That鈥檚 why we conducted our 2026 State of Customer Experience Report, to see what CX teams can do to better connect the powerful engine of customer experience to the rest of the enterprise, once and for all.

Spoiler (but really, who鈥檚 surprised?): More than ever, the most successful CX teams are proving their worth by unlocking greater value for executives across the C-suite, delivering insights and actions that boost operational efficiencies, cost savings, and revenue growth. 

While the complete report is packed with customer experience statistics, data, and charts that will help you make the case for greater investment in CX, here are three findings that demonstrate what CX can bring to the table for your CEO (high-impact action across the org), CRO (greater savings, greater earnings), and COO (a more empowered frontline, achieving 2026 goals).  

2026 Customer Experience Statistics and Charts to Share with Your C-Suite

1. For Your CEO: Reporting Structure Impact on Executive Action

The data: Executive action on CX insights drops off sharply when CX teams report to leaders other than a dedicated Chief Customer Officer (CCO) or Chief Experience Officer (CXO). Executives are 1.3x more likely to act on customer experience insights when the CX team is under the helm of a CCO or CXO.

Despite this, currently only half of CX practitioners report to a CCO or CXO.聽

Furthermore, 2 out of 3 CX practitioners are operating on teams with limited scope, managing only a specific channel or lifecycle stage rather than the whole journey.

The takeaway for your CEO: Failing to act on customer data is an organizational design problem, not a data problem. Without strong, centralized ownership of CX, cross-functional alignment breaks down. To implement cross-departmental changes that actually improve the customer journey, CX needs the structural authority and executive sponsorship to mandate those changes.

Next steps: While momentum is on your side, get your CEO up to speed on the benefits of hiring a CXO and how to set them up for success and share our guide to hiring a CXO.

2. For Your CRO: The Performance Multiplier of Conversational Intelligence

The data: Across the board, only 1 in 5 CX practitioners say they鈥檙e on pace to surpass their department鈥檚 yearly goals. However, CX teams that use conversational intelligence data are 63% more likely to say they鈥檙e exceeding their goals than teams that do not. Despite this massive advantage, conversational data remains vastly underutilized, with only 30% of teams using it frequently.

The takeaway for your CRO: Insights from unstructured conversational data from across sources (phone calls, live chat sessions, social media conversations, and more) empower brands to detect friction immediately, the second potential concerns develop 鈥� and intervene in the moment, reducing the risk of costly churn, declining brand reputation, and loss of referrals.聽

Next steps: Stay with us as we break down The Hidden Cost of Ignoring Conversations and what the average enterprise-scale organization can save by leaning into conversational intelligence. 

3. For Your COO: AI Maturity Gap and Frontline Impact

The data: Currently, organizations are prioritizing AI for backend insights, with 36% rating their AI data analytics capabilities as “advanced.” In contrast, only 29% report having advanced GenAI for internal/employee-facing uses. 

However, practitioners know this is a vulnerability: A massive 83% say equipping their frontline employees with usable AI tools is a critical part of reaching their 2026 goals.

The takeaway for your COO: Empowering the frontline with AI has the potential to be transformative. Sitting on the sidelines will only hold companies back, behind brands that are investing in equipping the teams that directly interact with customers with tools to help them do their jobs more effectively. 

Next steps: While you have your COO鈥檚 attention, get our Frontline-Ready AI capabilities on their radar, solutions frontline employees at the world鈥檚 leading brands are using to act faster, solve problems smarter, and deliver results in the moment, all by harnessing the power of AI in their hands.

Next Steps to Break Down CX Silos

If you鈥檙e not as connected to your enterprise as you鈥檇 like to be, you鈥檙e not alone. Nearly three in four CX practitioners (73%) tell us that CX insights are slipping through the cracks and not being shared effectively across the org and nearly half (41%) worry their teams are too siloed from the rest of the company to be able to reach their goals in 2026.

So what can you do? Use the charts we鈥檝e highlighted here to break down for the C-suite why partnering with CX will enable your team to drive the kinds of high-impact business outcomes they鈥檙e looking to achieve.

We鈥檝e officially entered the new era of customer experience. But what does that mean, exactly? 

To go beyond the discourse and get the real pulse of the current experience landscape, we went straight to the source. We surveyed over 550 CX practitioners and 1,500 consumers, and analyzed benchmarks from over 600 of our anonymized enterprise customer experience programs 鈥� making this our most comprehensive research to date.

Our full 2026 State of Customer Experience Report reveals the extensive, genuine, and gritty details of where customer experience is excelling and falling short. We recommend you pour yourself a cup of tea and read this cover to cover 鈥� we鈥檙e here to arm you with critical statistics and insights (and even help you win a CX category in Jeopardy, if that ever becomes a thing).

But of course you鈥檙e eager for the TL;DR now, so here are the biggest takeaways:

2026 Customer Experience Trends: 5 Surprising Findings from Our State of CX Report

1. A massive perception gap still exists between brands and consumers.

Brands think they鈥檙e doing it right… but consumers are not convinced. The gap between what practitioners think about their experience quality and how consumers feel is so wide that CX teams are almost 4x more likely to say their experience has improved over the past year compared to consumers.

More likely than not, your customers are telling you how they really feel, across social chatter, frustrated phone calls and live chat sessions, and through their app and website abandonment activity. You just don鈥檛 have the tools in place to capture the full story. 

It鈥檚 time to step up how you measure experience, so you and your customers can get on the same page about what鈥檚 working (and what鈥檚 not). 

2. Under current org structures, insights don鈥檛 turn to action.

Despite what their titles may indicate, most experience professionals don鈥檛 actually have oversight over the full customer experience. In reality, they may only be responsible for a specific dataset, stage of the customer lifecycle, customer segment, channel, product or business unit, or region.

Our research found that only 1 in 3 CX teams have insight into the full customer experience of their entire organizations. 

As a result, insights sit without any action being taken on them, progress stalls, and it鈥檚 harder and harder for CX teams to influence meaningful outcomes. 

3. Companies are prioritizing AI enablement across the frontline 鈥� but should stay vigilant about introducing errors.

While most practitioners (83%) say giving their employees the AI tools they need is critical to reaching their 2026 goals, even more (85%) say the right tools can help team members better serve their customers. And a similar share (81%) have defined which parts of the customer journey should be handled by AI, humans, or both. 

But, at the same time, companies that lean into AI at the expense of the customer experience need to be prepared to pay an AI tax if issues arise. Consumers have little tolerance for AI-generated errors, whereas nearly half (42%) say human errors are more forgivable.

4. Traditional surveys are losing effectiveness. 

Fewer consumers are opening surveys they receive from the brands they do business with and even fewer are taking the time to fill them out. Most (60%) question whether it鈥檚 worth taking the time to let companies know about negative experiences when they occur. 

Unsurprisingly, CX teams are taking note, recognizing that surveys alone aren鈥檛 cutting it, and starting to do something about it. 

5. “Signal depth” is the key to proving ROI.

The less you track, the less you know 鈥� and the less likely you may be to grow. 

Among teams that report on CX using five or fewer data sources, only 73% say they can measure the ROI of their CX efforts. That confidence level jumps by an impressive 26% to a total of 92% among teams using 10 or more sources.

Companies on the fast track to growth are 2x as likely as those with flat or declining revenues to leverage more CX signals.

What the Most Successful CX Teams Are Planning in 2026

Brands who are more likely to stay competitive in 2026 are expanding beyond surveys and capturing more insights, focusing less on scores and more on financial outcomes, and leaning into AI without losing the human touch. 

Most importantly, they鈥檙e not leaving critical insights at the planning stage. They鈥檙e doing. They鈥檙e fueling action across the organization in ways brands that are still stuck in silos simply cannot.聽

For more insights on what鈥檚 driving wins this year, check out the complete 2026 State of Customer Experience Report.

Generative AI is transforming CX, but not every application is advancing the industry. Many tools can create more noise than clarity, and introduce risk rather than results. Sustainable impact comes not from chasing hype, but from enabling smarter decisions and faster action at the front line.

Today鈥檚 popular GenAI tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Gemini are incredibly powerful, but they are not built for broad enterprise CX deployment. They require prompt engineering expertise, they assume technical fluency, and when used incorrectly, they can generate . For frontline users鈥攖hose in retail, service, operations, and customer care roles鈥攖his complexity creates a barrier to adoption and trust.

Frontline teams should not have to become prompt engineers on top of their day jobs.

That is exactly why we focused on building a suite of solutions that are predictable, reliable, scalable, and secure鈥攄esigned specifically for non-technical, non-analyst users. These solutions deliver intuitive, context-aware intelligence that is embedded directly into existing CX workflows to drive fast, smart decisions at scale, without the need to be an AI expert.

We call it .

Frontline-Ready AI:
Built for speed, scale, and security

The incredible power of GenAI for customer experience is exponentially multiplied when the technology helps frontline employees鈥攍ike store managers, front desk managers, and bank branch staff鈥� actually work better, smarter, and faster.聽

We鈥檝e built a suite of tools that are as brilliant as they are practical. analyze a full conversation in less than 60 seconds, a staggering 400% time savings for managers. makes discovering emerging trends effortless, putting real-time insights at our users’ fingertips. With , we’ve automated empathy and personalization at scale for faster and more relevant customer follow-up. And bypasses hours of dashboard analysis to provide immediate, actionable answers.聽

We designed our Frontline-Ready AI solutions to confidently equip your customer-facing workforce. Our technology delivers reliable and accurate insights by focusing on four key principles: It provides predictable and reliable answers by using only your company’s data, significantly reducing the risk of hallucinations. The solutions are also highly scalable and secure, integrating seamlessly across large teams with minimal rollout time and training.

