Four key trends in customer experience

A new study reveals four strategies retailers can follow to help ensure they deliver a top-quality customer experience.

According to the new “State of the Customer Experience 2023 Report” from customer engagement solutions provider CSG, retailers need to accelerate their digital customer experience efforts to best meet the needs of the current consumer landscape.

Following are four key customer experience trends CSG says retailers should follow to ensure they are keeping up with current conditions:

Reorganize from the top down to reinvigorate and unify customer experience efforts

According to CSG, retailers should pursue a mix of transformational changes, like the creation of more C-level customer experience management roles and incremental enhancements to better understand the customer.

CSG advises this shift should start with the adoption of sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to automate processes. The study also recommends that retailers implement customer experience technology like journey orchestration solutions that can support real-time customer segmentation with intelligent decisioning and data analytics. 

Don’t neglect non-digital, traditional processes

CSG reminds retailers that there will always be a portion of customers who prefer manual processes, physical check payments, paper statements, and live customer support. Therefore, the move toward digital experiences must also include a continued focus on high-quality, non-digital experiences, as well as hybrid approaches, that meet the experience needs of all customers. 

Prepare for immersive digital experiences in VR/AR and metaverse environments

Retailers should design a virtual presence with customer experience at its heart, says CSG. They must consider IT infrastructure readiness to support transactions in a virtual, decentralized environment and the interoperable network functions of a digital marketplace.

According to CSG, retailers must also lay the metaverse foundation now by developing strategic business support systems that enable 5B connectivity,

design metaverse interactions with customer experience in mind, and leverage embedded payment capabilities everywhere.

[Read more: Customer expectations of metaverse commerce are…]

Focus on security

Security, transparency, and privacy drive trust, which CSG says is one of the most critical elements of today’s customer experience. CSG expects the coming rise of the chief trust officer (CTrO) position.

CSG tracked 12.3 billion customer journey interactions in 2022 through its CSG Xponent customer journey management platform. CSG defines a customer journey interaction as an instance where an API triggers an action to be taken on a channel within the customer journey. CSG also charted data from the 710 million wireless subscribers it supports through its Configure-Price-Quote and CSG Encompass solutions.