23 digital customer experience stats to know for 2023

So much has happened over the last 12 months. Consumers and brands alike adjusted to the pandemic realities; futuristic technology such as the metaverse dominated conversations and stole mindshare; and brands started exploring ways to streamline operational costs to navigate challenging economic conditions.

What hasn't changed, is the important role customer experience (CX) plays in attracting and retaining customers. As we embark on 2023, it will be more important than ever for brands to have a robust digital CX strategy in place in order to face new challenges ahead, and to take advantage of emerging opportunities.

Check out the 23 statistics below to help kick-start your 2023 customer experience planning.

Don't overlook the benefits of human-centered CX

• Even though it has been proven that great customer experience drives revenue, some businesses aren't taking advantage of the opportunity. CX quality fell for 19% of brands in 2022 — the highest proportion of brands to drop in one year since the inception of Forrester's US Customer Experience Index (Forrester).
• Forrester's US Customer Experience Index found that only 3% of U.S. companies were customer-obsessed in 2022 — putting customers at the center of their leadership, strategy and operations — a decrease of 7% from the year prior (Forrester).
• It can be difficult for brands to make up ground if they aren't focused on great CX. Interestingly, 44% of consumers said that nothing — not even price, convenience or if it's a brand they truly like — excuses a poor customer experience (TELUS Digital).
• Great CX is still the way to a customer's heart (and wallet): 93% of Baby Boomers, 91% of Millennials, 89% of Gen X and 81% of Gen Z said good customer service following a purchase (such as short wait times and easy exchange/return processes), is most likely to lead to future purchases (TELUS Digital).
• Top-notch CX is the best way to maintain relationships: 80% of customers accept company mistakes provided that they are backed by excellent customer service (Salesforce).
• 62% of customers claim to feel an emotional connection to the brands they buy from most (Salesforce).
• Nearly 50% of consumers said that if they could only receive customer support in one way for the rest of their lives, their preference would be speaking with a human on the phone (TELUS Digital).

Automation is helping to improve efficiency and provide consumers with enhanced experiences

• Technology such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA) can improve the efficiency of contact center operations by 60% (Google Cloud).
• Consumers are welcoming artificial intelligence (AI) with open arms: 69% say they are open to the use of AI to improve their experiences (Salesforce).
• 65% of customers expect at least part of their customer journey to be automated (TELUS Digital).
• Gen Z (46%), Gen X (53%) and Baby Boomers (60%) indicated that real-time help powered by AI has the most positive impact on how they view a brand and is most likely to grow their loyalty. Millennials are also serious about automation, as 72% are likely to make repeat purchases and 71% are likely to recommend a brand if it uses AI to improve their customer experience (TELUS Digital).

Social media continues to be a major cog in the CX machine

• Businesses see social media as a vital customer service channel, with 59% agreeing that social customer care has increased in value for their organization (Hootsuite).
• Consumers are turning to social media channels to spread the word about their favorite brands. Consider this: 75% of consumers are likely to leave a review, post on social media or create some other form of user generated content if they have a positive customer experience (TELUS Digital).
• 74% of global consumers are influenced by social media ads, and 71% have made at least one purchase from a social media ad in the last 12 months (TELUS Digital).

Get ready to add the metaverse to your omnichannel strategy

• Omnichannel experiences are more important than ever. A convincing 81% of consumers reported shopping across at least three channels over the last six months (PwC).
• One in three consumers report using a virtual reality (VR) channel in the past six months. Of those VR users, 35% had joined a virtual world to experience a retail environment, and 32% reported purchasing digital products after testing them or browsing stores in VR (PwC).
• 72% of consumers indicated they believe that brand interactions in the metaverse will one day replace brand interactions in the real world, or that brands will use a hybrid approach of both metaverse and in-person interactions (TELUS Digital).
• Elite metaverse experiences are expected to increase customer loyalty: 50% of consumers said they would choose one brand over another if it offered a superior experience in the metaverse (TELUS Digital).
• Top-notch metaverse experiences will give brands the green light to charge premium prices: 27% of consumers would pay a 5% premium for a product or service that was supported by a quality metaverse experience; 22% would pay up to 10% more (TELUS Digital).

Brands are turning to trusted outsourcing partnerships to deliver exceptional CX

• 84% of tech executives said they plan to work with an external provider in some capacity to achieve their companies' customer experience objectives (TELUS Digital).
• Less is more. Half of enterprises report reducing their CX provider footprint over the last 12 months, with 51% using a single provider and 44% engaged with only two to three providers (Ryan Strategic Advisory and TELUS Digital).
• Innovation (28%), experience (26%) and end-to-end solutions (19%) are ranked by executives as the top three most important qualities when evaluating a digital CX provider (TELUS Digital).
• Executives said that the ability to scale (69%), consistently meet KPIs (65%) and meet language requirements (61%) were the most important factors in securing contract renewals with an outsourcing partner (Ryan Strategic Advisory and TELUS Digital).

Are you prepared for the future of CX? Our customer experience team has a pulse on the latest and greatest trends. Contact us to see how you can leverage our expertise to benefit your business in 2023.