Experimentation is the Key to Innovation in CX

2024 SNAPSHOT: In this recap of innovation in customer experience (CX), we present the vital questions brands have dealt with to win customers’ hearts.

Strategising for customer satisfaction is a continuous game of experimentation. Customer expectations change faster than the blink of an eye and as businesses attempt to keep up, it is vital to try and succeed, or try, fail, learn, and try again.

Looking at the passing year’s discourse of innovation in customer experience, one of the key areas is offering sticky digital experiences with big ideas. “When we talk about “big ideas” in marketing, we usually refer to them in the context of an innovative campaign or brand refresh,” says John Sampogna, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Wondersauce.

“However, in a world where best practices, optimisations, and conversion rates drive all key decisions in the creative process, we see that websites, apps, and ecommerce experiences have begun to lose their originality.”

A prime element of the digital experience is the information brands present to the customer in an effort to personalise. The battle is to find the right balance between “too less,” which makes the experience generic and impersonal, or “too much,” making it overwhelming.

Delving further into digital experiences brings up the highly adopted self-serve technology. Youngsters are up for it, but the senior segment might not be so happy. This and other challenges leave brands in a state of confusion as they strive to find the right balance.

Clearly, a lot is happening in the CX space. As we transition to a new commercial year, marketing teams prepare for a new wave of customer expectations that must be answered with equally enthusiastic brand services.

CXM Today flips through the 2024 library, which contains works by industry experts and in-house writers, to present the trends and attitudes of the industry’s current state. The following six stories discuss innovation in the customer experience terrain. Read on to see what brands have tried and experimented with in 2024.

Is the Return of ‘Big Ideas’ the Key to Creating Ownable Digital Experiences

Brands can lead in offering unique digital experiences by ensuring that websites and apps are not only intuitive and user-friendly but also visually and conceptually compelling. The challenge is to rebalance creativity with functionality, which requires reprioritising creative in the upfront brief, having a willingness to experiment, and committing to new technologies that help set the standards for the next era of the internet.

The Future of Self-Service in CX: Essential or Overrated?

Self-service options like FAQs, chatbots, and automated phone systems allow customers to resolve issues quickly without waiting for a human representative. While these tools can enhance efficiency and satisfaction for straightforward tasks, complex issues often require nuanced understanding and human empathy—qualities that self-service technologies lack.

Voice Technology Can Authenticate Customers

Merging voice interaction with digital touchpoints plays an important role in customer interaction; it changes how consumer relationships are built. This artificial intelligence-based technology confirms the identity of a customer the moment they call into customer contact centres and allows customers to use speech to check account balances and transaction history.

How to Optimise PDPs to Overcome Choice Fatigue?

Only 16% of product detail pages are personalised for customers, revealing that personalisation at scale is a continuous struggle for many global brands. Even though ecommerce brands use detailed PDPs on their websites, they still lack customisation. As a result, there is a high chance that a consumer will leave the website or app without buying a product. While traditional personalisation methods like live chat struggle with scalability, genAI tools like ChatGPT present a promising alternative.

A Change Coalition with CX Champions Can Boost EX

Most companies have realised the significance of moving from the aged brand-centric model to the futuristic customer-centric culture. Businesses can start by getting the culture set, which requires defining the core values and the associated behaviours and ensuring those values are socialised and operationalised. The guiding leadership body for a CX initiative should be a robust CX Change Coalition—a group of leaders across the customer journey that cares about CX as much as the CX leader does.

Double Trouble or Double Delight? The Impact of Digital Twins

Digital twins hold significant potential for transforming customer experience by offering possibilities across personalisation, optimised product offerings, and consistency through channels. However, there are challenges like cost and complexity, privacy concerns, uncertain ROI and a lack of human touch. The key to success lies in finding the right balance.