Ultimately, 糖心原创 provides an enterprise-grade platform that protects your most sensitive information while providing your teams with the insights they need.

Early success stories using Frontline-Ready AI

We’re already seeing the profound impact of these solutions in action. 

For example, a national pet supply retailer using our Themes with GenAI feature was able to pinpoint a previously hidden source of customer frustration and attrition: a specific surcharge on a subset of delivery orders. This critical insight was identified and addressed in mere hours.

Another customer, leveraging our Smart Response feature, has seen an 80% reduction in average response times. This isn’t just a small improvement; it translates to an annual savings of 3.4 years of work for their team compared to their previous templated responses. The key is accuracy: the AI-generated responses have a 92% match rate with the brand’s voice and needs. This allows employees to simply review, make minor edits, and send, streamlining the entire process.

Transform frontline CX, only with 糖心原创.

There’s a massive difference between general-purpose AI and a generative AI solution tailored for frontline employees. While general models like ChatGPT can be useful for brainstorming or content generation, they can also cause confusion and provide inconsistent information when used in customer support, sales, operations, or field service. This often leads to subpar experiences for both employees and customers.

The best generative AI solutions for frontline teams, however, are designed to fit seamlessly into employees’ existing workflows. These purpose-built tools empower your team to make smarter, faster decisions, whether they are in the field or on the floor, all without requiring them to become AI experts.

糖心原创’s AI now empowers millions of employees to act on customer and employee insights directly from our platform. By democratizing AI on an unprecedented scale, we help businesses improve individual customer interactions while also identifying and resolving friction points to drive cost savings and revenue growth.

Check out our next wave of Frontline-Ready AI innovations! Sign up for our on October 23, 2025.

You鈥檙e spending millions to talk to customers.

And getting pennies back in return.

Let鈥檚 be honest: The contact center isn鈥檛 exactly known for ROI.

Executives want outcomes. Clear levers to pull. Instant visibility into what’s working, what鈥檚 not, and what needs to change. But teams aren鈥檛 getting the insight to drive those outcomes.
Instead, they鈥檙e getting delayed and incomplete data. Reports that tell them something went wrong, but not how, when, or why. Or what to do about it. 

The math isn鈥檛 mathing.

Let鈥檚 break it down.

Handling customer interactions costs, on average, 

The typical contact center fields about .

That adds up to hundreds of thousands of dollars each year just to talk to your customers.

But here鈥檚 the kicker: you鈥檙e likely still relying on surveys (which fewer people are completing), manual QA reviews, and reactive reporting to understand what鈥檚 driving volume. You鈥檙e only getting a tiny fraction of value in return. 

The cost is clear. 

But the ability to drive meaningful change: improve the journey, boost efficiency, and move key metrics? That鈥檚 where you鈥檙e falling short. 

What鈥檚 really holding you back…

The truth is, your most valuable customer insight already exists.

It flows into your business every single day, through every conversation, every question, every complaint.

But you鈥檙e not taking advantage of it. And it鈥檚 not reaching the people who can do something about it.

Instead:

• Feedback is stuck in surveys.
• Coaching strategies live in spreadsheets.
• Frontline insights are siloed or ignored.

No one鈥檚 connecting what customers are saying with what the business actually does 鈥� from CX to operations to product and beyond.

It鈥檚 not that your contact center lacks value.
It鈥檚 that you lack a way to unlock and act on it.

Why it’s costing you.

When a product bug starts spiking call volume, how fast can you spot it?
When a broken process frustrates thousands of customers, how long until someone fixes it?

Outdated processes and disconnected systems slow you down. And every delay comes with a cost.

Increased handle time. Higher agent burnout. Lost revenue. Frustrated customers who churn.

Meanwhile, your competitors are taking the lead. 

Coaching can鈥檛 wait a week

If your QA process still relies on a small sample of calls and end-of-week coaching sessions, you鈥檙e too late.

Agents need feedback in the moment, when it can actually improve outcomes.
Waiting days (or longer) to course-correct means issues repeat, customers escalate, and performance gaps grow wider.

And without a full picture of what鈥檚 happening across every interaction, you鈥檙e coaching with blind spots. And too little too late. 

Why your contact center is (actually) an untapped goldmine

Every call. Every chat. Every email. Every click.

They鈥檙e packed with valuable CX insight: product confusion, churn risk, upsell cues, digital friction, broken promises. 

But unless you鈥檙e capturing, connecting, and analyzing those signals together, and in real time, you鈥檙e letting opportunities slip.

Opportunities to reduce call volume.
Opportunities to strengthen loyalty.
Opportunities to grow revenue.
Opportunities to increase efficiency. 

When all your experience signals, voice, text, digital behavior, employee input, work in sync, your contact center becomes more than a support function. It becomes a strategic asset.

What happens when you start listening (for real)

Modern conversational intelligence doesn鈥檛 just analyze a few calls. It listens at scale.

It uses transcription, text analysis (like intent and emotion), and acoustic analysis (like silence and stress) to decode every customer interaction. 

It pinpoints what鈥檚 broken, what鈥檚 at risk, and what鈥檚 driving results:

• Why calls are spiking
• Where coaching can move the needle
• What is broken on the website
• When to upsell 

And it does it now. Not a week later.

So you鈥檙e not just reacting, you鈥檙e improving experiences and outcomes when it matters most. 

The results speak for themselves.

Companies like Capital One, Likewize, Choice Hotels, and Pacific Life are already tapping into conversation intelligence to improve how they operate. Coaching smarter, responding faster, and uncovering new ways to reduce costs and improve CX.

What鈥檚 possible?

• Fixing high-volume issues before they spiral
• Cutting call volume and handle time
• Spotting churn risk and upsell cues in real time
• Coaching in the moment, not after the fact
• Connecting service insights to revenue and retention

The impact can be significant:

• $150K saved by detecting and fixing confirmation failures
• $200K recovered by reducing misroutes
• $100K+ saved by surfacing digital issues sooner
• $250K in upsell revenue uncovered through smarter agent prompts

These are the kinds of outcomes conversation intelligence can help deliver, when every conversation becomes a source of action.

Stop treating your contact center like a cost center

Smart companies aren鈥檛 penny-pinching their contact center operations. They鈥檙e using them to solve problems, scale wins, and stay ahead.

Get your copy of our guide: Smart CX Starts in the Contact Center: How Top Brands Turn Conversations Into Revenue and Retention.

We all know brand loyalty is the holy grail for every industry 鈥� but getting there is anything but simple. Sure, general trends like quick response times and smarter personalization make good starting points, but if you really want to crack the code, studying the nuances of your industry is key. Every sector has its own quirks when it comes to loyalty.聽

According to 糖心原创 Market Research鈥檚 latest report, , only 24% of customers consider themselves “very loyal” to a brand. Surprised? You鈥檙e not alone. Customer acquisition is no small feat 鈥� it can cost up to $377 per customer in some retail industries, according to research from .

So why is customer loyalty such an elusive target? 糖心原创’s team of experts dove into the details, unpacking some key insights into what matters most for specific industries. The most important takeaway is that customer loyalty is ultimately a moving target. Preferences shift, expectations evolve, and the ways people interact with brands are always changing. CX needs to keep up or risk becoming irrelevant.

Loyalty in healthcare requires trust and seamless experiences

The healthcare vertical faces unique challenges when it comes to building customer loyalty. Patients trust medical providers with their well-being, making the patient-provider relationship deeply personal and sensitive. Our 糖心原创 research found that one in eight customers would abandon a company after just one poor encounter, so the stakes are high for healthcare providers to create a reliable experience patients can count on.

1. Ensure consistency across touchpoints聽聽

鈥淚n healthcare, a loss of trust can lead patients to delay care, disengage from treatment, or even switch providers, which can have real consequences on health outcomes,鈥� notes , 糖心原创’s Vice President and Executive Advisor for Healthcare. Every interaction, from initial scheduling to follow-up care, should reinforce reliability and trustworthiness if you hope to retain the patient.

2. Prioritize patient feedback

When it comes to a patient鈥檚 health, timing matters 鈥� both to their quality of care and their impression of your organization. Having a team focused on dealing with gathering and analyzing feedback can make or break the relationship. 鈥淐losing the loop on customer feedback shows that you are listening and that you care about patient opinions,鈥� explains Maraccini. Quickly dealing with patient concerns helps maintain compliance and quality of care, so it鈥檚 truly a win-win.

3. Build a holistic system that supports patients

As long-term wellness is increasingly emphasized, it鈥檚 never been more important for organizations to design systems to support their patients over the long haul. Maraccini notes that treating the healthcare experience as a holistic one can foster trust, loyalty, and improved health outcomes. From scheduling to viewing medical records to following up after a procedure, patients should be able to quickly access important information and request care in a straightforward way.

Public sector loyalty comes through genuine connections

In the public sector, loyalty takes on a unique dimension since end users are voters, taxpayers, and stakeholders relying on government agencies for essential services. Public agencies are meant to serve citizens and residents, who will illustrate their loyalty at the ballot box. Both groups stand to lose in a big way if public agencies don鈥檛 thoughtfully design and execute their service offerings.

