Retailers are investing heavily in personalisation, but a new report from Amperity suggests most are missing the moments that actually drive purchasing decisions – leaving real revenue on the table.
The 2026 State of Personalisation in Retail report, based on a survey of 1,000 US consumers, finds that real-time relevance is critical to conversion. For brands, the message is clear: when you respond to customer intent instantly, you win the sale. When you don’t, you lose it.
Nearly three-quarters (74 per cent) of consumers say they’re more likely to purchase when they receive genuinely personalised recommendations, while 69 per cent are more likely to buy when offers adapt in real time as they browse. These are the high-intent moments where purchasing decisions are made – and where brands either convert or miss out.
But most are getting it wrong.
More than half (57 per cent) of shoppers say experiences still feel generic, and 79% report that brands frequently deliver irrelevant or poorly timed messaging. For retailers, that disconnect is directly impacting performance.
Consumers are also raising the bar. Eighty-three per cent expect brands to recognise them—remembering preferences and past behaviour—while more than half want this to happen in real time, not hours or days later. For brands, delayed or static personalisation is no longer enough to influence purchase.
Email remains the key channel for personalised engagement, putting even more pressure on accuracy and timing. And while AI is playing a bigger role, consumers still favour a balance, with many preferring a mix of automation and human input to build trust.
Australian brands facing the same execution gap
According to the report, local retailers are grappling with the same issue.
While 88 per cent say personalisation is critical, more than half admit their capabilities are lagging.
The problem for brands isn’t intent, it’s infrastructure. Many are focused on unifying data, but far fewer are investing in identity resolution, meaning they still can’t reliably recognise customers across touchpoints. Without that, personalisation breaks down.
“You can’t talk about a unified customer view if you don’t know with certainty who the customer actually is. Identity resolution is what turns fragmented data into something usable. Without it, personalisation is guesswork and AI simply scales the noise,” Amperity’s Area Vice President and General Manager for Australia, Billy Loizou said.
At the same time, budgets are tightening and expectations are rising. With most retailers seeing flat or declining spend, and only a small fraction effectively using AI, the pressure to deliver measurable results has never been higher.
“The global findings reinforce what we’re seeing locally. Real-time personalisation drives revenue, but only when the identity foundation is solid,” Loizou added.
