SAP Engagement Cloud’s latest research reveals a widening gap between the experiences consumers expect and what brands believe they deliver.
New data from the 2026 Engagement Index shows UK consumer expectations have never been higher. More than half (56%) of UK consumers say their favourite brand delivers seamless, connected experiences across channels, while 82% are put off by disorganised interactions that require them to repeat information or be passed between teams.
Yet companies remain confident. Four in five (80%) of UK businesses believe they offer a seamless omnichannel experience. But only one fifth (20%) of companies recognise their experiences still aren’t fully connected — despite consumers making their expectations clear.
At the same time, 45% of consumers say brands “don’t understand them as people.”
This misalignment —consumers feeling the disconnect while most businesses fail to recognise it — is the Engagement Divide. Closing it is critical to creating repeat customers and brand advocates.
Some brands are already closing this gap. For example, Gibson Inc. uses unified data and real‑time engagement to ensure customers receive consistent, connected experiences — the kind consumers say they want.
AI is seen as part of the answer. Four in five (80%) of businesses say AI is essential for retaining customers in 2026. But a third of consumers say their favourite brands use AI in ways that meaningfully improve their interactions.
“Customer expectations are moving at a new speed,” said Sara Richter, CMO, SAP Engagement Cloud. “With AI at their fingertips, people compare, decide, and switch in an instant. Those micro moments now determine whether a brand wins or loses the relationship.”
However, AI can only perform as well as the data behind it, and most organisations are still struggling. Almost two thirds (63%) of UK brands cannot use customer data in real time, 64% say their data is too unstructured, and 71% report ‘dark data’ they cannot access or use effectively.
This creates friction throughout the customer journey and reinforces the Divide.
Closing it requires a shift: treating engagement not just as a marketing function, but as an enterprise-wide discipline. Every team must operate from a shared, real-time understanding of the customer to avoid the fragmented experiences that alienate them.
Businesses recognise this direction. Most (78%) plan to invest in AI-powered engagement platforms in 2026, and almost a third (31%) cite connecting customer and stakeholder data across marketing, sales, service, commerce and ERP systems as their top priority for the year ahead.
“Engagement isn’t something one department can fix,” said Mark Ritson, professor and founder, MiniMBA. “Every team shapes the brand, and real progress happens when they work from the same understanding of the customer. With that shared view, AI can take on the heavy lifting and help deliver the personalised experiences people expect.”
Download the full report:
https://emarsys.com/learn/
