In the era of the customer, brands must adapt to survive and thrive. A customer-centric mindset is not just a nice-to-have — as research continually shows, it’s paramount.
Customers want to feel valued and cared for across their customer journey, and as they increasingly shift to social and digital channels to navigate their journeys, the brands that can deliver on their growing expectations will undoubtedly flourish.
Designing, implementing, and managing successful customer experience initiatives require substantial time, resources, and buy-in from management. However, extensive research — including the ones shared in this article and countless other stats like these recent eCommerce statistics — highlights that the positive impact is well worth the effort.
In this article, we will delve into the statistics surrounding customer expectations, the influence of customer experience on loyalty and relationships, the impact of CX and good customer care on brands’ financial performance, and the growing role of artificial intelligence and social commerce in shaping the customer journey.
Join us as we explore the numbers behind customer experience and discover how brands can leverage these insights to create exceptional experiences that drive customer loyalty, foster strong relationships, and ultimately boost their bottom line.
Customer experience is driving business
It’s no secret that exceptional CX is critical to a brand’s immediate and long-term success. As these customer experience statistics show, the impact can’t be understated.
- The global CX Management market is estimated to reach USD $11.4 billion in 2023, and is projected to reach expected to grow 12.2% every year through 2028 to reach USD $20.4 billion (ReportLinker)
- Companies that view customer service as a value center — as opposed to a cost center — see 3.5x revenue growth (Accenture)
Companies face immense pressure to deliver excellent CX
- 86% of consumers would leave a brand after as few as two poor experiences (Emplifi)
- 49% of consumers have left a brand in the past year due to poor customer experience (Emplifi)
Positive experiences make loyal customers
- On average, companies that put in the work to improve the customer experience see a 42% improvement in customer retention, a 33% improvement in customer satisfaction, and a 32% increase in cross-selling and up-selling (Keap)
- Consumers place high importance on “previous good CX with the brand” and “speed of availability/delivery” as their top two criteria when considering a new purchase (Emplifi)
Key takeaway: The importance of good CX across the customer journey can’t be denied. To meet customers’ ever-growing expectations, brands must focus on identifying and addressing critical pain points for customers across the entire customer journey.
Great CX leads to happy customers and impacts the bottom line
The connection between quality CX, happy customers, and a healthy bottom line is undeniable.
Customers want great experiences and will pay to get them
- 61% of consumers will pay at least 5% more if they know they’ll get a good customer experience (Emplifi)
- 56% of consumers feel that the quality of the customer service they receive has a higher impact on how positively they view a brand than any other criteria (Emplifi)
CX helps build more fruitful customer relationships
- 66% of consumers say they will share personal data about themselves if they think it will elevate their customer experience (Redpoint and Harris)
- CX drives over two-thirds of customer loyalty, which represents more than brand and price combined (Gartner, via CMSWire)
Customers seek personalized experiences
- 85% of brands believe they offer a personalized customer experience, but only 60% of consumers agree (Twillio)
- 60% of consumers report that they will become repeat buyers after a personalized purchasing experience (Twillio)
- 88% of online shoppers are more likely to continue shopping on a retailer website that offers a personalized experience, including 96% of Gen Z and 97% of Millennials (Elastic)
- 59% of online shoppers believe that it’s easier to find more interesting products on personalized online retail stores (Invesp)
- U.S. livestream shopping revenue was expected to reach $50 billion in 2023, revising up their earlier projection of $32 billion. (Coresight Research, via CNBC)
- 87% of businesses reported increased sales through the use of user-generated content (UGC), and 92% said it increases brand awareness (HubSpot)
People seek authentic content and interactions at key moments of their journey
- 87% of consumers consider user reviews and ratings to be the most authentic interaction they have with brands (Emplifi)
- 54% of consumers always or regularly research online pictures and videos of real people — user-generated content (UGC) — prior to making a purchase (Emplifi)
- 48% of consumers said the ability for a customer agent to “talk to you in your language” was the most important quality in demonstrating authenticity (Emplifi)
- 40% of consumers will recommend a brand to people they know after an authentic customer care experience (Emplifi)
Key takeaway: Brands that offer a good customer experience are more likely to see their revenue grow faster than those who don’t prioritize CX. Understanding customers’ needs, expectations, and perceptions — as well as how their preferences are evolving — is key to learning how your brand can best deliver the CX they desire.
With CX, there’s little room for error
With information and options more readily available than ever, customers expect easy, quick, and frictionless experiences. Otherwise, they will take their business elsewhere.