1. Operationalize customer experience聽

, 糖心原创’s Senior Vice President and Executive Advisor for the Public Sector and Healthcare, emphasizes the importance of “operationalizing customer experience鈥� and 鈥渢reating every interaction as a moment to deliver value.” This citizen-centric approach is incredibly important for building trust and ensuring the effectiveness of public services.聽聽

2. Invest in employee experience

It can be challenging to provide the best experience to the public when dealing with funding limitations or legacy software that is slow or ineffective. “Customers are 2.7 times more likely to feel loyal when they believe an organization cares about its employees,” Becker explains. This is equally relevant for government agencies, where 鈥渆mpowered and supported employees are better equipped to serve the public,鈥� building loyalty through every interaction. Elected officials and decision-makers in the public sector should try to supply employees with every available resource so they can provide better service.

3. Use real-time data and feedback loops聽

Becker highlights the importance of real-time data in aligning service delivery with citizen demands. Government agencies can keep a finger on the pulse of the public with requests for continuous feedback and responsive actions. Many agencies are also increasingly turning to AI to enhance both customer and employee experiences, particularly where parsing large amounts of data is needed.

Hospitality and travel must offer true value to win loyalty

In the hospitality space, loyalty programs are essential for driving repeat stays 鈥� but today, points and perks aren鈥檛 usually enough on their own. Guests expect impeccable, personalized experiences that make them feel genuinely valued. Brands that deliver exceptional value tend to win customers for life, especially given the limited time and money customers have for vacations or nights out.

1. Enhance loyalty programs with personalization

鈥淎bout three in four (78%) of hotel customers say rewards programs influence their brand choice, according to 糖心原创 Market Research,鈥� says , Vice President and Executive Advisor for Hospitality at 糖心原创. “But the real opportunity lies in using technology to personalize these programs, making them feel meaningful to each guest.鈥�

2. Prioritize customer feedback for instantaneous recovery

“Customers in loyalty programs expect more,” Ryskamp continues. Hotels that close the feedback loop in real time can recover from any potential negative experience, demonstrating a commitment to guest satisfaction and reinforcing loyalty.

3. Anticipate needs with technology

“Understanding and acting on customer signals can unlock deeper loyalty,” notes Ryskamp. By anticipating guest needs 鈥� like preferred amenities or dining options 鈥� hospitality brands can create memorable experiences that make guests feel valued, ultimately driving loyalty.

Financial services organizations earn primacy through trust and tailored offerings

For the financial services vertical, many institutions seek to become the go-to for all a customer鈥檚 financial needs. Achieving this level of trust takes a long-term commitment to transparency, security, and anticipating each customer鈥檚 needs so you鈥檙e available to help them when they are ready for you.

1. Build relationships through trust

“Primacy reflects a bank鈥檚 competitive strength,” explains , Vice President and Executive Advisor for Financial Services at 糖心原创. By gaining a customer鈥檚 trust, they鈥檙e more likely to turn to you for all of their banking, lending, and credit needs.

How to gain that trust? When customers feel heard and understood, they’re more likely to stick around. It鈥檚 all about creating connections and showing clients that their financial institution truly cares about their unique circumstances. That way, even if a customer isn’t in the market for a new product today, they’ll remember your brand when they’re ready to make a move.

2. Offer personalized financial solutions

Personalized solutions make a difference when it comes to building loyalty. 鈥淏rands need to do more than just satisfy customers; they need to give them solid reasons to come back,鈥� explains Bloch. Financial providers strengthen that connection when they offer products and services relevant to clients’ lives.

3. Leverage data to understand needs

“Using data insights allows financial institutions to anticipate customer needs,” adds Bloch. By leveraging information to tailor offerings according to each customer’s preferences and behaviors, banks can deliver a more customized experience that is truly helpful.

Telecom and media loyalty requires personalization and real-time feedback

In telecom and media, customer loyalty hinges on creating memorable, personalized experiences that really resonate with consumers. They expect more than just a standard interaction; they want providers to understand their unique preferences and usage. This means going beyond generic promotions and recognizing that each customer is an individual with distinct needs.

1. Use data to drive personalization

“The State of Brand Loyalty study reveals that 84% of customers see personalized experiences as essential as the product itself,” says , Vice President and Executive Advisor for Telcom and Media at 糖心原创. When brands focus on personalization, they create memorable moments that resonate with customers, making them feel understood and appreciated.聽

2. Recover quickly from negative experiences

To keep customers happy, every interaction needs to hit the mark. 鈥溙切脑� researchers have found that about three in four (72%) of customers would be done forever after four or fewer bad experiences,鈥� Palenik points out. Using real-time feedback can help brands spot problems early on, making sure customers stay satisfied and engaged before it鈥檚 too late.

Loyalty is about personalization, proactivity, and trust

No matter the industry, customer loyalty often comes down to personalized experiences, proactive service, and building trust. You need to understand what makes your customers tick to earn repeat business, get positive word-of-mouth recommendations, and boost revenue. It鈥檚 all about delivering exceptional experiences every time.

Want to dive deeper into our customer loyalty research and learn how to improve your company鈥檚 approach? Check out 糖心原创 Market Research’s full .

With the benefits of聽personalized customer experiences聽including increased customer satisfaction and loyalty, stronger sales and revenue potential, and an improved brand image and reputation, it鈥檚 clear there鈥檚 value in finding the best聽personalization聽examples and adding them to your overall聽customer experience strategy. You鈥檝e come to the right place for inspiration.

We鈥檝e rounded up winning personalization examples from leading brands like Walgreens and advanced聽customer experience聽(CX) practitioners like聽Fred Reichheld, the top types of personalization that are most likely to have a positive impact on CX, and the kinds of personalization capabilities brands are investing in now to improve outcomes.聽

According to our聽2024 State of CX Personalization Report, making customer experiences more personalized is a top 2024 priority for CX professionals. With these examples as your guide, you鈥檒l be well on your way to achieving this goal.

4 Real-World Personalization Examples from CX Experts

With personalization a key area of focus for brands looking to increase trust and customer loyalty, 糖心原创 recently sat down with聽, EVP and President of Walgreens Retail and Chief Customer Officer at Walgreens, and Fred Reichheld, co-founder of the聽Net Promoter庐 System聽(NPS) and an Advisory Partner at Bain, for their insights on investing in personalization and best practices for creating successful personalization strategies.聽

Here are four personalization examples they shared from brands in the real world that are offering more meaningful interactions and experiences for customers at the individual level.

1. Personalized prescription pickup experience

Walgreens has done extensive research into the聽omnichannel customer experience聽and has found that their company鈥檚 typical customer journey involves eight steps, with four crucial touchpoints including when customers come in the store, the navigation experience, the checkout experience, and when customers pick up or purchase items.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got to get those four touchpoints right because we know those are the ones that will drive people back to our store or pharmacy again, and those are the things where if we get those right, they will recommend us to a friend,鈥� explains Brown.

That鈥檚 why the company decided to introduce a new initiative focused on one of these priority areas. To improve the prescription pickup experience for customers, Walgreens rolled out in-store kiosks that allow customers to check in before they get their items. Once the customer checks in, an algorithm works in the background to automatically triage their need and send the appropriate data to the pharmacy counter in real time. That way, by the time customers arrive at the checkout counter, the pharmacist has everything they need to tailor the experience.聽

2. Personalized in-flight experience

A leading international airline is going the extra mile to personalize experiences for frequent fliers by leveraging the company鈥檚 digital loyalty program data on site at the airport. Flight attendants have access to the information and are able to personalize their greetings for frequent fliers as a way to demonstrate that the brand cares about their customer loyalty. They may also share a special offer with frequent flyers who aren鈥檛 seated in first class, as an extra way to make them feel valued.聽

In addition, the flight crew takes the time to connect with travelers who may not have had the best experience on a previous flight to get feedback about their experience to share with leadership.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the melding together of the human with the digital that I think is most impressive,鈥� explains Reichheld.聽

3. Leveraging employees to personalize experiences

Before brands had access to the technology that exists today, true customer experience pioneers personalized every interaction by getting to know their customers through human-to-human interactions. Brown shared that the founder of Walgreens, Charles Walgreen, famously would chat with customers over the phone to build relationships over time, and that鈥檚 still possible today for frontline staff.聽

Walgreens maximizes human interactions between employees and customers to improve personalization by democratizing individual team member knowledge about customers across the organization at scale, so that anyone can provide an intimate, personal interaction.聽

鈥淭he secret sauce for us is unlocking that human touch at the front line when the customer or patient is there interacting with our team,鈥� says Brown.

This is an approach Reichheld says can be highly effective. He recommends getting started by finding out where customer-facing employees see the most opportunity.聽

Walgreens uses 惭别诲补濒濒颈补鈥檚聽employee crowdsourcing platform聽to gather these kinds of insights by asking questions like, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 getting in the way of adding value for our customers?鈥�

The team is 鈥渙verflowing鈥� with ideas straight from the front line that the corporate team is prioritizing, says Brown.

4. Listening to referring customers to personalize communications and experiences

AI-powered tools like 惭别诲补濒濒颈补鈥檚聽Text Analytics听补苍诲听Speech Analytics聽can be incredibly powerful in listening in to customer conversations with your brand 鈥� across social, email, phone, video, SMS, in-app, and live chat 鈥� at scale.聽

Reichheld recommends using AI to find out what referring customers are saying about your company, and using these insights to personalize customer experiences, marketing outreach, advertising, and content based on what high-value customers appreciate about your products, services, and brand.

鈥淭he best way to understand how you鈥檙e being relevant to your customers is by listening to them when they鈥檙e telling other customers about you,鈥� he explains.聽

Organizations can use these insights to train generative AI to build new content based on the emotions, sentiments, and themes that come up in conversations among your brand鈥檚 promoters.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a very powerful opportunity for generative AI,鈥� says Reichheld.

