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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Why RCS is gaining traction among business and consumers alike
This story was originally published on CX Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CX Dive newsletter. A majority of business leaders say RCS, or rich communication services, will be game-changing for business messaging, according to a Sinch report released Monday. Sinch surveyed 2,800 consumers globally and more than 1,600 business leaders. Nearly 9 in 10 business leaders are at least somewhat familiar with RCS, the survey found. RCS is a richer form of text messaging that allows for better conversational abilities and richer visuals. It even lets customers take next actions within the same channel. 'RCS is an app-like experience in the messaging channel. It is a total game changer,' Brenda Fackler, VP of client services at Sinch. 'The conversational abilities of RCS really do start to create an experience that centers on the customer.' RCS is becoming more popular among businesses and customers alike. More than 4 in 5 consumers prefer RCS over traditional text messaging, according to a Twilio survey released earlier this month. Three-quarters of businesses plan to invest in RCS in 2025. Apple instigated the recent surge in popularity, according to Fackler. While the technology has been used on Android devices for a while, in October, Apple announced its support of RCS. "It's been around for a long time, but it was really Apple's announcement that they were going to support the format that changed things,' Fackler said. 'They started making beta versions available that people could get in and play around with. With roughly 50% of the market, that just made a huge difference.' One of the biggest advantages of RCS is security. First, businesses go through a verification process. The consumer then receives a message from a verified sender and logo. Messages are also encrypted in transit, making it more secure than SMS. Nearly half of business leaders believe RCS will improve security, but they also expect it to increase customer engagement and trust. Some of the features of RCS are simply practical. When a customer receives a message from a business using RCS, it also comes with a virtual contact card, or V card, so customers can further engage. 'Not only is it branded, named, but you can also have a phone number, have a link to download the app,' Fackler said. Such information 'isn't sexy, but it's incredibly pragmatic and powerful.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Want to prepare for generative AI? Get your knowledge base up to par
This story was originally published on CX Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CX Dive newsletter. The rise of generative AI-powered search engines and agents is poised to change how people interact with brands, from buying products to seeking customer service. The technology is still in the early days, and no one can say just how the generative AI future will pan out. However, experts encourage CX leaders to prepare for however AI models evolve by putting a proper knowledge sharing strategy in place. 'Inaction is a big risk,' Brett Leary, generative AI transformation and global retail lead at Accenture, told CX Dive. 'You do have the opportunity to do something now in terms of making sure your site is accessible to these models.' Third-party customer service is already immensely popular. Consumers say that, on average, they successfully find the answers they need through third parties like YouTube or Google 62% of the time, according to a Gartner survey of more than 5,800 people released earlier this month. Generative AI is making its mark as younger customers add AI tools to their third-party customer service mix. Gen Z, for example, uses ChatGPT as often as video sites like YouTube before they interact with customer service channels, according to Gartner's research. Consumers have interest in AI shopping agents as well, with three-quarters saying they would be open to using a trusted AI-powered personal shopper that understands their needs, according to a June Accenture survey of 18,000 people in 14 countries. Generative AI adoption is on the rise among consumers, and CX leaders have an opportunity to prepare their operations to keep up with how customers are viewing their information. Information is the lifeblood of AI tools whether they are first or third party, which makes it paramount for leaders to prepare their knowledge base with AI in mind, according to Keith McIntosh, senior principal quantitative researcher on the customer service and support team at Gartner. 'It's the common denominator, whether a customer is accessing knowledge through a third-party aggregator, gen AI third-party aggregator, or whether they're going to your site and using your company search, they need knowledge, and they need the right knowledge,' McIntosh told CX Dive. The large language models behind third-party AI tools act similarly to the web crawler bots that power traditional search engines, according to Leary. They visit brand sites and capture information that can be used to train AI models, which influences the results provided to end users. As a result, CX leaders need to think about how LLMs as well as customers will read their pages, according to Leary. One way to appeal to both people and machines is to make sure the information featured on a site is presented clearly and confidently. 