REPORT

What's in store?

Rethinking CX for retail and e-commerce

  • What kind of experiences are consumers now looking for? 
  • In which channels are they most easily engaged? 

Need to know what retail and e-commerce customers really want? So did we, so we asked 3,000 of them worldwide - and found some intriguing answers.  

illustration of a shopping bag with speech bubbles showing a positive customer interaction
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a positive customer experience interaction by message

Going beyond the sale - how can CX add real value to retail?

How can brands and retailers make their customer experience more engaging in this new digital landscape? 

What’s it going to take to stay relevant and competitive? 

And how can we use these new digital tools to drive real, sustainable growth?  

The report examines in detail the trends transforming CX in retail and e-commerce

TREND 1

Two-way is the only way…

“More than half of customers (53%) become frustrated when they receive mobile messages they can’t reply to.” 

Our research found that people overwhelmingly want messaging to be about having a conversation, not just another way to get bombarded with unwanted marketing. 

The technology to transform how we communicate with consumers does exist – but its adoption is still patchy across retail and e-commerce. 

Messaging is a channel that is designed for conversational commerce, giving retailers a great chance to really offer their customers more engaging in-message experiences – which our survey says they really, really want: 

graph showing 90% of customers would love to get support or ask questions
graph showing 83% of customers would like a video tutorial
TREND 2

Give them experiences that delight…

“28% remember positive experiences for over 1 year – 43% remember negative ones for the same length of time.” 

Consumer expectations for great experiences are higher than ever. Provide them, and they’ll remember it, but the flip side is also true – unengaging customer experiences will drive customers away and getting them back is harder than ever. 

But for brands that embrace new technological possibilities, there is a huge opportunity. Consumers are actively asking for more information to guide their buying journey, as demonstrated when we asked them which kinds of 'rich messaging’ they’d find most useful: 

TREND 3

Hybrid might be the best of both worlds…

The lines between physical and digital experiences are becoming increasingly blurred, so for brands to remain relevant, they need to understand the value of both – and how each can complement the other. 

graph showing 92% of customers would like to message a chatbot so check an item is in stock before visiting a store

Get the complete retail and e-commerce customer experience report

The above is just a snapshot of our latest consumer research - download your copy of the full report on CX trends impacting retail and e-commerce for insights into what’s driving customer engagement and practical tips for staying ahead of the curve. 

customer texting from a sofa