Key customer experience insights and strategies for success in 2025

Written by Tobias Riis Christensen
All data from this blog post can be found in our whitepaper 'The Voice of Customers 2024'

As the expectations of customer experience evolve, businesses must stay ahead by adopting new technologies and strategies to maintain a competitive edge.

In 2024, we analysed over 787,000 customer interactions across multiple channels, including email, phone, chatbots, and live chat. This data provided crucial insights into customer behaviour, pain points, and operational challenges faced by webshops. 

This post offers a deep dive into the key findings from 2024, providing businesses with actionable strategies to optimise their customer service operations and enhance customer experience in 2025. By implementing the right solutions, businesses can meet customer expectations and improve customer satisfaction.

Key insights from 2024

1. Customer service demand remains high

• 12% of all orders resulted in a customer service request.
• The busiest week of the year saw a 2.5x increase in inquiries compared to the least busy week.
• “Where is my order?” remained the most common question despite widespread tracking solutions.

Why this matters:

Despite automation and proactive tracking updates, customers still seek reassurance. Many customers experience delays, unclear tracking updates, or delivery issues that create uncertainty about their purchase.

The human need for certainty and trust means that, even when tracking is available, customers will reach out for confirmation. Businesses must ensure order tracking is clear, proactive, and continuously updated to reduce unnecessary customer inquiries and enhance self-service options, improving the overall customer experience.

2. Channel preferences: email remains dominant, and chatbots are on the rise

• Email accounted for 56% of customer service interactions.
• Phone represented 25%, mainly used for complex inquiries.
• Live chat (including chatbot and social media interactions) made up 19%.
• Chatbots automated 17% of conversations, up from 13% in 2023.

Why this matters:

Email remains the primary communication channel due to its flexibility and formality, allowing customers to communicate their issues comprehensively. However, real-time support channels like chat and phone are still essential for urgent and complex matters.

The steady rise in chatbot adoption highlights a shift towards cost-effective automation, reducing pressure on human agents while offering 24/7 support. Businesses must optimise chatbots to handle more sophisticated questions, improving response accuracy and customer satisfaction, and increasing customer trust in automation.

3. Seasonal peaks: post-black Friday and pre-Christmas are critical

• The busiest customer service period was NOT Black Friday itself, but the weeks that followed.
• Post-order issues like damaged products, refunds, and missing items peaked after major shopping events.
• Easter also triggered a mid-year surge in customer service inquiries.

Why this matters:

Retailers often focus on pre-sale support but underestimate the impact of post-purchase service demands. High sales volumes lead to more returns, delivery issues, and damaged goods, which overwhelm support teams.

Customers who receive inadequate post-purchase support are more likely to churn, leave negative reviews, and reduce their future spending. Preparing staffing and automation solutions for post-sale inquiries is crucial to maintaining customer satisfaction beyond the initial transaction.

4. First contact resolution (FCR) drops in peak seasons

• During peak periods, FCR dropped by 13%.
• Post-order inquiries are more complex and often require follow-ups.
• The inability to resolve issues quickly led to increased repeat contacts.

Why this matters:

A drop in first contact resolution means more effort for both customers and businesses. Longer resolution times lead to customer frustration, increased costs per inquiry, and higher agent workload.

Businesses need to implement smarter triage systems, automation for common resolutions, and improved knowledge base content so that customers can self-serve before escalating to support teams, thereby improving customer experience during peak seasons.

5. The decline of customer ratings: AI as a better solution

• Only 6% of conversations were rated by customers.
• Traditional surveys are becoming ineffective due to rating fatigue.
• AI-driven analysis provides more accurate sentiment tracking.

Why this matters:

Customers today have little patience for surveys and post-service feedback requests, leading to low participation and incomplete insights. AI-powered sentiment analysis can analyse 100% of conversations in real-time, providing a more comprehensive and unbiased view of customer satisfaction without relying on voluntary ratings. This shift towards AI is a key component of improving customer experience in the long run.

Recommendations for 2025

1. Scale customer service to match demand fluctuations

• Use 2024 data to predict peak periods and adjust staffing and automation accordingly.
• Leverage temporary agents or outsourcing during spikes in demand.
• Automate common inquiries, like tracking and returns, to reduce strain on human agents.

Why this matters:

Scaling customer service is about more than just adding staff—it requires strategic planning and automation. Businesses that fail to anticipate demand spikes experience long wait times and lower customer satisfaction.

By combining automation with flexible staffing, businesses can maintain high service levels and reduce strain on teams while improving the customer experience.

2. Automate high-volume inquiries

• Focus automation on common queries like “Where is my order?” and refund requests.
• Build user-friendly self-service portals to empower customers.

Why this matters:

Automation helps businesses manage high volumes of repetitive inquiries efficiently, freeing up agents to focus on more complex customer needs, and enhancing overall customer experience.

By prioritising automation for high-volume queries, businesses can ensure faster resolutions and smoother customer journeys.

3. Balance pre- and post-order support needs

• Live chat should be the primary channel for pre-order support, guiding customers to conversions.
• Post-order support should leverage automation for tracking and returns.
• Train agents to handle post-order complexities efficiently.

Why this matters:

A well-structured pre-purchase support strategy can increase conversions, while effective post-purchase support retains customers. Balancing these two ensures that resources are allocated where they drive the most value, which is key for sustaining high customer satisfaction.

4. Use AI to enhance customer insights

• AI-powered sentiment analysis should replace traditional CSAT surveys.
• Track conversation themes over time to refine service offerings.
• Proactively identify negative trends and resolve them before they escalate.

Why this matters:

AI provides granular insights that surveys miss, allowing businesses to identify pain points early and take action before they escalate into widespread dissatisfaction, thereby improving customer satisfaction and overall customer experience.

5. Empower agents for multi-channel support

• Train agents to handle email, phone, and live chat interchangeably.
• Use queue management systems to prioritise urgent queries.
• Deploy chatbots for high-volume repetitive questions, ensuring smooth escalations to agents.

Why this matters:

A seamless omnichannel experience leads to faster resolution times and better customer satisfaction. Equipping agents with the right tools and training ensures they can adapt to changing customer preferences without disrupting service quality, ultimately improving the customer experience.

Final thoughts

If we were to summarise the report, The Voice of Customers 2024 underscores the importance of automation in customer service, scalability, and AI-driven insights. Businesses must focus on balancing automation with human empathy, ensuring that service remains both efficient and customer-centric, ultimately improving customer experience.

By investing in proactive strategies, AI-driven analytics, and scalable service models, businesses can reduce operational strain while enhancing the overall customer experience and customer satisfaction.