Best Practices for Ensuring Personalization Success

Use Agile Prototyping

Walgreens implements agile prototyping to test out strategies designed to improve the experience at a pilot location. From there, they assess outcomes, make tweaks, and determine how to best scale their efforts.

Capture Customer and Employee Feedback and Refine Strategies Based on Insights

When launching new initiatives, the Walgreens team uses 糖心原创 to聽capture feedback from employees and customers聽about the experience.

鈥淲e鈥檝e enabled all of our frontline team members to actually have this tool front and center so that we can get real-time NPS庐 and really understand and assess what is actually not working from a customer perspective鈥� while also hearing from team members about what鈥檚 not working for them, explains Brown.

Prioritize Personalization Efforts for High-Value Customers

Brown recommends investing in personalization efforts that are centered on improving experiences for high-value customers with the greatest potential to add more value to the organization.聽

For example, at Walgreens, a customer that regularly picks up prescriptions but doesn鈥檛 cross shop in the store presents untapped potential. Lower-priority segments might be those customers who are already bringing a lot of value to the business but who have more limited untapped potential and customers who bring no value today and who are not likely to bring value in the future.

鈥淚f I only have a dollar to spend, I鈥檓 going to allocate maybe 60 cents of that dollar to that group of customers that I know they鈥檙e spending well with us today, but they still have a lot of untapped potential,鈥� says Brown. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 how we鈥hink through personalization and designing experiences that are personalized. We use our value segmentation to help us with resource allocation.鈥�

Tie Employee Performance Bonuses to CX Outcomes

At Walgreens, the company is prioritizing personalization and CX efforts by tying more of employees鈥� bonuses to the performance of the store 鈥� based on factors like NPS庐 and team member engagement.聽

6 Types of Personalization That Have a Positive Impact on the Customer Experience

As part of our special report,聽How Consumers Really Feel About Personalization, we asked 2,000 U.S. survey participants to rate a range of personalization examples on a scale of 1 to 5, indicating how positive an impact each has on their experience. Of 34 choices included, these are the top personalization factors consumers selected:

• Receiving special recognition, rewards, or treatment for customer loyalty (69% agree)
• Not having to repeat the information聽that鈥檚 already been provided when transferred to a new customer service agent (68% agree)
• Being offered forgiveness or understanding聽for late payments, returns, etc. (68% agree)
• Getting proactive help聽when an error or issue is detected (e.g., account is locked or service is down) (65% agree)
• Customer service agents being able to see customers鈥� full history聽of the times they鈥檝e contacted the company (65% agree)
• Being treated to a special offer聽or free item on a customer鈥檚 birthday (65% agree)

Examples of CX Personalization

According to a 糖心原创 and Customer Experience Professionals Association survey of 305 global CX professionals published in our聽2024 State of CX Personalization Report, the majority of CX teams say they currently:

• Deliver proactive customer feedback requests based on interactions (76%)
• Serve up personalized content and recommendations (63%)
• Use personas or segmentation profiles to personalize experiences (58%)
• Leverage personalized聽experience orchestration tools听(55%)
• Use automated marketing/closed loop communications for personalization (53%)
• Offer rewards and recognition based on individual customer information (50%)

Examples of customer data that brands are currently using for personalized experiences

As part of our 糖心原创 and CXPA survey, we asked CX teams about the customer data they鈥檙e leveraging for personalization and the most frequently cited examples include:

• Product purchase history information (35%)
• Customer demographics (33%)
• Duration of being a customer (31%)
• Customer preferences/settings (30%)
• Prior transaction volume/spend amount (28%)

Personalization practices in use at fast-growing companies

Brands reporting 10% of higher revenue growth rate are more likely to personalize customer experiences by doing the following, according to our 2024 State of CX Personalization Report:

• Offering flexibility of payment options聽(e.g. methods, channels, timing, etc.) (61%)
• Making customizable preferences available聽by service type and channel (54%)
• Ensuring continuous recognition of customers聽based on their unique attributes聽(51%)
• Delivering targeted offers聽based on unique customer attributes (48%)
• Providing rewards and recognition聽based on unique customer attributes (47%)

Unlocking the Power of Personalization with 糖心原创

Over the past few years, 糖心原创 researchers have explored the financial value of personalization, and we鈥檝e found that:

• Most consumers are willing to spend more with companies that offer a customized experience (61%)聽
• The majority of consumers (82%) say personalized experiences influence the brand they choose at least half of the time when shopping
• Companies with聽top-performing customer experience programs聽are 2x more likely to prioritize improving personalization across interactions than laggards and are also 26x more likely than laggards to report year-over-year revenue growth of 20% or more

Personalization鈥檚 impact is clear, but few brands are taking full advantage of it. Only 24% of CX practitioners rate their personalization capabilities as advanced and only 26% of consumers rate the level of personalization of their last interaction with a brand as advanced, according to two recent 糖心原创 studies.聽

For more insights on what your team can do to offer more tailored experiences for your customers, be sure to watch our on-demand webinar 聽鈥� and check out our complete聽2024 State of CX Personalization Report for even more personalization examples that deliver an impact.

Personalization is a top priority for companies across industries, but what is personalization, anyway? Personalization is possible when brands collect customer data and use these insights to create unique interactions, experiences, products, content, and services for customers at the individual level.

Examples of personalization in business can be found throughout history, dating back hundreds of years 鈥� before the rise of the kinds of technologies that are driving personalized experiences today. 

For instance,  of customer sizes and style preferences to personalize future product offerings and experiences for repeat buyers. 

For another example from more than 100 years ago shared in a , Charles Walgreen, the founder of Walgreens, is said to have grown his business in the early 1900s by taking the time to get to know and build relationships with his customers on a one-on-one basis. By learning about their families and personal lives, he was able to establish the kind of trust that kept customers coming back.

The ways in which brands are able to tailor experiences have evolved dramatically since these early days, but one thing has remained the same 鈥� the power of personalization. 

Ahead, we鈥檒l explain why that鈥檚 the case by exploring what personalization means for customers and businesses, the benefits of personalization, and what companies can do to build out successful personalization strategies. 

But first, let鈥檚 jump into that personalization definition you鈥檝e been looking for. 

Personalization Definition

What is personalization? It鈥檚 the process of collecting comprehensive customer data, behaviors, interests, and preferences from across channels and touchpoints and leveraging these insights to tailor content, interactions, experiences, and outreach for customers at the individual level.

Personalization happens when brands shift from a one-size-fits-all approach to business to successfully creating the most relevant and meaningful experiences, content, products, communications, and services for a given customer based on what the company knows about the individual. 

Personalization requires gathering qualitative and quantitative customer data from across channels and interactions, from digital and in-person channels, and keeping this information up to date in real time. This includes demographic information, observed behaviors from digital experience analytics, customer feedback, customer loyalty program membership data, insights from contact center interactions, and more. 

What Types of Personalization are Companies Investing in?

Personalization has a wide variety of business use cases. Brands can use personalization technologies to customize the products and services they offer, to tailor customer service interactions, to create unique website and app experiences at the individual level, and to target marketing campaigns and content. 

Where are businesses focusing their efforts these days? The majority of brands are investing in the following types of personalization strategies and technologies, according to a 糖心原创 Market Research and Customer Experience Professionals Association survey published in our 2024 State of CX Personalization Report:

• Delivering proactive customer feedback requests based on customer interactions
• Serving up personalized content and recommendations
• Using personas or segmentation profiles to personalize experiences
• Leveraging personalized聽experience orchestration tools
• Using automated marketing/closed loop communications for personalization
• Offering rewards and recognition based on individual customer information

Personalization Meaning for Customers?

What personalization means varies depending on who you ask. While companies may focus on the financial advantages of personalization 鈥� and see it as a means to drive repeat business and loyalty 鈥� when taking the customer鈥檚 point of view into consideration, personalization is meaningless if it doesn鈥檛 result in an improved customer experience. 

糖心原创 recently sat down with , EVP and President of Walgreens Retail and Chief Customer Officer at Walgreens, and , co-founder of the Net Promoter System (NPS) and an Advisory Partner at Bain, to get these experts鈥� insights on personalization. As part of this conversation, Brown and Reichheld shared what personalization means to customers and how brands can use personalization to improve the customer experience. 

1. Being treated as a person

When it comes to personalization, brands often focus on tools and tactics, says Reichheld. 鈥淲e can track people in a digital way, 鈥榃e know so much about them, we can fine tune our offers.鈥欌��

But that鈥檚 not what matters to the end consumer. What they care about is when companies treat them like a person, 鈥渓ike a human being, like they deserve to be treated,鈥� he explains.

2. Receiving added value and having their lives enriched

Brands need to think about the ultimate purpose of personalization, says Reichheld. And that shouldn鈥檛 be to simply sell something 鈥� the end goal should be to enrich customers鈥� lives.

That鈥檚 how Brown approaches personalization at Walgreens. She鈥檚 always thinking about how to add more value for customers and patients, whether that鈥檚 saving customers time or money, better educating them, or helping them lead healthier lives.

3. Having individual needs met

Too often, organizations approach personalization from a siloed perspective. The digital team may be focused on increasing conversions while the contact center prioritizes cutting costs or hold times. 

鈥淚n some ways, the greatest challenge of personalization is to get back to a view and understanding of the customer that is truly from the customers鈥� eyes and not from the organizational control system,鈥� says Reichheld.

