Customer experience (CX) has become a major concern for businesses worldwide in recent times. Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread digitization and changes in customer behavior, the landscape of customer experience has also changed significantly.

Despite a challenging two years, now is an incredible time for CX. The most successful brands have embraced challenges and turned a moment into a movement to push change and create something new – with better systems, better technology, and better strategies. It’s ultimately paved the way for a new understanding of brand purpose, a better employee experience, and an elevated customer experience.

This article shares predictions by leading analyst firm, Forrester, of what will shape CX in 2022. Halfway through the year, we decide to see if these predictions are actually in play:

• Pandemic-era “new normal” services are trending: the Forrester data finds that consumers enjoyed the new services that became popular during the pandemic and they will stay put. We continue to see that services such as curbside pickup that weren’t popular pre-pandemic are still a hot commodity due to convenience and comfort.
• Employees matter as much as customers do, and even more: retaining quality employees who you trust and have confidence in should be your top priority. If the customer is always right, employees have to take the abuse of customers with zero support from management. What happens next? Employees move on to opportunities that are not as filled with anxiety. With company culture so focused on employee well-being, this prediction is as true as it can ever be.
• Is the era of instant gratification over?: for years, consumers were no longer willing to wait to get what they want. In an on-demand world, everything is made available with clicks of buttons, phone calls, and even texts or social media. With supply chain challenges and shortages in many goods and services, brands can no longer rely on a plethora of products as their main selling point; instead, they will have to use CX to differentiate themselves.

Learn more and read the about these predictions that are going to take CX to the next level.