Sony detects an 11% drop in interest in retail innovation and a sharp rise in negative sentiment toward AI in Europe.
European retail is in the midst of one of the largest technological transformations in decades, with billions invested in AI systems, edge computing, digital signage, and smart in-store infrastructure. However, Sony’s newly published Retail Technology Index 2025 reveals that despite unprecedented investment, shoppers perceive few tangible improvements in stores.
It is important to remember that while e-commerce continues to expand across Europe, physical retail remains the dominant channel, accounting for 84% of total retail sales in the five largest European markets (the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain). This highlights why store transformation is essential to the digital evolution of retail.
Based on 721,000 retail technology conversations and labour market analysis across six major European markets, the index identifies three fundamental gaps —proof, ownership and trust— that prevent digital transformation from delivering measurable results.
The proof gap: shoppers want evidence, not promises
Conversations about customer experience rose 20% year-on-year, but engagement fell 11%, reflecting growing scepticism. Complaints about queues, out-of-stock items and pricing dominate online discussions, highlighting the disconnect between retail technology investment and shopper perception.
AI also generated more than 100,000 mentions, but engagement dropped by over 50%, and AI produced the most negative sentiment of all retail technology topics: 4%, double the average across other pillars. Consumers are increasingly tired of “innovation talk” that delivers no real impact.
Sony’s professional BRAVIA displays demonstrate how data-driven signage and advanced processing can make improvements visible to shoppers — from stock visibility to queue management — effectively closing the proof gap in practice.
The ownership gap: investment without execution
European retail also faces a major leadership challenge. In the UK, ICT leaders account for only 0.1% of retail management hires, compared with 3.3% across the wider economy — a 33x deficit. France and Germany show similar shortages.
Although job postings in retail tech grew 40%, most focus on general infrastructure roles rather than the strategic digital leadership required to scale pilot projects into fully deployed systems.
Sony addresses this gap with interoperable platforms, such as professional BRAVIA displays with zero-touch provisioning and the AITRIOS edge AI platform, designed to integrate seamlessly with existing systems and enable stores to deploy technology without extensive internal technical expertise.
The trust gap: AI under scrutiny
AI is the most visible retail technology —and also the most polarising. Engagement with AI-related content fell 53% across Europe, driven by concerns about privacy, job security and regulatory compliance. The EU AI Act further requires retailers to demonstrate transparency and accountability in all AI-based systems.
Sony’s AITRIOS platform addresses these concerns through edge processing, keeping video on the device and outputting only anonymous metadata, ensuring GDPR compliance and responsible AI deployment.
Country focus: strong intent, uneven execution
The index shows that:
- Spain: shows strong adoption of retail media and in-store experience innovation, but weaker measurement capabilities. The second-highest shortage of ICT managers after the UK (3.7% vs. 15.8%) suggests execution challenges ahead.
- Germany and the UK: high interest in RFID, kiosks and computer vision, but severe shortages of ICT managers.
- France: focused on compliance with the EU AI Act; implementation is likely to be partner-led.
- Italy and Poland: persistent under-representation of ICT managers in retail.
Across Europe, ambition is high, but execution capacity is insufficient, leaving digital transformation stalled in the pilot phase.
What retailers must do now
Sony identifies five priorities for turning ambition into impact:
- Start with what matters: queues, stock availability and shrink reduction.
- Test fast, scale fast: rapidly expand successful pilots.
- Connect, don’t replace: integrate new technologies with existing systems.
- Position compliance as value: communicate privacy protection measures to shoppers.
- Measure performance: track stock, labour efficiency, shrinkage and wait times.
Retailers are not struggling with a lack of innovation, but with a lack of visible progress. Shoppers want evidence that technology is improving their experience today, not promises about tomorrow. Our goal with BRAVIA professional displays and the AITRIOS platform is to help retailers close the gaps in proof, ownership and trust so that digital transformation finally delivers measurable results where it matters most: in the store, said Chris Mullins, Product Marketing Director, Sony Europe Professional Solutions and Displays.
Closing the proof, ownership and trust gaps – and leveraging interoperable platforms like BRAVIA and AITRIOS – is key to turning billions in investment into tangible, measurable in-store results.
