Consumer Experience Trends for 2024

In an increasingly digitized, automated world, this year’s Consumer Experience Trends Report is a timely reminder to organizations to not lose sight of what matters most — creating genuine, human connections with customers.?

Our 4th annual report, based on responses from more than 28,000 consumers across 26 countries, shows just how valuable those connections really are.

But here’s the catch (there’s always a catch!) – understanding how to make those connections is getting harder. As you place your bets in 2024 and beyond, we hope this year’s insights and advice from our team of experts shine a light on the areas where you can have the greatest impact.

Trend 1 // Human connection is the foundation of a winning AI strategy

Our research found that consumers are still on the fence about AI – driven by a primary concern that it will replace a human to connect with. That desire for human connection rings true in their channel preferences, too – with most still preferring to interact with human channels over automated or self-service options, especially for high-stakes tasks like resolving an issue with a bill, while being more open to using digital channels for transactional activities like checking an order status.

Trend 2 // Great service beats low prices in the battle for customer loyalty

In 2024, despite predictions to the contrary, it’s not low price points driving consumer purchase decisions — our research found organizations with a great reputation for customer experience are best positioned to win share of wallet, even in a down economy. Post-purchase experience is one of the biggest drivers of consumer purchase decisions — in our study, ‘customer service support’ ranks second only to ‘product quality’ – even above ‘low prices’.

Trend 3 // Digital support is the weakest link in your customer journey

We looked at how consumers interact with companies across different channels to determine what parts of the journey work best, and where improvements need to be made. The data shows a clear hotspot that needs fixing — digital customer support. Digital customer support has the lowest satisfaction compared to human channels, but the highest upside if you get it right.

Trend 4 // Consumers don’t give feedback like they used to... so companies must listen in new ways

How and where consumers make their voices heard is changing. Consumers are giving less direct feedback than they were three years ago, making understanding consumer experience ever more complex. Companies need to be smart about understanding feedback where customers are giving it— which increasingly means gathering and analyzing data from call center transcripts, online chat conversations, product reviews and social media posts.?

Want to dive deeper into the data? Read the full report here .

Tell us what you think about these trends in the comments below. ??

What else is new?

MR Trends Report: More than 4 in 10 (43%) market researchers say AI is enabling their teams to do more research with the same team size and budget. We asked 3,000+ market researchers across 14 countries how they are embracing new technologies, how their organizations are valuing their work, and what their priorities are in 2024. Here’s what we found out.?

X4 Registration is OPEN! May 1-3, 2024 in Salt Lake City, #QualtricsX4 will bring together more than 10,000 C-suite executives, thought leaders and experience management professionals for three days of learning, inspiration and connection. Get ahead of your biggest experience challenges and learn from some of the brightest minds in business! ?? Last year, 3/4 of X4 attendees said they learned how to solve a critical business challenge at the conference. Register here.?

Subscribe to the XM Monthly newsletter to stay up-to-date on all things experience management!