This study offers innovative insights about the contexts, drivers and barriers to the adoption of digital mobile technologies to support customer tasks in retail contexts. Despite the existence of an ample research about the determinants for the adoption of technologies in service contexts, including studies about the implementation of self-service alternatives, and the use of online channels and mobile shopping, there are still many open questions regarding customer use of mobile technologies in retail, notably for supporting the in-store experience. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap by investigating the nature of the resistance that affects the use of mobile technologies to assist the customer in the service journey that takes place in physical retail contexts. © 2019 International Business Information Management Association (IBIMA).