'Are we answering people's questions in an authoritative type of view?' Leary said. 'These LLMs, as we're learning, are looking for that type of content to use as they go and respond to questions, and so you start to think about the impact on your content strategy.' Ensuring product and service knowledge is both comprehensive and accurate a top priority whether customers discover it on the brand website, a search engine or a generative AI assistant, according to McIntosh. 'We're encouraging organizations to make themselves the main source of truth on their products and services, and to invest in a quality knowledge management system because it's relevant regardless of where customers are getting their answers,' McIntosh said. Perhaps the biggest challenge of consumers turning to third-party AI tools is dealing with the loss of control. Individual companies have little to no control over the experience of customers who use Google or ChatGPT to seek out information. However, this may not be as big a problem as it appears. There is no correlation between the amount of effort a customer puts into solving a problem via third-party services and the satisfaction with the service provided by the company, according to Gartner's survey. Customers simply don't penalize companies for the effort they put into resolving an issue through external sites. While brands won't have complete control over what third parties do with their content, partnerships with AI providers can help companies ensure the information AI agents provide customers is accurate, according to Leary. Retailers like Target are working with OpenAI to test its Operator agentic AI, which can shop directly on behalf of customers. Such partnerships could help these companies join the upcoming AI ecosystem with the right foot forward. Content in general will be important as well, according to Leary. Brands will still control the information they put on their sites, and that is what generative AI will draw from even as it acts on behalf of customers. Leaders can't police the internet, according to Leary. As a result, their best bet is to deliver accurate content to third-party LLM providers to help ensure their output provides a good experience. 登入存取你的投資組合
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Stitch Fix personalization investments show signs of paying off
This story was originally published on CX Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CX Dive newsletter. Stitch Fix executives credited its client experience improvements, particularly deeper customer-stylist relationships and improved flexibility, for improved financial results on a Q3 2025 earnings call Tuesday. The company increased the maximum number of items per order from five to eight last year, which is directly contributing to 10% year-over-year average order value growth, according to CEO Matt Baer. Stitch Fix is rolling out a feature that will let customers start a curated order based on apparel they discover through the Freestyle service, according to Baer. Freestyle suggests items based on a customer's preferences, and the new option would let customers have their stylists design a complete order around a chosen piece. The CX improvements Stitch Fix began implementing in August are paying off, but the company still has work ahead. Net revenue rose 0.7% year over year to $325 million in the third quarter of 2025, marking the company's return to year-over-year revenue growth, according to a company earnings report. This marks the first year-over-year growth in 12 quarters. Third quarter 2025 marked the second straight quarter of year-over-year new customer growth, according to Baer. However, while the quarter saw the lowest quarter of sequential active client declines in three years, active clients fell 10.6% year over year to less than 2.4 million. Stitch Fix's improvements to personalization and discovery are designed to help the company stand out from other clothing retailers as the company continues to pursue a return to customer growth. 'As we move from the build phase into the growth phase of our transformation, we're focused on cementing ourselves as the retailer of choice for apparel and accessories by delivering the most client-centric and personalized shopping experience,' Baer said. Stitch Fix's value proposition, driven by convenience and personalization, is expected to resonate with shoppers even in the face of economic uncertainty, according to Baer. 'Clients come to Stitch Fix for the personalized styling, the convenience, the discovery of the items that they love, and it inherently offers additional value and protects our business from any pure price comparison shopping,' Baer said. Stylists in particular will play an important role, according to Baer. The 'strong and enduring relationships' between stylists and customers helps Stitch Fix tailor each client's experience and adjust to their budgets as needed.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Businesses look to streamline tech stacks to better understand customers