- 52% of US consumers sometimes or always walk away from purchases due to a bad customer experience (Emplifi)
- Over 60% of consumers don’t feel like they get excellent customer service on social media when making a purchase (Emplifi)
Customers expect answers, fast
- Customers who give a brand high trust scores are 3x more likely to remain loyal to them in the future, while 88% say they’re likely to buy from the brand again, and 62% will buy almost exclusively from them. (Harvard Business Review)
- 52% of consumers expect a response from a brand within one hour. However, 39% report waiting more than two hours for a reply (Emplifi)
Consistency is key to great CX
- Less than 1 in 4 brands have the necessary technology to engage with consumers consistently (Twillio)
- Marketers using three or more channels in a campaign earned a 494% higher order rate than those using a single-channel campaign (Omnisend)
Social media plays an ever-growing role across the customer journey
- Social media is the #1 channel U.S. consumers prefer to use to engage with brands, especially among Gen Z consumers, surpassing other channels like email, website chat, telephone, or visiting a physical store (Emplifi)
- 68% of US consumers currently use — or would like to use — social media to engage with brands to ask questions before making a purchase, while 59% of consumers expect to do so to get post-purchase customer support (Emplifi)
Key takeaway: Every experience counts. Customers always seek faster, more convenient experiences across their journeys, and want brands to deliver on those expectations consistently. Considering that people spend a considerable amount of their customer journey on a brand’s social channels, it’s important to have a social media strategy to better serve your customers exactly where they are.
Customers are more mobile and self-sufficient than ever
Customers want access to the information they need right now, wherever they are, and many prefer to be given the tools to find it themselves.
Don’t overlook the mobile shopping experience
- 56% of all worldwide website traffic is on mobile devices (Exploding Topics)
- Global mobile eCommerce sales were worth $2.2 trillion in 2023 and accounted for 62% of total eCommerce sales (Statista)
Customers want to help themselves when possible
- 75% of consumers find it important for brands to offer them a fully self-service customer care option to answer their questions (Emplifi)
Key takeaway: When it comes to CX, brands must adjust to their customers, not the other way around. Determine how you can best adapt your CX design to cater to customer preferences and patterns.
Superior customer care reinforces excellent CX
Delivering consistently positive customer experiences post-purchase is essential to customer retention, and turning first-time buyers into loyal customers. Today, CX leaders must leverage a robust mix of self-serve tools and knowledgeable agents to help deliver these experiences to their customer base.
AI and emerging technologies play an increasingly prominent role
- More than 60% of companies are experimenting (29%) or expanding (33%) with their usage of Generative AI (Forrester, via Forbes)
- 60% of CX leaders expect AI to have a significant impact on customer experience in the next two to five years, particularly in the realm of customer self-service, gaining customer insights, and empowering their employees to focus on higher-impact tasks. (CMSWire)
- More than 40% of consumers approve of brands using AI for chatbot technology (Statista)
- Worldwide AI spending is expected to grow by 8% to $5.1 trillion in 2024 (Gartner)
Customers expect knowledgeable agents
- 31% of US consumers say that “not responding to my messages quickly” is the most likely factor to make them feel negatively about a brand, followed by customer service not being available 24/7 (26%) (Emplifi)
- 49% of US consumers rate receiving excellent social media customer service as being very important when making a purchase (Emplifi)
Organize your teams to ensure CX is given top priority
- 95% of leading organizations cite CX job roles as important to achieving business growth — the highest of any job role (Econsultancy)
Key takeaway: Technology and CX go hand in hand, and new innovations can provide an opportunity for brands to streamline the entire customer journey by connecting all communication channels. Brands can use this to their advantage in order to deliver an exceptional customer experience that’s quick and consistent. To further strengthen CX, empower and train departments beyond your support team or service center to share customer care.
What can we learn from these customer experience statistics for 2024?
Customer experience is a crucial factor that directly impacts your business’s bottom line. To meet the expectations of your social-first, digital-always consumers, it’s essential to prioritize their needs in every decision you make. To achieve this, your teams need the right tools and timely insights to deliver exceptional experiences.
The right customer experience platform should help brands better understand customers as they navigate their journeys. It can also empower teams to improve their marketing, commerce, and care experiences across different channels and enable the brand to stand out from the crowd as a CX leader.
Book a demo today to see how Emplifi can help your brand deliver outstanding customer experiences across the customer journey.