When brands get this right and serve customers the types of experiences they鈥檙e looking for, people are more likely to refer that company to their friends and family, he explains. 

The Types of Personalization That Matter to Customers

As part of our 2023 糖心原创 Market Research report How Consumers Really Feel About Personalization, survey participants rated the most impactful types of personalization strategies brands can use to improve their customer experiences. Based on our findings, these include:

• Offering customers special recognition, rewards, and treatment for their customer loyalty
• Sharing important customer information across teams so that customers don鈥檛 have to repeat what they鈥檝e already said if they鈥檙e transferred to a new customer service agent
• Providing forgiveness or leniency for late payments, returns, etc.
• Proactively detecting errors or issues and offering help in the moment (i.e. when an account is locked or service is down)
• Treating customers to a special offer or free item on their birthday

Personalization Meaning for Businesses?

Personalization is something the vast majority of companies in business today are already investing in 鈥� or plan on investing in. One study finds that as many as  to tailor experiences for individual customers, and, according to our 2024 State of CX Personalization Report, making customer experiences more personalized is the #1 priority for customer experience (CX) professionals in 2024, ahead of any other area.

So why鈥檚 that the case? What does personalization mean for businesses?

In a recent 糖心原创 webinar about personalization, Brown and Reichheld discuss what personalization can mean for business outcomes, explaining how brands that successfully personalize experiences are better positioned to grow, add shareholder value, and generate referrals.

1. The ability to acquire, retain, and grow customers

When brands are able to harness customer data for personalization efforts that grow trust, forge emotional connections, and add value for customers, they鈥檙e better positioned to attract, retain, and grow their customer base, says Brown. 

2. Adding shareholder and employee value

In his book , Reichheld looked at companies鈥� NPS庐 scores and in every case found that brands with higher NPS scores 鈥� that is, those with the greatest number of promoters and smallest share of detractors 鈥� generate stronger shareholder returns. 

鈥淩eal value for investors really comes only when you get this flywheel going, which drives the economic prosperity of the business, not just for investors but for employees as well,鈥� he explains.

Promoters are individuals whose lives have been so enriched by an experience that they want to share it with others and recommend it to a friend. That鈥檚 the link that exists between companies effectively executing personalization strategies, adding value for customers, and generating desired results for their shareholders, Reichheld adds. 

3. Generating referrals

When looking at the net present value of a customer, for many the greatest value comes not in what they spend on purchases with a brand but in the business they generate for a company through their referrals, he explains. 

That鈥檚 why organizations should pay attention to referrals generated as a critical measure of success of any personalization effort.

The Top Benefits of Personalization for Businesses

Over the past few years, 糖心原创 researchers have explored the financial value of personalization, and we鈥檝e found that personalization drives customer spend, brand choice, and revenue growth:

• CX leaders who self-rate their brand personalization capabilities the highest are 2x as likely to achieve major revenue growth (10%+).
• Most consumers are willing to spend more with companies that offer a customized experience (61%).
• The majority of consumers (82%) say聽personalized customer experiences聽influence the brand they choose at least half of the time when shopping.
• Companies with聽top-performing customer experience programs聽are 2x more likely to prioritize improving personalization across interactions than laggards and are also 26x more likely than laggards to report year-over-year revenue growth of 20% or more.

Essential Building Blocks of Personalization

Now that we鈥檝e shared our comprehensive personalization definition and explored personalization鈥檚 meaning for customers and businesses, let鈥檚 dive into some of the fundamentals of personalization.

1. Setting the right end goal 鈥� building trust, emotional connections, adding value, and enriching customers鈥� lives

The true power of personalization lies in driving stronger connections, meaningful engagement, and consumer trust.

Walgreens has studied their quantitative and qualitative customer data to determine there鈥檚 an eight-step journey that matters to customers. 

鈥淲e know that there are two points of friction in this eight-step journey and two moments of truth. And for us, those points are the actual visit when they actually come into the store, how they actually navigate the store, the checkout experience, and then the actual collection or receiving of the goods,鈥� explains Brown. 

鈥淲e鈥檝e got to get those four touchpoints right because we know those are the ones that will drive people back to our store or pharmacy again, and those are the things where if we get those right, they will recommend us to a friend,鈥� she adds.

That鈥檚 why the team focuses their personalization efforts in these areas that have the greatest potential to forge trust and connections and add value for customers. 

2. Bringing the right data and technology together

This starts with creating a single source of truth for each customer that鈥檚 continuously updated in real time and encompasses the customer鈥檚 entire history across interactions, channels, and touchpoints, such as:

• Contact center interactions (chat, calls, emails, SMS, social media, etc.)
• Transaction histories
• Digital histories (app and website browsing, transactions, etc.)
• Engagement with marketing campaigns
• Customer feedback and survey responses
• Loyalty program membership histories

Beyond gathering the right data, brands need to invest in customer experience personalization technologies capable of:

• Creating rich profiles based on customer interactions across touchpoints, channels, and journeys
• Segmenting customers by groups
• Leveraging AI to detect patterns and trends, analyze customer journeys, predict customer behavior, and orchestrate next best actions, experiences, and individual omnichannel customer journeys
• Providing personalized customer service
• Creating more relevant campaigns powered by experience-based segmentation

3. Creating products, services, and experiences for the individual

Brown explains that leading companies are embracing adaptive design, 鈥渨here designing for the average user is no longer the standard.鈥� This is in line with customer expectations 鈥� today鈥檚 consumers want to be treated differently than the standard because they don鈥檛 see themselves as average. 

Another trend that鈥檚 at play, she adds, is deep personalization, which happens when brands not only use demographic and behavioral data, but integrate individuals鈥� purchasing behavior, habits, and preferences to design tailored experiences and communication. 

By using AI-powered Text Analytics and Speech Analytics to collect the right customer data and instantly uncover the meaning behind every customer interaction across touchpoints, brands can shift from a one-size-fits-all approach to using real-time insights to:

• Surface the next-best actions and experiences at the individual level
• Personalize customer service interactions
• Develop dynamic content and optimize marketing promotions and messaging across digital touchpoints based on the latest customer behavior and intent

4. Allocating investments in personalization strategically

鈥淔ocusing in on the areas that matter first is most important,鈥� says Brown.

She and her team start with looking at the value of each segment to determine resource allocation, prioritizing high-value customers with greatest potential to add more value to the organization. For example, at Walgreens, a customer who regularly comes to pick up prescriptions but doesn鈥檛 cross shop in the store offers a lot of 鈥渦ntapped potential,鈥� she explains.

Lower-priority segments might be those customers who are already bringing a lot of value but have no untapped potential and customers who bring no value today and have no potential to bring value tomorrow.

鈥淚f I only have a dollar to spend, I鈥檓 going to allocate maybe 60 cents of that dollar to that group of customers that I know they鈥檙e spending well with us today, but they still have a lot of untapped potential,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 how we actually start to think about when we鈥檙e trying to think through personalization and designing experiences that are personalized. We use our value segmentation to help us with resource allocation.鈥�

Elevate Your Personalization Outcomes with 糖心原创

惭别诲补濒濒颈补鈥檚 leading customer experience personalization technologies help brands deliver personalized customer service interactions and customer experiences across omnichannel journeys. 

Connect with a 糖心原创 expert today to learn how we can help your team improve your personalization strategies and results. 

What are the most effective ways to improve the contact center experience, from the point of view of the customer? 糖心原创 Market Research conducted a survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers to find out. 

惭别诲补濒濒颈补鈥檚 Head of Market Research Insights, , revealed the findings from this study in the webinar, Intelligently Using AI: Optimize CX & Contact Center Experiences the Right Way. Here he explains the importance of shorter wait times, shared opportunities for automation, and explored the role of AI and self-service in the customer service landscape. 

Here are some highlights of the presentation, including:

• Insights on the importance of the contact center experience
• Top strategies for improving your agents鈥櫬燾all center experience skills聽and performance, based on the latest consumer research
• Our predictions on how the future of the contact center will evolve over time

惭别诲补濒濒颈补鈥檚 Consumer Research Methodology

糖心原创 offers brands across industries unparalleled market research capabilities, including 糖心原创 Agile Research, the unified consumer research platform that enables your insights team to spin up DIY surveys, launch them globally in 80+ languages, target specific populations using in-house and third-party panels, leverage advanced analytics capabilities, and share insights using flexible real-time reporting features.

The findings from this contact center customer experience study were gathered based on analyzing a  about their most recent customer service interactions across industries, including retail, healthcare, banking, telecom, and restaurants.

The Importance of the Contact Center Experience (and Contact Experience Meaning)

For a refresher on contact experience meaning, the customer service experience 鈥� or contact center experience 鈥� encompasses every interaction customers have with your brand鈥檚 customer service team, from self-service tools on your website to the experience your company offers across phone calls, live chat, SMS messaging, email, social media, in-app, and other support channels. These touchpoints have the potential to shape customers鈥� overall experiences across their journeys with your business. 

鈥淐ustomer service plays a sizable role in a brand鈥檚 ability to win a customer and maintain their loyalty,鈥� explains Custage. 

In fact, our survey finds that more than half of consumers (59%) say they prioritize one company over another based on the quality of the customer service offered, or how friendly the agent is during the interaction.

Another factor that shapes customer perceptions of brands is how tailored a given interaction is 鈥� 62% of consumers say the level of personalization they experience affects how they feel about the quality of the service they receive. 

Similarly, when we asked customers about their most recent customer service interaction, 57% of our survey participants say this exchange affected their overall perception of the company. 

