The majority of marketing experts (92%) use AI in their daily work, switching from buzzwords to mainstream.
According to SAP Emarsys (pulse of over 10,000 consumers and 1,250 marketers), companies see the real benefits of AI, but shoppers are increasingly distrustful, especially when it comes to personal data. This gap could easily unravel the personalized shopping experiences brands work hard to build.
The rush to introduce AI into marketing was fast and decisive. As Sara Richter, CMO at SAP Emarsys, puts, “AI marketing is now fully active. We have moved from theory to practical as marketers welcome AI into the possibilities of strategy and testing.”
The appeal is clear to businesses. 71% of marketers say they help AI launch campaigns faster, saving on average for more than two hours. This new efficiency is doing what we often hear as AI is the best. Free your team from repetitive work. 72% report that they can focus on more creative and strategic tasks.
The result was also hit on the bottom line. 60% of marketers see an increase in customer engagement, and 58% report that they have been boosting customer loyalty since they were equipped with AI.
But shoppers are talking about something else. The report reveals a “personalization gap” that marketers’ efforts have not reached the mark. Even with heavy investments in AI-driven tailoring, 40% of consumers feel that the brand is not acquiring them as people. It’s a big jump from last year’s 25%. What’s worse, 60% say the marketing emails they receive are almost irrelevant.
Dig deeper and you feel a real crisis of confidence in how your personal data is being processed for AI marketing. 63% of consumers worldwide do not trust AI using data from 44% in 2024. In the UK, 76% of shoppers feel uneasy.
This breakdown of trust occurs just as new rules work. A year after the introduction of the EU AI law, a third (37%) of UK marketers have reviewed their approach to AI, with 44% saying that the use of the technology has become more ethical.
This creates the tension that the industry is talking about. It’s a way to take responsibility without killing innovation. The AI Act offers a clearer rulebook, but a quarter (28%) of marketing experts worry that strict regulations can curb creativity.
“Regulations need to balance. We need to protect our consumers without delaying innovation. At SAPEmarsys, responsible AI is building trust through clarity, relevance and the use of smart data,” said Dr. Stefan Wenzell, Chief Product Officer at SAP Emarsys.
The message to retailers is loud and clear: prove your value. People are happy to use AI when they are actually helping them. Over half of shoppers agree that AI makes shopping easier (55%) and faster (53%) using it to find products, compare prices, and come up with gift ideas. There is an interest in useful AI, but it requires a promise of transparency and privacy.
Some brands do this right by focusing on people, not just technology. Sterling Doak, head of marketing for iconic guitar maker Gibson, says it’s about thinking differently.
“If we can find utilities (AIs) that can help our staff think more strategically and creatively, we need them because we are a very creative business at our core,” explains Doak. For Gibson, AI helps human creativity rather than simply automate tasks.
The same is true for Australian retailer City Beach. This continues to use AI marketing to bring customers back. Mike Chen, the company’s digital head, discovered that AI is an ideal tool for finding and retrieving customers about to leave.
“AI was able to predict where people were stirring and dying at the 1:1 level, allowing us to send campaigns based on the individual lifecycle of our customers,” Chen points out. Their approach revived 48% of these customers within three months.
What these success stories have in common is focusing on solving people’s real problems. The path to this future is becoming more clear as retailers venture deeper into what SAP Emarsys calls the “engagement era.” Investment in AI has not slowed down. 64% of marketers plan to increase their spending next year.
Technology is not a problem. It’s how it is used. Retailers need to bridge the gap between what they are doing and what their customers are feeling. This means providing real value beyond basic personalization, and proving that sharing information leads to a better experience.
The AI revolution is here, but for it to be truly successful, marketing experts need to remember who is on the other side of the screen.
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