UJET, a leading provider of AI-powered cloud contact center solutions, released new research that shows mobile-friendly customer experiences (CX) (46%) now rank higher than AI-driven support (36%), empathetic human agent interactions (32%), and even shorter wait times (20%) in shaping consumer buying behavior.
However, 67% of retailers still haven’t digitized customer service for the mobile phone era. UJET’s Digital Divide in Retail Customer Service report – which includes insights from 200 retail CX leaders across the U.S. and Europe – finds that although leaders communicate most with text, iMessage, and WhatsApp (97%) and least with email (66%) in their personal lives, their brands offer email communication the most (96%) and text the least (73%) to consumers.
“What this data shows is that the goalposts have moved. Today, you’re not being compared to the retailer down the street, you’re being compared to the ease of ordering a car from your phone,” said Baker Johnson, Chief Business Officer at UJET. “Every point of friction—repeating information, switching channels, waiting for an email—is a moment you lose to that higher standard. The immediate opportunity is to embrace the smartphone for what it is: the most direct, powerful, and data-rich option for minimizing and improving your customer experience.”
Key findings from the report include:
- An Alarming Overconfidence Gap: 78% of retail executives say they’d be satisfied contacting their support team, yet 53% admit their customer service is fragmented and difficult to navigate. In addition, agents struggle to quickly solve the customer’s unique problem (44%), and customers must repeat their problem or re-identify themselves (43%).
- Investment Remains an Issue: Despite 26% of organizations investing significantly in modernization, 55% have only somewhat mature AI, and 10% remain in early stages. UJET’s earlier AI Maturity Benchmark Report found that just 10% of contact centers deploy high-maturity AI today.
- Failure to Modernize Hurts Agent Performance: Retail leaders admit they’d face significant challenges as agents within their own company. It’s reported that multimodal tools (90%), GenAI assistants (51%), and video call capabilities (34%) would empower agents the most. Leaders claim that if agents were equipped with the right tech, they’d improve first contact resolution (55%), reduce turnover (52%), and respond to customers’ needs with more empathy (39%).
- Revenue is on the Line: The number one factor reported to create lifelong, happy customers is offering text, video call, photo sharing, and other mobile features in customer service (69%). Other top revenue drivers include leveraging AI bots to understand customer preferences (53%), using metadata from mobile phone searches for personalization (45%), and more.
“There’s clearly a digital divide where retail leaders enjoy the same mobile features they’re not offering to customers. Brands that close this gap and equip agents with mobile-first, AI-supported tools will capitalize on the demand and reduce churn, boost loyalty, and drive spending in a competitive market,” added Johnson.
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