Ecommerce organisations are dramatically increasing their investment in AI, but most are unprepared for the pace of technological change, according to new research from Pattern Group, a leader in accelerating brands across global ecommerce marketplaces through proprietary technology and AI.
While AI spending now averages $291,626 globally and is expected to rise by 11% to $323,886 by the end of 2026, three-quarters (73%) of ecommerce leaders admit their organisations are not ready for what comes next. The research highlights a widening readiness gap between growing financial investment and the operational, cultural, and technological maturity required to scale AI across ecommerce operations.
The findings are detailed in Pattern’s report, From Insights to Execution in AI-Powered Commerce, based on a survey of 1,000 senior business leaders across the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates.
Pattern’s latest study reveals several organisational barriers that are preventing brands from moving beyond experimentation into full‑scale AI deployment. The most commonly cited obstacles include ethical or regulatory concerns (29%), legacy systems and outdated infrastructure (28%), and resistance to change within teams (27%).
Collectively, these constraints create significant friction in organisations’ ability to integrate AI technologies into complex ecommerce workflows – from customer service and merchandising to forecasting and supply chain optimisation. Addressing these barriers requires not just technical investment but a deeper focus on education and topdown advocacy, enabling businesses to shift AI from a perceived challenge to a genuine competitive advantage.
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 ecommerce market.
Every brand we work with is investing in AI. 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.
– David Jennison, EU Managing Director, Pattern
Despite their concerns, ecommerce leaders remain confident that AI will deliver immediate commercial value. A striking 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.
This optimism underscores AI’s increasingly pivotal role in driving the next wave of ecommerce performance – even as organisations race to close the widening readiness gap.