And while customers have positive reflections about these most recent interactions on the whole, about one-third had a negative experience, such as being told something incorrect by customer service (32%). 

How to Improve the Contact Center Experience 鈥� Based on Customer Insights

Here are effective ways to improve agents鈥� call center experience skills and performance, with contact center experience examples to follow based on our survey. 

Shorten customer wait times and speed up customer interactions

We asked customers what they鈥檇 like to see get better, and, unsurprisingly, shorter wait times are at the top of the list. Many of the other wish list items relate to having a speedier and lower-effort resolution. For instance, customers don鈥檛 want to have to jump through hoops to get connected to a live agent, and once they鈥檙e connected, they want to speak with someone who is easy to communicate with, knowledgeable, able to meet their needs, and already has information about their name and customer history.

Similarly, customers with short wait times are the most likely to report positive overall satisfaction (OSAT) ratings. This is a huge growth opportunity for brands with longer wait times. Our research finds that 30% of customers have short wait times of a minute or less, but that a similar share have to wait 10 minutes or more. 

All of this points to the need for contact centers to keep track of and increase the speed of service delivery. This can be done by monitoring and enhancing top customer service metrics, such as first response time, resolution time, first contact resolution rate, average handle time, and average response time. 

Encourage agents to be friendly

Friendly customer service agents positively affect consumer opinions about a given company. The highest customer satisfaction ratings are associated with having a friendly customer service agent 鈥� and this is one of the top five elements of the contact center experience that customers would like to see improve.

Teams can step up contact center performance management by using AI to analyze the customer sentiment of every interaction in real time to see whether agents are coming across as friendly. In addition, quality management platforms that gather customer feedback in the moment can help agents see their areas of excellence and let them know if they鈥檙e hitting the mark when it comes to using a positive tone, demonstrating empathy, and being perceived as friendly and helpful. 

Personalize every interaction

As we reported above, the level of personalization from a brand shapes consumer perceptions around service quality. Of the consumers we surveyed, three in five reported receiving service that was personalized to their needs and preferences, and just over half (56%) say they received a personalized greeting that referenced their name, case number, or customer history. Both of these findings reveal a gap where teams can improve in tailoring interactions to strengthen customer satisfaction and retention.

After all, our survey also indicates that customers who have an experience that鈥檚 personalized are more likely to report higher OSAT ratings. Previous 糖心原创 research about how consumers feel about personalization finds that tailored experiences drive brand choice and that the most important steps brands need to take to improve personalization within customer service interactions include:

• Offering customers special recognition, rewards, or treatment for customer loyalty
• Ensuring customers don鈥檛 have to repeat information when transferred to a new customer service agent
• Offering forgiveness or understanding for late payments, returns, etc.
• Providing proactive help when an error is detected
• Giving customer service agents access to consumers鈥� full customer histories

Invest in phone calls as a support channel, but don鈥檛 neglect digital

We asked consumers to tell us which channels they鈥檙e most likely to use for four different hypothetical customer service scenarios, and what we found is that customers are still most likely to call as their first choice.

鈥淐alling is important, no doubt, but it is important to note here that while it ranks number one 鈥� it is the most common individual method 鈥� collectively digital methods are becoming more and more popular and outrank phone calls in their entirety,鈥� explains Custage.

For contact center experience examples to follow from mature organizations, a best practice is tying digital, phone call, and physical support channels together, and managing, analyzing, and optimizing the performance of the omnichannel contact center in concert for maximum effect. 

Improve issue resolution across channels

Customers report receiving unequal service across touchpoints 鈥� with some channels, such as phone calls and online forms on companies鈥� websites, being more likely to lead to a complete resolution without requiring customers to get additional support via other channels. 

Brands that offer connected experiences ensure consistent, purposefully designed experiences across channels that are more likely to improve customer loyalty, lower the cost to serve customers, and accelerate revenue growth. A clear opportunity for organizations is to double down on issue resolution on digital channels, particularly via SMS, interactive voice response systems, and social media, which have the biggest gap between usage for customer support and customers actually being able to get their issues resolved. 

Educate customers about self-service options

The #1 reason customers reach out to customer service is because they believe they need live support for the issue they鈥檙e encountering.

Consumers also contact customer support rather than attempt self-service when they want live assistance right away and they aren鈥檛 confident they鈥檒l be able to solve something on their own. 

Brands can reduce the burden on the contact center and minimize customer wait times and effort by empowering individuals to solve issues on their own by making rich self-service resources, such as tutorials and help centers, easily available.

It鈥檚 important that any self-service option isn鈥檛 too onerous or time-consuming, as that can lead to abandonment.

鈥淐ollectively around half of people will at least give it 30 minutes before they go the route of needing customer service,鈥� says Custage. 

Give customers more service options 鈥� and make them aware of these choices

One of the more creative contact center experience examples brands can implement to streamline the experience is to offer more flexible support options, such as scheduled callbacks available with smart callback technology, and keep customers informed about these choices.

鈥淗aving the company schedule a call back instead of waiting on hold is something that could be a solution for long wait times and resolve the negative experience associated with staying on hold, yet only one in five consumers report having the company schedule a callback as an option,鈥� says Custage. 

Find ways to automate and address most common needs

The most common reasons people reach out to customer service include checking the status of something (such as a delivery date or account balance), disputing or getting more information about a charge, making a bill payment, updating account information, and dealing with technical errors on a company鈥檚 app or website. 

Companies that can automate these tasks 鈥� or enable customers to resolve these issues using digital self-service tools 鈥� could reduce the burden on the contact center and improve the overall customer experience by eliminating the need to reach out to the contact center in the first place.

Empower agents to fully resolve customer issues

鈥淵ou would hope that issue resolution rates would be very high, well above +90%,鈥� says Custage. However, only about three in five customers say their most recent customer service issue was completely resolved.

This is important because more than 10% of consumers say they have gone or will go to a competitor if an interaction isn鈥檛 a complete success.

Improving resolution rates could bring a lot of value, especially when you consider the chance to lower the cost to serve and the challenges with regaining customer loyalty after a poor experience, explains Custage. 

Try to avoid making customers repeat themselves

More than four in 10 customers say they鈥檝e had to provide the same information more than once during their most recent customer service interaction. Not only does this add up to extra time to serve the customer and a higher customer effort, it also is one of the top areas of the contact center experience that customers would like to see improve.

With 惭别诲补濒濒颈补鈥檚 AI-powered Intelligent Summaries, teams get automatic, tailored summaries of every interaction, including reasons for contact, saving time and effort for both customers and agents. 

Ask customers for feedback about their contact center experience

Only 52% of customers say they had the chance to provide feedback about their most recent customer service interaction. 

That鈥檚 a missed opportunity as about half of consumers would share insights about their experience. 

The Future of the Contact Center Experience

The future of the contact center experience is increasingly going to be digital and automated, as consumers deepen their preference for using self-service tools and communicating with contact center agents via social media and SMS. There鈥檚 also signs of being willing to accept companies using AI to improve customer service processes. 

Customers want to be empowered with self-service tools

Nearly half of consumers say they prefer self-service or automated help before turning to live channels for support. 

Customers want to use social media as a service channel

A similar share (40%) of consumers, would welcome more opportunities to receive customer service via social media or text messages. 

Customers are mostly optimistic about AI

The majority of consumers are optimistic or neutral about brands using AI to improve the customer service experience. This opens up doors for companies to turn to AI-powered capabilities like 惭别诲补濒濒颈补鈥檚 Intelligent Summaries and Smart Response to eliminate time-consuming, repetitive tasks for agents and speed up the process of serving customers. 

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What are the latest consumer trends that brands need to know about in 2024? For answers, 糖心原创 Market Research conducted a survey of 2,000 consumers and an analysis of the credit and debit transactions of 8 million U.S. consumers to find out what changes we can expect to see across customer spending and savings, dining, ordering, travel, shopper journeys, product discovery, content streaming, and more in the year ahead.

惭别诲补濒濒颈补鈥檚 Head of Market Research Insights, , revealed the latest findings from this study in a report: . He shared that this year consumer behavior is being shaped by three major forces: macroeconomic influences like inflation, technology 鈥� including generative AI and digital channels 鈥� and evolving lifestyles.

In this article we鈥檒l share the highlights of this presentation, including the top 18 consumer trends impacting customer experience we鈥檙e seeing unfold in 2024 and what brands can do to adapt in line with changing consumer behavior, interests, and preferences. 

Top 18 Consumer Trends in 2024

1. For the fourth year in a row, price is the number #1 factor driving household purchase decisions, but fewer consumers are citing cost as their top concern compared to in 2022 and 2023.

In 2021, 鈥渃hange in prices鈥� was a top influence shaping purchasing behavior for roughly one-third of adults in 2021.

鈥淏y the time we got to mid 2022 and early 2023, though, this number had jumped up dramatically, and this was in the face of the heaviest periods of inflation,鈥� explains Custage. 鈥淲hat we have seen over the past year, though, is that this number has receded back down to near where it was in 2021. It still is the top-ranked factor individually, but it鈥檚 shrunk as far as how often it鈥檚 cited, and it鈥檚 now once again at around a third of households that are selecting it as one of the choices.鈥�

The uptick in 2022 to 2023 and now downtrend in 2024 follows the rise and fall of the rate of inflation rate itself. The main takeaway for brands: Inflation and high prices are still important for consumers, but not as influential as they used to be.

2. As consumers have adjusted to inflation, consumer transaction volume is down slightly, while spend per transaction has remained steady.

