Only 12% of retailers prioritize providing better customer insights
While 83 per cent of retailers say artificial intelligence (AI) will be necessary to stay competitive, few are focused on learning more about the customers they will use the technology to serve, based on research published by Incisiv.
The insights and strategy firm partnered with Verizon Business, and Cisco to survey 124 retail executives to produce its fifth annual 2026 Connected Retail Experience Study: The New Omnichannel Imperative: AI Is Required to Compete, Yet Hard to Implement.
While “providing better customer insights” was dead last on the list of retail priorities, 47 per cent said they wanted to improve inventory control and operational efficiency, which could arguably help enhance service. Reducing customer wait times at checkout was third on the list at 44 per cent overall.
AI could be applied in both of those areas, and just over half of retailers said they are experimenting with the technology. More importantly, perhaps, 37 per cent said they have a common understanding of AI across the organization. This may sound small but it represents a 22 per cent jump from when Incisiv conducted the study last year.
Just over a quarter (27 per cent) said they are actively developing AI use. This was higher in speciality retailers at 31 per cent. However only eight per cent described their AI usage as mature.
“AI maturity is less about algorithms and more about
readiness to change how decisions get made,” the report’s authors wrote. “It’s rarely the technology. It’s usually the data foundation, the organizational buy-in, and the willingness to iterate through
failures. ”
360 Magazine Insight
How quickly are retailers expected to be “mature” in their AI use when many of its capabilities are barely more than a few years old? Given what will be involved in changing business processes, training employees and getting customers acclimatized to the technology, it makes sense the majority are in the “exploring” and “planning” stages right now.
It’s also not helpful that the report consistently uses “AI” as a broad term rather than distinguishing between generative and agentic AI. The former is probably where a lot of the development is happening behind the scenes. It’s where retailers could potentially see benefits in areas they are about, such as the 67 per cent who cited theft and loss prevention as a key challenge.
Agentic and generative AI would also play complementary but distinct roles in personalization, which 87 per cent of retailers said was important but only 26 per cent was working at a satisfactory level. Without spending more time, attention and money on customer insights, it’s hard to see how personalization will improve, whether AI is involved or not.
Empowering associates was highlighted as a trend here, but it’s worth noting that just 56 per cent of speciality retailers are providing access to customer data on mobile devices, and even less (40 per cent) in the grocery sector.
There’s also plenty of data in this report clearly designed to please partners such as Verizon Business and Cisco. However you probably don’t need to download this gated 24-page report to know that a solid network infrastructure and customer Wi-Fi is a good thing.
