Retailers are not prepared to support the next wave of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), chatbots and augmented reality (AR), according to a report from WBR Insights, New York.

The survey of 100 senior retail executives revealed that just 9% of respondents were able to support these features, while more than half (52%) not being able to. The greatest barriers to their implementation include budget (64%), lack of internal resources (55%) and lack of executive buy-in (42%).

Created in cooperation with Arm Treasure Data, Mountain View, Calif., and Vibes, Chicago, the study, “How New Tech is Creating Seamless Mobile Shopping Experiences,” seeks to understand issues and opportunities that are top of mind for retailers in regards to their overall mobile customer retention and engagement strategies.

Additional key findings include:

• The retailers surveyed felt that mobile payments (60%), AI and chatbots (48%) and on-demand, same-day services (47%) have the most potential for improving the mobile e-commerce experience for consumers.
• AR (27%), voice recognition technology (25%) and progressive web apps (22%) are the technologies that most retailers are actively evaluating for implementation in the next 12-24 months.

“Consumers want the ability to seamlessly browse for and buy products at their convenience, so it’s no surprise that mobile payments and on-demand services are at the top of retailers’ technology wish list,“ says Andrew Greissman, research director. “As consumers continue to demand more information and flexibility from their mobile shopping experience, technologies like voice recognition and augmented reality will become must-haves for engagement.”