What we鈥檙e seeing unfold is a mix of prices settling down, paired with shoppers either slightly easing up on the number of items purchased per transaction or trading down and purchasing cheaper alternatives in place of the products they鈥檇 normally buy. 

3. Some consumers may be racking up debt to get by, but it might not be a growing problem.

The majority of consumers (66%) say they鈥檙e finding ways to cut back on non-essential spend. Meanwhile 41% say they鈥檝e increased their income to compensate, such as by landing a new job or promotion or taking on extra hours. 

Roughly one-third of consumers are in the position of having to save less or take on more debt to compensate for rising costs. Though this behavior isn鈥檛 sustainable, Custage doesn鈥檛 see this trend ultimately affecting economic growth for three key reasons:

• The proportion of respondents who say they鈥檙e dipping into their savings or adding on more debt isn鈥檛 growing 鈥� this percent has remained relatively steady for the past two years. 
• Retail activity remains fairly unchanged, as illustrated in trend #2 above. In other words, there haven鈥檛 been the kinds of cutbacks in spending that are drastic enough to lead to a recession. 
• When we surveyed consumers this year about their debt over the past 12 months and whether it鈥檚 grown or declined, the percent of consumers who say they have more debt than they used to is roughly equal to the percent who say they have less debt. 

4. As inflation persists, consumers are adjusting their purchases and focusing on essentials vs. nice-to-haves.

The biggest differences consumers cited between their spending in 2022 and 2023 were that they made lifestyle changes to reduce their purchases and that they learned to accept higher prices and plan financially based on these expenses. 

鈥淐onsumers have just gotten used to what the new normal is and their behavior has adjusted accordingly and, to some extent, permanently,鈥� says Custage. 

As part of this trend toward adjusting spending, consumers appear to be favoring retailers that offer need-to-have items, he adds.

The winners are ecommerce platforms, grocery stores, dollar stores, and club retailers, and the ones that are trending downwards fall into categories like leisure, home improvement, and fitness. 

5. Despite cost concerns, consumers aren鈥檛 cutting back on dining out.

Spending on food is one of the biggest expenses for individuals, and, with rising inflation, many thought consumers would cut back on dining out as a 鈥渘ice to have鈥� as well and instead shift to spending on groceries. 

鈥淲e really haven鈥檛 seen that trend play out, and a lot of it can be due to the built-in convenience and time savings of restaurants that turn many consumers away from groceries regardless of what prices are,鈥� Custage explains, adding that the rate of inflation was also higher for groceries in 2022 to 2023 compared to restaurant food. 鈥淎nd that helped at least restaurants win the sticker shock concerns that consumers would experience when seeing how much grocery prices had gone up and just turn them away from that and towards restaurants, even if the cost per meal is still higher at a restaurant.鈥�

As a result, the balance of the share of wallet between grocery stores and restaurants hasn鈥檛 changed much due to inflation. And the rate of switching from dining at costlier full-service restaurants to dining out at more budget-friendly fast casual establishments has been modest. 

鈥淭here鈥檚 been a little bit of a trade-down effect where more often if people are buying restaurant food, they鈥檙e going to turn to quick service and fast casual instead of casual dining or family dining or sit-down dining, where it鈥檚 a little more expensive per meal,鈥� he says.

In response, restaurants have rolled out some pretty creative strategies, such as Applebee鈥檚 launching a subscription model offering guests greater savings per visit. 

6. Today鈥檚 shopper is conducting more research before making a purchase.

To adapt to inflation, consumers are more likely to price compare the cost of buying the same product at different stores, the same product online vs. in person, an off-brand item vs. the brand-name version, and an item second hand vs. new.

鈥淎s consumers are becoming a little bit savvier, I think a big takeaway for restaurants, retailers, hospitality, and anybody else in the space is to be more aware of the shopper journey and what鈥檚 visible to consumers in terms of price, being cognizant of whether you鈥檙e competing on price to begin with or if you鈥檙e competing on another attribute like experience, value, service speed, or product quality,鈥� says Custage. 

For brands that are losing out on price, they need to make sure they鈥檙e differentiated in another way to win over increasingly savvy and discerning consumers. 

7. Generative AI is becoming part of the shopper journey.

More than one-third of Millennials and Gen Zers say they鈥檝e used artificial intelligence for ideas about what to buy or where to shop. 

While there may not be much that retailers can do right now to try and improve their standings within the results AI tools produce, this new consumer trend is important to be aware of, one that will undoubtedly grow over time, explains Custage. It鈥檚 also worth noting that there鈥檚 some level of consumer comfort with engaging with AI to assist with shopping and retail decision-making, a trend that brands could ultimately use to adapt their strategies and offerings on their owned channels.

8. Consumers are noticing the increased pressure to tip 鈥� even in situations where tipping wasn鈥檛 previously expected 鈥� and the cuts companies are making that are having a negative impact on the customer experience.

Most consumers observe that there鈥檚 a greater pressure to tip these days and that there have been changes for the worse to the customer experience and customer service companies offer as a result of cutbacks, with retailers, restaurants, and airlines cited as the worst customer service offenders in 2024. 

9. Consumers say they鈥檙e more likely to speak out about negative customer experiences.

More than three in five consumers (62%) say that they鈥檙e more willing to speak up when a company provides them with a poor experience in 2024. 

In response, brands should collect customer feedback through internal channels to learn from these insights and adapt their strategies accordingly. Companies that aren鈥檛 proactive run the risk of customers sharing their poor experiences on public forums, which could impact their overall brand reputation and turn potential customers away. 

10. Buy-now, pay-later鈥檚 growth continues to soar 鈥� not just as a payment option, but in shaping the entire customer journey.

These payment platforms, which have grown by 20X over the last five years, influence the brands that customers decide to shop with and where they make purchases, based on the availability of third-party buy-now, pay-later partners, says Custage. For many, the shopping process starts with seeing where their preferred payment option is accepted or whether platforms like Klarna or Afterpay are offering promotions or deals. 

11. Third-party ordering platforms have become a permanent part of the digital retail and restaurant customer journey.

Collectively, the industry is stable and experiencing all-time highs in terms of sales, even as the initial drivers of third-party ordering platforms鈥� success 鈥� stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines 鈥� are no longer factors. 

鈥淓ven in the face of rising costs and the issues that consumers have with tipping or added service fees or price increases on one channel versus another, the built-in convenience and habit forming that platforms like DoorDash and Instacart have been able to achieve over the past few years, beginning at the height of COVID-19 and really continuing not giving up much ground at all, has shown that these platforms are really here to stay,鈥� Custage explains. 

One factor fueling the success of these platforms? The rise of Gen Z, many of whom are members of the workforce, live on their own, and have only been consumers with purchasing power in an era in which these platforms existed.  

The goal for restaurants and retailers should be to have a clearly defined customer experience strategy for their presence on third-party ordering platforms, to use these platforms strategically as an acquisition tool, and, ultimately, to encourage customers to migrate over to direct, first-party ordering.

12. Amazon just keeps on growing.

The online retailer is now the go-to for consumers for tentpole shopping events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, ahead of traditional mass retailers and department stores. 

The company has built momentum with their own retail holiday, Prime Day, a bandwagon other brands are attempting to hop on by rolling out their own competing retail holidays to win back some share of wallet. 

13. Omnichannel journeys are the new normal.

While about half of consumers continue to browse and buy groceries in person (a single-channel experience) and online-only retailers are dominated by digital-only journeys, most other kinds of retailers 鈥� from department stores and dollar stores to office supply stores and jewelry stores 鈥� have a much more nuanced, omnichannel customer journey, with a mix of behaviors that include browsing in store and buying online for delivery, browsing online and buying in store, and browsing and buying online for curbside pickup. 

There鈥檚 a clear call to action for retailers: These experiences and touchpoints must no longer be managed in silos. 

鈥淭here鈥檚 really a need for this more cohesive view of the customer and having a continuity of knowledge of the activity customers have from one channel to the next鈥onsidering how often consumers are starting in one channel and then are jumping across to another,鈥� explains Custage.

 14. Brands鈥� mobile apps are the most popular digital touchpoint for customers.

Consumers are most likely to interact with brands digitally via a mobile device, either via the company鈥檚 mobile app (35%) or company鈥檚 website via a phone (27%).

For businesses, that means enhancing the app and mobile experience need to be a top priority to drive repeat engagement, conversions, upsells, and crossales, says Custage. 

15. Social media is playing a bigger role in the product discovery journey than it did a year ago.

More than half of consumers agree that social media is having a bigger influence on how they find out about products in 2024 than in 2023, with Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok being the top sources of product information. 

Brands should pay attention to differences in product discovery by generation, and, as Gen Z becomes a more powerful consumer group, it will be important to keep an eye on the channels younger audiences use to learn about and engage with brands. 

16. Not surprisingly, Baby Boomers are more likely to watch live TV, while younger generations are more likely to consume user-generated content on streaming services and play video games.

鈥淕en Zers are engaging with media much differently than their older counterparts,鈥� explains Custage. 

As such, for brands looking to reach younger consumers, they鈥檒l need to become proficient in creating short-form user-generated content with influencers, he adds.

17. Consumers are streaming more content in 2024 than they did 12 months ago.

Both streaming video and audio content are gaining traction, with consumers reporting an uptick in each by 12% and 6%, respectively. 

18. Consumer optimism about travel is at a three-year high.

Even in the face of inflation, travel continues to grow as we get back to normal after the temporary declines the industry experienced related to COVID-19. 

