Contentsquare: Top CX Trends for 2024 Include AI and Personalization
AI, hyper-personalization, and immersive experiences are the top CX trends that will dominate the digital commerce landscape in 2024, according to the new report, 2024 Digital Experience Customer Trends, from French analytics firm Contentsquare.
Surveying more than 2,700 brand marketers and digital professionals in its new study, Contentsquare says the other CX trends making the top 10 list this year include customer-centricity, data-driven insights, omnichannel experiences, social media, digital trust, digital accessibility, and mobile experiences.
Heading the list is AI. With the emergence and embedding of generative AI tools into digital CX, global brand leaders foresee a greater use of AI tools this year for business overall. Specifically, AI is innovating CX through advanced chatbots and other interfaces, enabling a better understanding of user preferences.
“The impact that generative AI will have on the overall customer experience will be seen not just in personalization but also in the speed and scaling of content creation overall,” said Dave Anderson, vice president of product marketing and strategy at Contentsquare. “But brands should be aware that the rules of engagement, oversight, and regulation for AI are still unclear, and we may reach a tipping point where advancing AI at rapid speed can come into question.”
Related Article: InMoment and Contentsquare Partner on Digital Experience
The top 10 list also includes the advent of hyper-personalization; using augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to offer more immersive experiences; as well as moving toward greater customer-centricity to retain customer loyalty.
Respondents predict, too, that data-backed decision-making will be at the heart of digital experience building in 2024, with data analytics platforms providing companies unprecedented understanding of CX across all touchpoints, helping brands optimize speed and remove obstacles along the customer journey.
Of interest, the report notes, is that mobile ranks last on the list of CX trends expected to dominate this year. Even so, brands must continue to prioritize mobile-first experience design and in-app journeys in order to stay relevant, the report notes.
Founded in Paris and with offices around the world, Contentsquare is a leader in digital experience analytics. The company’s AI-powered platform provides contextual insight into customer behavior, feelings, and intent, enabling brands to take action and create impact at enterprise scale.
Zendesk: AI Ushers in Era of Intelligent CX
The new CX Trends report from contact center platform provider Zendesk says AI-driven customer service will fuel massive industry transformation that separates winners from losers. And those able to harness AI to create the best CX will deliver personalization at scale, elevate service quality, and reduce costs, the report notes.
At least 70% of CX leaders are already reimagining their customer journeys using tools like generative AI, with the adoption yielding real benefits. More than 80% percent of CX leaders using generative AI in CX report a positive return on investment (ROI), showing that the changes are setting a new standard for successful CX.
“We’re on the verge of the most significant inflection point we’ve ever seen in CX with the latest advances in AI,” said Adrian McDermott, chief technology officer at San Francisco-based Zendesk, the provider of software-as-a-service products for customer support, sales, and other customer communications. “Businesses will need to rethink the structure of everything, from their tech stacks to their teams to how they deliver support. Companies that thrive will shift to a much more intelligent CX strategy, using AI to manage volume, lower costs, increase quality, and ultimately improve customer satisfaction.”
The report also highlights some defining elements of this era of intelligent CX. One element is that chatbots are evolving into advanced digital agents, in which generative AI and evolved chatbots are revolutionizing consumer interactions by facilitating personalized, instant, and interactive experiences. The transformation of chatbots into digital agents aligns with escalating expectations, as 68% of consumers believe that chatbots should have the same level of expertise and quality as highly skilled human agents.
Another element is that live and immersive interactions will redefine experiences. As consumers expect more engaging and interactive experiences, CX leaders will need to transition to tools like conversational commerce, live streaming, and voice. Among leaders, 65% believe that failure to leverage tools like live streaming to provide real-time support will result in lost opportunities.
A third element is that CX leaders, not the heads of IT, will be the new drivers of data privacy, integrating security seamlessly into CX for protection and ease. Already, 77% of CX leaders see themselves as responsible for ensuring the safety of customer data, with another 83% saying data protection and cybersecurity are top priorities in their customer service strategy.
Overall, leaders are confidently preparing for the future, betting big on smart CX for 2024, and signaling a landmark year for CX owing to new technology, the report concludes.
LivePerson: AI Gap is Emerging Between Brands and Consumers
A significant divide—or AI gap—is emerging between business leaders and consumers on the adoption, enthusiasm, and education around AI, states the new LivePerson report, State of Customer Conversations 2024. While organizations of all kinds are doubling down on AI and automation, the average consumer lacks clarity regarding how AI can be used to make their lives easier and more convenient.
Data from the report shows that business leaders have a great deal of work to do—not only to close the AI gap but also to ensure that their investments in AI pay off with customers.
For instance, although 91% of business leaders feel positive about using AI to engage with customers, only 50% of consumers profess feeling the same way. Moreover, when given the choice between interacting with a human or an AI chatbot to take care of common tasks, business leaders overestimate by an average of 19% the number of consumers who say they would choose bots for each task. And even though business leaders are much more familiar about AI, with 92% saying they are learning to work with AI to do their jobs better, the same is true for just 36% of consumers.
This split between business leaders and their customers is emerging at the same time that brands have reached a tipping point for AI-powered customer engagement, with more than half of business leaders now prioritizing messaging with AI over traditional customer service channels, such as phone (55%), email (51%), and ticketing systems (54%).
Related Article: LivePerson Launches Generative AI Products and Tools
“We’re at a pivotal moment: brands are all-in when it comes to AI, but their customers have yet to experience the true benefits of this much-hyped technology,” said John Sabino, CEO at LivePerson. “As business leaders transition from today’s costly, frustrating call centers to the digital-first, AI-powered contact centers of the future, they must prove the value of AI to their customers now—or risk turning them against the very tech they’re investing in so heavily.”
Despite the AI gap, consumers say they anticipate benefits from AI to manifest over the long term, with 2 out of 3 consumers expecting to see an improvement in the way they work with businesses within the next five years—thanks to AI.
New York City-headquartered LivePerson is the provider of a conversational AI platform for business that allows consumers to message with brands. The platform helps brands, in turn, embrace automation-first CX for better scale, engagement, and results.
Author Information
Alex is responsible for writing about trends and changes that are impacting the customer experience market. He had served as Principal Editor at Village Intelligence, a Los Angeles-based consultancy on technology impacting healthcare and healthcare-related industries. Alex was also Associate Director for Content Management at Omdia and Informa Tech, where he produced white papers, executive summaries, market insights, blogs, and other key content assets. His areas of coverage spanned the sectors grouped under the technology vertical, including semiconductors, smart technologies, enterprise & IT, media, displays, mobile, power, healthcare, China research, industrial and IoT, automotive, and transformative technologies.
At IHS Markit, he was Managing Editor of the company’s flagship IHS Quarterly, covering aerospace & defense, economics & country risk, chemicals, oil & gas, and other IHS verticals. He was Principal Editor of analyst output at iSuppli Corp. and Managing Editor of Market Watch, a fortnightly newsletter highlighting significant analyst report findings for pitching to the media. He started his career in writing as an Editor-Reporter for The Associated Press.
