TLDR: A recent survey by Brij highlights a significant ‘AI fluency gap’ among retailers, leading to millions in missed opportunities for converting offline customer engagement into online value. While enthusiasm for AI is high, actual adoption and understanding beyond basic generative AI remain shallow, hindering the unification of customer data across channels and impacting measurable ROI from in-store interactions.
NEW YORK CITY, NY – October 1, 2025 – A new report released by Brij, an agentic AI-powered platform, reveals a critical ‘AI fluency gap’ within the retail sector, costing brands millions in potential revenue from missed offline-to-online customer engagement. The survey, titled ‘The AI Fluency Gap: The Hidden Retail Opportunity in Offline-to-Online Engagement,’ surveyed 100 marketing and brand leaders at consumer product companies with revenues ranging from $25 million to over $100 million.
The findings indicate a stark disconnect between retailers’ AI aspirations and their practical ability to unify and activate customer signals across various channels. A staggering 97% of marketers consider offline engagement visibility ‘critical’ or ‘important,’ yet 42% admit they still ‘can’t connect the dots’ from in-store touchpoints to digital journeys and measurable return on investment (ROI).
While AI enthusiasm is prevalent, the survey points to fragmented fluency, adoption, and integration. Eighty-two percent (82%) of marketers report being ‘very familiar’ with generative AI, but this confidence plummets to 38% for agentic AI and a mere 33% for Model Context Protocol (MCP), illustrating a clear ‘fluency cliff.’ Adoption is also patchy; approximately 62% utilize AI for personalization and workflow automation, but 25% are still in the piloting phase, and 11% are merely experimenting with tools like ChatGPT without a clear strategy or measurable impact. Integration challenges are cited by 51% of respondents as the primary roadblock to AI adoption.
Offline interactions remain a significant blind spot for many retailers. Despite 72% running loyalty sign-ups, 57% deploying QR codes, and 40% relying on retailer data-sharing, 23% are unable to personalize follow-ups, and 22% cannot measure the ROI from these efforts.
Kait Stephens, CEO of Brij, commented on the findings, stating, “Retailers aren’t missing data, they’re missing unification. The survey shows retailers are eager and investing, but too many are still stuck in fragmented adoption. Until brands can activate offline engagement with AI, they’ll continue to leave revenue and loyalty on the table.” Brij’s analysis estimates that each unactivated offline customer profile represents a loss of $20 to $100 in customer lifetime value (LTV). For a brand with 250,000 unactivated profiles, this translates to a substantial $5 million to $25 million in missed opportunities.
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The report emphasizes that by closing the offline-to-online gap, retailers can not only capture valuable data but also unlock millions in incremental revenue and build a competitive edge in customer loyalty. Firms leveraging a single, unified cross-channel customer profile have shown a 15% increase in revenue and 20% higher customer retention.
