On the whole, I agree with your sentiment. I think the one difference is that despite the 1850s UK having (some) protectionism and (loads of) imperialism, they

On the whole, I agree with your sentiment. I think the one difference is that despite the 1850s UK having (some) protectionism and (loads of) imperialism, they didn't have massive bureaucracies forbidding everyone from doing everything without permission. This is not actually a problem of technology but of governance. And we should keep in mind that this kind of improvement would make retail workers much more productive as well as the industry more sustainable.