Storyblok research: Gap between expectation and reality as UK e-commerce firms splash out on AI to boost CX

UK e-commerce companies are investing significant capital in AI to improve the customer experience, however, many are yet to realise significant gains. That's according to a new survey of senior executives at 300 large and mid-sized e-commerce companies in Europe and the US by headless CMS Storyblok.

UK businesses have spent an average of £321,000 in the past year on developing or implementing AI solutions to enhance their digital customer experience, with 21% spending more than £500,000. Yet 44% state that their AI investment has only made a slight improvement to their customers’ digital experience.

Surprisingly, nearly all of UK business leaders (93%) say that their AI investment has delivered a good return on investment (ROI), of which 28% perceive it as a very good ROI. This potentially indicates businesses are taking a longer-term view of AI investment to improve their digital offering.  

The research also explores the most popular use cases for AI amongst UK business leaders, which were cited as website content creation (59%), customer service (53%), marketing analysis (51%), translation services (49%), and marketing content creation (48%).

Dominik Angerer, CEO and Co-Founder at Storyblok, says: “The transformative potential of AI for the digital experience is enormous, but our research highlights a clear gap between expectation and reality. While UK businesses are seeing some improvements, these remain incremental rather than truly transformative.”

“ What’s particularly interesting is that despite this, most business leaders still consider the capital they have committed to AI a good investment. This could suggest that many UK companies do not expect big gains immediately, but are instead taking a longer-term view of AI to transform their digital offering."

“To unlock AI’s full potential, businesses must go beyond surface-level implementations and integrate AI in a way that drives meaningful transformation. Core to this is the flexibility to scale with ease, and that’s where composable architecture comes in, enabling companies to seamlessly integrate AI driven solutions across multiple channels without the restrictions of legacy systems.”

“From hyper-personalisation to seamless localisation, nearly every possible AI use case could be implemented more effectively, and to a higher standard if businesses raised the digital bar and embraced modern marketing technology.”

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 Wednesday, 3rd September.

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, 18th July: Award entry deadline 

Tuesday, 22nd July: 2025 finalists revealed

Wednesday, 23rd July - Friday, 8th August: Judging days

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