Accenture to Buy CX Specialist Firm Tambourine

Global professional services giant Accenture has inked a deal to acquire Tokyo-based Tambourine, an e-commerce CX specialist agency with capabilities in cloud-based technologies. Tambourine will become part of Accenture Interactive, Accenture’s digital agency arm, which provides digital marketing, analytics, and mobility services. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and completion of the acquisition is […]

Uberall Study: Consumers Favor Local Business Over Online-Only

A new study shows that while most buying journeys for consumers today start online, they prefer to do business with brands and retailers that have a local presence and real-world locations over online-only shops. The study, titled The Local CX Advantage, is from Uberall, a CX software company based in Berlin, Germany, which offers a […]

Content Guru Teams Up with Bechtle in New Partnership

Content Guru, a leading provider of cloud communications and contact center solutions based in the UK that counts that country’s National Health Service (NHS) as a client, has formed a new partnership with Bechtle AG, Germany’s largest IT system integrator. The new partnership will see Bechtle offering the Content Guru flagship product known as storm […]

Salesforce Report: Rising Shopper Expectations Put Pressure on Brands and Retailers to Redefine Customer Engagement Strategies

A new report from leading customer relationship manager (CRM) platform provider Salesforce sheds light on how COVID-19 permanently upended shopping for consumers and brands alike, raising shopper expectations in significant ways, while dramatically increasing the stakes for brands and retailers that wish to stay in business. Surveying 1,600 global shoppers and more than 1,000 retail […]

Bad CX Accounts for $4.7 Trillion in Global Consumer At-Risk Sales

In two separate Qualtrics studies, the importance to consumers of good CX took center stage as fallout from the reverse—shoddy or poor CX—translated into a risk of staggering trillion-dollar losses for businesses worldwide and to consumers either stopping or cutting back their spending. In the first study, which examined how consumers respond to bad CX, […]

Exotel Acquires Chatbot Developer Cogno AI

Exotel, a provider of cloud-based telephony services in India, has acquired fellow Indian communications platform and artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developer Cogno AI, in a cash-and-stock deal aimed at expanding the growing company’s customer engagement services. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but the new deal marks the second acquisition for Exotel following […]

Private Equity Firms Maintain a Hearty Appetite for CX Growth Investments

Podium On November 15, communication and payments platform Podium announced it had raised $201 million in Series D funding led by YC Continuity, bringing Lehi, Utah-based Podium’s valuation to more than $3 billion. YC Continuity is the growth and investment fund of Y Combinator, the US technology startup accelerator that has been used to launch 3,000 companies, […]

Personalization Is Important, but Marketers Face Many Obstacles

Personalization may be important for companies to achieve increased revenue and enhanced CX, but marketers for global retail brands are frustrated by multiple challenges in their efforts to implement the desired trait. The finding is contained in the new Retail Roadblocks report from customer engagement platform Emarsys, which said it spoke to more than 500 […]

Is Cutting Customer Service the Answer for Companies to Cope with Rising Inflation?

With inflation surging this year, companies across industries are responding not by slashing prices, but by cutting customer service. This was the conclusion reached by a story in The New York Times that recounted how firms were taking steps that diminished the overall CX as part of their cost-cutting measures. In response to the story, […]

Treasure Data Secures $234 Million from Lead Investor SoftBank

In what is being called the largest-ever single funding round for a customer data platform (CDP), California-based Treasure Data has secured $234 million in an investment drive led by SoftBank Group Corp., the giant Japanese multinational conglomerate. The announcement about the funding round was made in a press release issued by Treasure Data, based in […]

E-Commerce Lender Qupital Secures New $150 Million Funding to Push Expansion Plans

Qupital, the Hong Kong-based provider of capital and financing services to cross-border e-commerce sellers, has raised $150 million to expand business internationally and continue providing lower-cost loans to credit-worthy e-commerce sellers, company executives said in a recent announcement. The fresh capital comes from a Series B round of equity funding led by Chinese-based Greater Bay […]

Cisco Unveils New Webex Features

Cisco, the computer networking conglomerate headquartered in Silicon Valley, is implementing new features for its Webex video conferencing ecosystem meant to support hybrid work environments, the company said in a recent announcement. The new meetings and messaging capabilities of Webex Suite enable equal participation for attendees from anywhere they are located and enhance collaboration, while […]