The research also found stark regional differences in the challenges faced by ecommerce leaders.
In the UK, resistance to change emerged as the biggest barrier (32%), indicating that cultural adoption and internal alignment remain key hurdles.
In contrast, US leaders pointed to ethical and regulatory scrutiny (35%) as their top concern, reflecting heightened governance expectations and pressures within the world’s second largest e-commerce market.
“Every brand we work with is investing in AI,” says David Jennison, EU Managing Director at Pattern. “The ones getting real returns are the ones who treated the operational and cultural work as seriously as the tech. You can’t automate your way past a broken process – you just get a faster version of the same problem. That’s the readiness gap this research is capturing, and it’s bigger than the headline number suggests.”
Despite their concerns, e-commerce leaders remain confident that AI will deliver immediate commercial value. 87% of respondents expect AI powered search to positively impact sales in this year, with smaller teams reporting the most significant gains in productivity and efficiency.
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
AI will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
