Major retail enterprises face an average content debt burden of $381.3 million (£281.2 million), as outdated digital information puts revenue at risk and requires millions to address, according to research from Storyblok, in collaboration with FT Longitude (part of The Financial Times).
“Content debt” refers to digital information that is outdated, poorly structured, difficult to update or not optimised for search and AI discovery.
Storyblok warns that the issue has become more urgent because AI tools may use outdated content when generating answers, potentially misrepresenting retailers or excluding them from recommendations altogether.
Retailers put 5.5% of revenue at risk
Retail executives estimate that an average of 5.5% of their organisation’s annual revenue is at risk because of content debt.
Businesses also spend an average of $4.5 million attempting to address the problem, equivalent to 33.4% of their total content expenditure.
Retail teams reportedly spend an average of 93.6 hours every week maintaining existing digital content.
More than three-quarters (78%) of respondents said their organisation holds more digital content than it can realistically keep accurate, relevant and up to date.
Meanwhile, 69% said outdated or inconsistent information makes it harder for customers to find, trust or act on their content.
Poor content weakens AI visibility
Six in ten retail executives said poor content quality or structure is weakening their organisation’s visibility across search engines and AI-driven discovery platforms.
A lack of visibility over existing content is also creating a compliance risk, according to 68% of respondents.
Retail leaders recognise the potential commercial value of addressing the problem. Some 85% said improving the quality, structure and governance of their content would deliver measurable business value.
High-quality digital content is also expected to become more important as AI changes how customers find and evaluate retailers. In total, 88% said well-maintained content will be more important to their organisation’s success over the next two years than it has been in the past.
Content debt seen as a technical challenge
More than two-thirds (68%) of retail executives believe improving their content strategy is primarily a technical rather than creative challenge.
The findings suggest that retail teams are being held back by their content management systems and wider technology stacks.
Dominik Angerer, CEO and Co-Founder of Storyblok, said:
“For decades, publishing as much content as possible, hoping it ranks in search, and letting the content and platforms decay has been a business strategy. It felt good at the time, just like loading up a credit card with a bunch of impulsive purchases and not thinking about the true cost of the debt. But now AI has exposed the scope of the problem and it can’t be ignored anymore. The bill is past due.
“In the same way that consumers need to develop a plan to pay off debt, retail brands need a content debt recovery plan that helps them eliminate the content and tech debt that is a burden to their business. The fact that they’re already spending so much time and money maintaining content and it isn’t decreasing the overall effects of content debt in a meaningful way proves that what they’re doing isn’t working.
“The retail companies that audit all of their content, implement new ways of managing it, and measure the results will have confidence that their content is accurate, optimised, visible, and driving revenue in AI and every channel that’s important to them.”
The retail findings form part of a wider survey of 550 senior leaders conducted by FT Longitude in partnership with Storyblok.
The retail sample comprised 117 senior executives, with 66% working in retail and 34% in ecommerce. Respondents worked for organisations with at least $1 billion in annual global revenue and 1,000 employees.
The $381.3 million figure combines estimated revenue at risk with the amount retailers spend correcting and maintaining outdated content.
