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Trust is lost when automated service fails. It’s worse without people in the loop.
More than one-third of U.S. consumers say they lose trust in a brand after an automated interaction fails, even if a human resolves it later, a Liveops survey found.
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Courtesy of Starbucks
Why 3 major brands see a consistent experience as key to their turnarounds
Metrics at Starbucks, Target and Kohl’s are on the rise, and all three brands are aiming at maintaining or improving consistency to keep customers coming back.
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Courtesy of Mews
Q&AWhen AI can deepen human connection at hotels
Mews founder Richard Valtr believes the human aspect of hospitality can be preserved — and even strengthened — through the strategic use and implementation of AI.
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Courtesy of USAA
What brands provide the best overall experience?
Among U.S. brands, just over half increased their total experience scores, while 4% saw declines, according to Forrester. USAA led the way.
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Back to CX Basics: How to truly capture the Voice of the Customer
A great VoC program looks beyond the happiest and angriest customers to dig into what a business’ audience truly wants, experts say.
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Consumers are worried about a recession. How should brands respond?
Consumers are becoming choosier about how they spend their money, creating greater competition among businesses.
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Stitch Fix’s efforts to cultivate active clients pay off
In the third quarter, the company posted higher retention rates and its first active client growth since 2021.
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The World Cup scores companies new subscribers. Retaining them is another problem entirely.
Fans from around the world are signing up for streaming platforms to watch the World Cup. But turning short-term subscribers into loyal customers is no easy feat.
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Reliable deliveries keep customers coming back, Macy’s and Ulta execs say
"It’s when you’re not reliable is when we’re going to lose our customers, and that’s what we see," Macy’s Vinny Pagliuca said.
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Chewy’s Autoship subscription grows, offering reliability and repeat sales
Autoship sales grew 10% year over year compared to overall net sales growth of 7.7% in the same period, CEO Sumit Singh said.
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OpinionLoyalty is not a discount engine. It is a trust engine.
Customers are still willing to engage in loyalty programs, but only if the value exchange is obvious, relevant and trustworthy.
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Cracker Barrel reports rising guest metrics, but sales remain on the decline
The restaurant’s Google star rating is up 4% year over year, but the company has yet to return to sales growth after the fall out from a botched rebrand attempt last year.
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3 customer service roles made possible by AI
The remaining customer service jobs could take the form of “bot unblockers,” judges and experts or incorporate sales.
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What SoFi learned about its customers while testing its AI adviser
“When it comes to financial guidance and coaching, there's both an art and a science to it,” said Brian Walsh, head of advice and planning at the digital bank.
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Courtesy of Sam's Club
Sam’s Club’s first CXO to depart
Diana Marshall made Sam’s Club “a lot more customer centric,” GlobalData Retail’s Neil Saunders said.
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When does it make sense to bring customer service onshore?
The FCC has proposed a rule aimed at bringing contact centers back into the U.S., causing some companies to weigh the pros and cons of domestic customer support.
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Connecticut becomes latest state to ban dynamic pricing
The law prohibits retailers from using personally identifiable data to customize prices for shoppers.
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Don’t confuse loyalty program engagement for lasting allegiance
“Enrollment is a behavior,” AnswerLab CEO Megan Malli said. “Loyalty is a relationship. Most brands are measuring one and assuming they're earning the other.”
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How 3 retailers are using AI for productivity, personalized shopping
Best Buy, Gap and Dick’s Sporting Goods said their AI investments were yielding rewards and reshaping their businesses during their Q1 earnings calls.
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Retrieved from Priceline.
Where Priceline wants to take travel booking with agentic AI
Online travel companies are racing to go agentic. While some brands are focusing on customer support, others are focusing on search discovery. Priceline's agentic assistant Penny works to do both.
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Verizon CEO: AI will take over ‘a large percentage’ of customer service
AI “will dramatically improve our ability to satisfy customers,” Dan Schulman said. The carrier says it’s already had success with agents replacing some of its customer service representatives.
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Petco improves personalization, online checkout experience as it achieves sales growth
The retailer is letting associates access customer purchase history to help them cross-sell products and personalize conversations, CEO Joel Anderson said.
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How better training keeps contact center agents from quitting
Ongoing coaching, a team they trust and the confidence to handle hard calls can do more to retain agents than onboarding alone, experts say.
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What’s going on with the contact center workforce?
While some companies are cutting headcount in favor of AI, others are trying to prevent turnover.
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Why marketers must rethink loyalty as AI reshapes consumer connections
New research from Gale finds over half of consumers are comfortable filtering their brand communications entirely through AI.