This story was originally published on CX Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CX Dive newsletter. The modern customer experience tech stack is 'evolving from a patchwork of tools into a cohesive, strategic priority,' according to a Twilio survey published last week. Investments in three technology solutions experienced significant year-over-year growth, including customer analytics, customer surveys and contact center solutions. However, almost half of businesses — 44% — report struggling to connect customer data across channels, sources and platforms. Nearly one-third claim inadequate technology is a 'major roadblock' to learning more about their customers, according to Twilio. Businesses are increasingly turning to first-party data to understand and engage their customers, but integrating customer relationship management software, surveys and other tools and technologies remains a challenge. 'As businesses fine-tune their tech investments to address these gaps, the real challenge is not simply adopting new tools, but ensuring they drive innovation without adding complexity,' the survey said. The vast majority of businesses — 96% — plan to build custom CX solutions instead of buying them off-the-shelf, leveraging application programming interfaces to integrate new tools technologies. 'This DIY approach offers greater flexibility, enabling brands to create customized solutions — like CXaaS — that align closely with their unique business goals and customer needs,' according to Twilio. However, while best-of-breed solutions offer businesses the opportunity to tailor their tech stack to meet their specific needs, they can pose greater integration and onboarding challenges than less specialized all-in-one suites, which are designed to work together harmoniously. Businesses plan to use several technologies to improve data management, automation and communication. The top solutions businesses are investing in in 2025 are data management platforms, customer engagement platforms, customer data platforms, marketing automation platforms and communication platform as a service. In addition, three-quarters of businesses plan to invest in rich communication services messaging in 2025 to 'create more personalized, interactive, and trusted communication, with features like rich media content, custom branding, two-way interactivity, and enhanced security,' they survey says. More than 8 in 10 consumers prefer RCS to traditional text messaging. 'The brands that invest wisely — not just widely — will be the ones that win in 2025,' according to Twilio. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Advice emerges as a key aspect of bank customers' experience
This story was originally published on CX Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CX Dive newsletter. More consumers are looking to their banks for advice as their overall financial health deteriorates, according to a J.D. Power report released Thursday. More than one-quarter of bank customers are 'very interested' in bank advice or guidance. That number is particularly pronounced among younger generations. More than one-third of customers under the age of 40 are currently seeking advice. Customers are most interested in short-term solutions, according to Jennifer White, senior director for banking and payments intelligence at J.D. Power. 'We see a shift in consumer thirst for content that is around short-term solutions, things like, 'Ways to help pay my bills on time?'' As consumers become more anxious about the economy, they're looking to their financial institutions for guidance, creating an opportunity for banks to build lasting relationships. Providing financial advice drives trust and in turn satisfaction, according White. 'There's many factors that influence satisfaction, but the factor that has the highest weight in driving customer satisfaction is the level of trust that a customer has in their financial institution,' she told CX Dive. Trust is driven by several key factors, including a bank's ability to resolve a customer's problem, a customer's confidence they have the account right for their situation, and a bank providing a customer support and guidance during a challenging time. Customers' thirst for short-term solutions reflect that increase in vulnerable customers, White said. More than 2 in 5 bank customers are considered financially vulnerable, meaning they have trouble paying their bills on time, are unable to cover living expenses for a minimum of six months and are seeing their credit deteriorate. The best banks don't treat guidance as an afterthought and make it available beyond branch locations, according to J.D. Power. Customers are most satisfied with retail banking advice from Bank of America, followed by U.S. Bank and Chase. 'Most of the institutions that are at the top of the list have embedded advice or guidance throughout their ecosystem,' White said. 'They're combining in-person experiences with digital engagement.' Perhaps that's offering a personal financial management tool or even a banner interruption that educates customers on scams, White said. But even if customers don't follow bank advice, the act of offering it grows customer satisfaction. 'No advice results in the lowest overall customer satisfaction,' White said. 'Advice that isn't acted on is still higher than that, but advice that is acted on is the highest.' Recommended Reading Lyft boosts bottom line with premium rides, economy options Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