For 2024, the most popular types of travel include heading to the beach, visiting friends and family, and exploring cities.

Prepare for Future Consumer Trends in 2024 and Beyond

Find out how 糖心原创 Market Research can help your company stay ahead of changing market dynamics and the latest and emerging trends in consumer behavior, customer experience, and digital experience so you can take action with confidence to capture more market share. 

At Experience 鈥�24, we brought together the world鈥檚 leading experience professionals to discuss the latest trends and advances in our field, the rising prominence of generative artificial intelligence (gen AI), the impact of automation, and the increasing importance of personalization. It鈥檚 clear that gen AI and other artificial intelligence (AI) are critical, omnipresent forces that are shaping interactions across channels and touchpoints. We heard from real-world customer experience (CX) leaders from UBS, Volvo, and Walgreens about how the acceleration of AI within our industry is unfolding and what organizations need to consider when adopting AI technologies to power their CX strategies.

A clear takeaway is that for long-term success, having the right people, practices, and (responsible, trusted) systems in place will be vital to (survive and) thrive in this new landscape. Let鈥檚 dive into some of our most important learnings from the week related to using AI in customer experience.

2024 Trends in CX and AI

Top 4 CX and AI Key Use Cases in 2024

惭别诲补濒濒颈补鈥檚 time-tested foundational AI capabilities, which have been around for 15 years, and latest AI breakthrough technologies have been thoughtfully developed to help CX practitioners accomplish four impactful uses cases, translating data into meaningful, actionable insights; enabling more efficient customer interactions; empowering employee productivity through tailored training; and guiding nest best actions for customers and the business.

1. Using AI to improve the quality of data analysis.

Ask Athena, one of 惭别诲补濒濒颈补鈥檚 new AI innovations, is designed to help brands get more value and insights out of their customer experience data. This AI assistant uses large language models to answer any question related to your customer data on the spot, providing instant data analysis in the form of a summary, graph, chart, or other module, without employees having to spend hours digging into reports and dashboards for answers.

2. Using AI to accelerate the speed of data analysis.

惭别诲补濒濒颈补鈥檚 Themes feature will use generative AI to surface more granular emerging trends in an instant, helping employees save time on root-cause analysis to pinpoint important trends, elevate them to a topic if needed, and empower teams to quickly track and trend them to investigate how and why KPIs are changing.

3. Using AI for content generation for customer communications.

By using AI solutions like 惭别诲补濒濒颈补鈥檚 new Smart Response, teams can scale the power and productivity of their people across contact center, customer experience, and employee experience teams. Smart Response automatically generates personalized, empathetic, and accurate responses to a customer feedback record that employees can review and modify before sending as a reply, helping increase personalization while also saving time on writing responses.

4. Using gen AI to create concise, relevant summaries of conversational data.

惭别诲补濒濒颈补鈥檚 Intelligent Summaries saves employees thousands of hours of time with AI composed summaries that instantly recap any customer interaction providing details, such as reason for contact, issue resolution information, and the content of the conversation, increasing consistency across millions of records so users can spend less time scrolling through interactions to find the right insights.

CX and AI Benefits for Organizations

At Experience 鈥�24 惭别诲补濒濒颈补鈥檚 Senior Vice President and Executive Advisor, , moderated an exciting panel about the future of CX with , Head of Client Services, US Wealth Management, at UBS; , Global Head of Customer Experience Insights and Analytics at Volvo Cars; and , EVP and Chief Customer Officer at Walgreens. They discussed how they鈥檙e using AI now and how they are thinking about its application going forward. Here are some of the top use cases they discussed:

1. Making things easier for employees

At Volvo, customers value human interactions, and Kowalczyk explained that she sees the value of AI not in replacing these human interactions with knowledgeable retailers with bot-driven experiences but instead in using AI to increase efficiencies and standard knowledge among staff who interact with customers.

That鈥檚 the potential Couvillon at UBS said she sees as well. She said she thinks of AI as 鈥渢he great assist鈥� or 鈥渢he great accelerator鈥� for financial advisors, enabling them to be more effective and efficient in their roles. One area they鈥檙e using AI is in synthesizing the company鈥檚 proprietary research around market data, risk data, and personal risk appetite for financial advisors so they can 鈥渦ltimately make better decisions for the client and deliver that insight to clients.鈥� She said she sees a huge opportunity in taking all of the company鈥檚 training and process documents and FAQs and using AI to make this content more 鈥渟nackable鈥� for employees for learning purposes.

2. Improving the customer experience

For Walgreens, Brown and her team are thinking of ways to use AI that add value for customers 鈥� specifically to address points of friction in the customer journey. The company has identified four areas where friction can occur 鈥� when customers come to visit, navigate, check out, and receive products or services 鈥� and, according to Walgreens research, what their customers want to happen during these interactions is to be able to save time and money; receive insights, products, and services to feel smarter and feel better; and be recognized and treated as an individual by the brand. In addition, Walgreens research indicates that customers want clean stores, fast and friendly service, stocked shelves, and the ability to get their prescriptions quickly and accurately. As such, the brand is using AI and technology across these areas to create a better experience. They鈥檝e started by partnering with 糖心原创 and building these drivers of excellence into their reporting within 糖心原创, so they can instantly analyze how each one of their 9,000 stores is performing across these factors.

3. Delivering personalization

Walgreens has over 100 million customers in their database, and Brown said the retailer is using AI to predict what these individuals need to serve up the right experiences at the right time for the right individuals.

4. Increasing operational efficiency and driving cost savings

Brown explained that there are plenty of opportunities to use AI to add value across the retail ecosystem, from merchandising and operations to product development, marketing, and supply chain management.

One of the ways Walgreens is using AI to drive operational efficiencies and cost savings is by combining external data sources, such as weather and event data localized to each of the company鈥檚 retail stores, along with customer data, including in-store visit data and health and wellness data, for demand forecasting to help the company prevent out-of-stock issues and to manage inventory levels so that only what鈥檚 needed is kept on hand. 鈥淭hese kinds of things have allowed us to reduce out of stocks for the customer by 15% and reduce inventory by 5%,鈥� said Brown.

CX and AI Best Practices: Using Artificial Intelligence the Right Way

Brands that use artificial intelligence the right way adopt a people-first, platform-second approach, explained Couvillon. They鈥檙e not investing in AI for technology鈥檚 sake, but to solve real customer and employee challenges using AI responsibly and ethically.

Establish internal guidelines for using AI

Volvo has established an AI committee responsible for determining the AI principles for the brand and this is a must-have for using AI the right way, according to Kowalczyk.

These types of guidelines should set parameters for using AI responsibly, from a privacy, compliance, sharing, and transparency perspective, added Brown.

Prioritize data quality

Organizations need to bring together all of their data from across sources 鈥� from in person interactions to digital touchpoints 鈥� and structure it in a way that can be used by AI, said Kowalczyk.

As 惭别诲补濒濒颈补鈥檚 CEO explained in his keynote, the insights you unlock from AI 鈥渨ill only be as good as the data that it can access.鈥�

Choose technology partners that focus on data security and trust

惭别诲补濒濒颈补鈥檚 Director of Service Operations and Security, Scott Gorman, a member of 惭别诲补濒濒颈补鈥檚 AI Moderation Council, recently wrote about how AI security needs to be a priority for experience programs, and how 鈥渟ecurity considerations are 鈥� and will always be 鈥� foundational to how we design and implement AI models.鈥�

In his article, he explained that brands can mitigate against any potential risks associated with AI by choosing partners that are actively building their platforms with the latest legal, data security, and compliance standards, regulations, and concerns in mind. You can read more about 惭别诲补濒濒颈补鈥檚 approach to building a robust, secure foundation for AI into our experience platform in Gorman鈥檚 blog here.

In her Experience 鈥�24 keynote, explored how 糖心原创 is building 鈥渢rust into every experience.鈥� We focus on trust so our customers can rest assured that 鈥渁s we incorporate new AI technologies, we are protecting your data, security and privacy,鈥� she added.

That鈥檚 why we created an AI Moderation Council, consisting of members from our legal, privacy and security, compliance, product and engineering, and customer organizations, to provide oversight, guidance, and policy as it relates to AI. The goal of this group, Turek explained is 鈥渢o ensure that, for example, we think about data controls so that we respect security and data access policies, and that we eliminate hallucinations, and filter for bias, and toxicity in our AI models.鈥�

As part of her presentation, she also announced the launch of an AI Advisory Board at 糖心原创 that will consist of customer and partner members focused on the responsible and ethical use of AI.

Leverage the best of human intelligence and artificial intelligence

There was one consistent theme among Experience 鈥�24 discussions of using AI for CX: AI shouldn鈥檛 be used to replace high-value human interactions.

After all, as , Senior Product Marketing Manager at 糖心原创, described in her keynote, 鈥淎rtificial intelligence can鈥檛 replace the human touch, but working alongside AI, humans can do what they do best 鈥� connect.鈥�

Final Thoughts

At 糖心原创, we鈥檙e focused on bringing responsible AI solutions that enable companies to unleash new levels of personalization and productivity for employees that drive efficiency, cost savings, and sustainable growth for organizations. As brands decide when and how to use AI for understanding and enhancing experiences, it鈥檚 essential they do so with great thought.

As Turek said in her keynote, 鈥渆nduring success will be enjoyed by those who adopt responsible AI proactively, rather than reactively.鈥�

To learn more about how 糖心原创 is approaching CX and AI and our latest AI breakthroughs, check out our .