While retail businesses are rapidly embracing AI, many are yet operationally set-up to effectively scale the technology and unlock its full potential, according to research by customer data cloud, Amperity.

Original research of 1,000 retail professionals across marketing, IT, data and executive leadership roles by Amperity revealed that 45% of retailers are already using AI daily or several times a week. Almost all (97%) of the retailers polled plan to maintain or increase AI investment in the coming year – however, only 11% say they’re fully prepared to deploy AI tools at scale.

Data gaps and technical challenges were among the key barriers to successfully scaling AI, with 58% reporting issues with fragmented or incomplete customer data. Meanwhile, over a third (35%) said limited technical expertise was holding them back.

“Retailers believe in AI’s potential to drive loyalty and lifetime value – but belief alone won’t close the gap between ambition and execution,” said Tony Owens, CEO of Amperity. “What’s needed is unified, actionable customer data – regardless of where it resides.”

Almost two thirds (63%) of retailers believe AI will improve customer loyalty and a further 65% expect it to increase Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). Yet less than half (43%) currently use AI in customer-facing applications, such as personalisation, chatbots or tailored marketing experiences. And even fewer (23%) are using AI in production to resolve customer identities or prepare data for marketing use, indicating significant untapped potential in customer engagement strategies.