The countdown is on: Black Friday/Cyber Monday is almost here. Retailers are gearing up for the projected record 183.4 million people in the US who are expected to shop in-store and online over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Your brand’s digital customer support strategy is key as consumers take up their concerns to brands after the purchase. Consumers are looking to rebuild trust with brands and seeking transparency, responsiveness, and ease of resolution when issues arise.

Social Media and CX

Sprout Social’s survey around social media and holiday shopping has a treasure trove of info for CX leaders.

More consumers are looking to keep their shopping journey on social, buying directly through social media platforms. When customers reach out to brands on social, 70% turn to
DMs, while a third will publicly tag a brand in posts to draw attention to their issue. For all consumers, Facebook still reigns as the top social platform for consumers reaching out to brands with Instagram as a close second - but Instagram is the top for Gen Z and Millennials.

How can
CX leaders meet consumer needs in this area?

• Know your customer demographics and the social channels they prefer

• Have a presence on social channels for both gift discoverability and customer support

• Use an omnichannel customer support solution to capture customer outreach
  

Using AI to Power CX

If you’re planning to use AI to help your CX team run more efficiently this holiday season, be strategic with how you use the next week.

• Make sure your self-service materials are accurate, current, and fill in any gaps

• Test extensively before rolling any automations out

• Keep humans in the loop

Regardless of any AI usage for this holiday season, collect data to serve as a benchmark - it can help you gauge the efficacy of any AI investments for next year.

Tune In

Did you miss our Intro to AI Agents webinar last week? We had so many questions that we couldn’t answer them all, so we’re offering another session.

Get your questions answered tomorrow, Thursday November 21 at 9 AM Pacific/Noon Eastern.

RSVP here.

AI Insights

AI Agents are the hot new thing in customer service but they’re not just for CX. Juna wants to use AI Agents in factories. Manufacturing uses a lot of energy and has a ton of industrial data - so it’s a prime use case to bring AI in to drive efficiencies. The goal? Use AI to lower emissions and drive better margins.

AI Agents are becoming more entrenched in different parts of the supply chain. Eventually, these different AI systems could integrate with one another. Imagine the manufacturing AI Agent’s knowledge pooling with your business intelligence system and customer support system for lightning fast proactive service around product shipment delays, or inventory management that minimizes backorders from happening at all. One day!

Investment Insights

Follow the money. The intersection of AI and CX continues to attract investor attention:

• CommBox raised $15 million to expand its AI customer service platform

• Front acquired VC-backed Idiomatic with the goal of enhancing its AI-driven customer service solutions.

• Cognigy secured $100 million in funding with the goal of outpacing other established businesses in the space

Golden Nuggets

What IoT Devices Mean for the Future of Customer Service
The Sound Of Silence: How Companies Lose Trust By Ignoring Customer Feedback
How to Measure the Impact of Your Contact Center AI Investments