhub.com

Key 2025 dates

Friday, 23rd May: Award entry deadline 

Tuesday, 27th May: 2025 finalists revealed

Wednesday, 28th May - Friday, 13th June: Judging days

Thursday, 3rd July: Winners announced at the 2025 RTIH AI in Retail Awards Ceremony, to be held at The Barbican in Central London.