This exclusive Metrigy eBook, commissioned by Zoom, goes beyond the hype and reveals how leading organizations are using AI today, what challenges they’re still facing and which strategies are paying off.

Inside, you’ll uncover:

The top drivers fueling AI adoption in customer experience

The biggest roadblocks CX leaders hit when integrating AI

Which features and capabilities matter most when evaluating AI solutions

It almost goes without saying that we’ve moved beyond the age of telephone-only conversations with customers. These days, customers demand interactions over text, email, social media and yes, even phone calls. The proliferation of such omnichannel customer service together with the scale of interactions means that agents are doing more work than ever before.

Yet even as their workload has increased, how they get their work done often hasn’t changed. After-call summaries and call handoffs can still happen on Post-Its at many organizations. Agents might still be evaluated on a small sample of the hundreds of interactions they engage in every week. And call complexity or the absence of automated processes means agents might have to pause interactions while they complete tasks, increasing Average Handle TIme and raising costs.

Consumer search behavior is shifting, with users now entering longer, more complex questions into search bars in pursuit of more relevant results. For instance, instead of a simple “best kids snacks,” queries have evolved to “What are some nutritious snack options for a 7-year-old’s birthday party?” 

However, many digital platforms have yet to adapt to this new era of discovery, leaving shoppers frustrated as they find themselves sifting through extensive catalogs and manually applying filters. This results in quick abandonment and lost transactions, including an estimated annual global loss of $2 trillion.

Ralph Lauren introduced Ask Ralph, a new AI-powered conversational shopping experience that invites consumers to engage with, and be inspired by, Ralph Lauren’s unique and iconic take on style. Blending advanced AI technology with Ralph Lauren’s timeless brand, Ask Ralph provides styling inspiration by serving up multiple, shoppable visual laydowns of complete outfits, personalized to a user’s prompts, from across available inventory within the Men’s and Women’s Polo Ralph Lauren brand. Ask Ralph begins rolling out today to Ralph Lauren app users in the United States.

To build trust with international customers, you need to localize your e-commerce store to ensure maximum conversions. Learn a few best practices before you get started. Localizing for international markets as an e-commerce retailer helps you tap into new markets without needing physical stores. It also facilitates greater brand engagement and trust with new audiences, which is critical for sustained growth amid fierce competition.

The B2B buying journey has historically been high-touch and highly complex. But the ease and personalization found with consumer-facing ecommerce sites, especially robust marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart, are simply too valuable to ignore.  

B2B buyers — and even their counterparts in sales — increasingly demand B2C-level experiences for their business needs, driving organizations to level up their digital experiences. And with 80% of sales interactions between buyers and suppliers expected to occur through digital channels by the end of 2025, now is the time for organizations to level up their ecommerce strategies.

If your mental image of Gen Z is a bunch of teenagers glued to their devices, you’re only half right: time has marched on, as it is wont to do, and the oldest members of Gen Z are now 28 years old, while the youngest members are turning 13 this year. And there are a lot of them — they already comprise nearly one-quarter of the total population.

Retail marketers, understandably, want to appeal to this large consumer set, with spending power that’s forecasted to reach $12 trillion by 2030, according to the National Retail Federation. Even before that, in 2029, they will overtake Baby Boomers in total generational spend, according to the 2024 Spend Z report from NielsenIQ.

Understanding your customers is essential for building strong relationships and achieving lasting growth. It’s not just beneficial; it’s fundamental. Building that coveted 360-degree customer view, however, requires a solid foundation. It demands that you master several critical facets of data, insight and action. 

Let’s explore the seven pillars of a comprehensive C360, asking the crucial questions that lead to a complete and actionable customer picture.