What to expect from the Consumer Experience in 2023?

As we approach the beginning of a new cycle, reflections on trends and transformations grow, and these will guide the next period. When we deal with CX, that’s no different.

When planning their investments, organizations with a customer-centric culture dive into these critical bets, evaluating what makes sense to make up the best journey for their users. And recently, many innovations in this field have become more evolutionary than disruptive. But is consumer behavior what tells us what should come ahead.

Thus, understanding behaviors and expectations and predicting the demands for new consumption cycles are fundamental processes for brands’ growth and sustainability. This strategic phase requires the dedication and support of a partner fully aligned with companies’ business, who also understands the state of the art in CX to transform trends into practical solutions, profitable and, mainly, a competitive advantage.

And in the era when consumers crave personalized experiences, it’s not a surprise to highlight the importance of increasing investments in hyper-personalization through data science, which can range from product recommendations to forecasting new needs based on previous behaviors.

By closely monitoring the consumer journey, we can detect patterns anticipating demands and generate insights for defining new strategies. In this sense, it is worth noting that, according to Gartner, by 2025, proactive customer service solutions will overcome reactive strategies. To do this, companies should make the most of the power of data analytics and Artificial Intelligence to ensure they are prepared for this mindset change.

Voice assistants, which have become more prevalent daily, should continue to evolve in 2023. The increasingly developed conversational brand personas will make conversations more fluid, leveraging customer insights to drive the behavior of conversational interfaces.

Another solid trend is the online shopping increase, a change in consumers’ habits that only advances. Experts believe that by 2040, 95% of purchases will be digitally done. Therefore, brands are increasingly challenged to offer and enhance humanized digital channels, providing memorable, resolutive and rewarding experiences for any consumer profile, even for those who still value face-to-face interaction.

The figital (or phygital)- model in which the physical and digital worlds are connected came to stay. At this point, companies that optimize their channels and provide true omnichannel interaction gain an advantage by providing the best cross-channel experience.

Speaking of digital environments, we should also see the expansion of the offer of immersive experiences, which are a fusion of different technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality, computer vision and artificial intelligence. Combining real and virtual elements for wireless 3D interaction transports the user to a parallel universe, allowing them to interact with any person or brand. For companies, this can take many forms with multiple degrees of immersion. For example, augmented reality visualization can generate 3D catalogs and interactive demos for a product to make it visually appealing to customers.

Increasingly, this type of technology gains projection within the relationship market, as we have seen, for some years now, the evolution of automation and self-service – which promise to strengthen even more in 2023. These are significant trends to be observed; however, they require companies to strike the right balance between technology and humanity to be truly successful. While many aspects of the customer journey can be automated, others must genuinely keep their human elements, such as empathy and creativity.

Not least in this equation are the investments in the Employee Experience. Diversity, inclusion, and happier people are vital to a company’s success. Seeking to provide everyone with equal opportunities in a respectful and inclusive environment will be essential to keep employees motivated, happy and loyal. In addition, given the new work formats, the search for flexibility in time and place should grow among employees. And the companies that have not yet adapted to this new scenario will need to accelerate. Otherwise, they will struggle with employee retention.  

Finally, as in any market, it is no different when we talk about CX: sustainability and focus on environmental topics will be at the center of the debates. Conscious consumption increasingly drives the choices of the new generations. Hence, regardless of the company’s market, actions focused on this theme should be among the strategy’s priorities.

Here, we are ready to help our customers and partners, with the support of the best experts in the market, overcome all these challenges and build another chapter of success in the relationship with their consumers as we move into the future.