Customer Service

  • A Williams-Sonoma store with a customer walking by.
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    Joe Raedle / Staff via Getty Images
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    Williams-Sonoma deploys AI agents across its brand portfolio to offer 24/7 support

    The retailer expects the agents to be able to handle more than 60% of chat inquiries, increasing efficiency and reducing service costs.

    By • Oct. 15, 2025
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    Consumers see live human customer service as key to loyalty

    Nearly three in five consumers say help from real people helps create trust, according to a Ricoh survey.

    By • Oct. 10, 2025
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    Trendline

    Customer service

    In this Trendline, CX Dive explores how customer service is evolving to fit the needs of the modern businesses and demands of today’s customers.

    By CX Dive staff
  • The inside of a Madison Reed color bar.
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    Permission granted by Madison Reed
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    How Madison Reed rolled out agentic AI to support, not replace, people

    The hair care company has focused on automating high-volume, low-friction tasks like membership management to free up stylists for more important work.

    By • Oct. 8, 2025
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    Courtesy of Starbucks
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    Why mobile-order and pickup-only restaurants fail

    Starbucks learned the hard way that customers care more about experience than efficiency. 

    By Michael Brady • Oct. 7, 2025
  • A close up of a man's hand holding a phone displaying a conversation with a chatbot.
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    CX quality is improving, no thanks to AI customer support

    Half of consumers are concerned that AI will impede their ability to connect to a human, according to Qualtrics XM Institute.

    By • Oct. 7, 2025
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    Consumers grow frustrated with unclear digital self service

    Most consumers say they have abandoned a digital task because it was too annoying, Liferay found.

    By • Oct. 6, 2025
  • A car sits underneath Taco Bell's new drive-thru camera stations, which are decorated in neon signage
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    Permission granted by Taco Bell Corp.
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    Chick-fil-A wins on order accuracy, experience at the drive-thru

    Speed of service improved slightly at quick-service restaurants, but mobile orders, app payments and customizations have created more complex transactions, Intouch Insight’s report revealed.

    By Aneurin Canham-Clyne • Oct. 3, 2025
  • A person types on a phone, interacting with a chatbot
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    Getty Images
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    AI chatbots consistently fall short on complex tasks

    Companies should let bots handle simple issues and escalate complex requests to AI-supported human agents to boost outcomes, loyalty and efficiency, according to Bain & Co.

    By Michael Brady • Oct. 3, 2025
  • A customer service agent works at her computer.
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    sturti via Getty Images
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    Winning consumers back after a poor experience takes action, not words

    Business leaders and customers agree that resolution should be fast, but leaders place greater value in apologies, according to a survey released by Sprinklr.

    By • Oct. 2, 2025
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    Good AI customer service is about not getting caught up in the details

    Chatbot responses should be “relevant, accurate, and not over or under informative” throughout the entire experience, according to PolyAI’s Oliver Shoulson.

    By • Updated Oct. 3, 2025
  • An exterior shot of a Red Lobster restaurant from downhill, in the foreground, lush shrubbery separates the restaurant from the camera.
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    Courtesy of Red Lobster
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    Red Lobster deploys AI bots to answer phones

    SoundHound’s voice automation technology is expected to free up workers and improve front-of-house service.

    By Aneurin Canham-Clyne • Sept. 24, 2025
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    A bipartisan bill wants to keep call centers in the US. Here’s how leaders can prepare.

    The legislation's future is unclear, but experts say contact centers should plan ahead and reduce call volumes, improve service and examine costs.

    By • Sept. 15, 2025
  • Call center workers in an office.
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    Getty Images
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    Gartner predicts Fortune 500 companies won’t eliminate human agents anytime soon

    “At the end of the day do we think there will be fewer agents? Yes. But a fully agentless future is not going to happen,” Gartner’s Kathy Ross said.

    By • Sept. 12, 2025
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    Brook Mitchell via Getty Images
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    Atlassian lays off another 200 customer service, support staff

    The company came to the decision after its customer experience improvements to platform and tools reduced support needs, a spokesperson told CX Dive.

    By • Sept. 10, 2025
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    Joe Raedle / Staff via Getty Images
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    Office Depot promises 15-minute pickup service

    The retailer says it will fulfill online and mobile orders for in-store and curbside pickup within 15 minutes, or it’ll send customers a $15 coupon.

    By • Sept. 8, 2025
  • Entrance to a modern glass building with a large blue cloud-shaped sign that reads “salesforce.” The text “Welcome to Salesforce Tower” is displayed on the wall below the sign.
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    Alamy
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    Salesforce still sees a place for live customer service agents after massive cuts

    The company slashed about 4,000 customer service agents as its use of AI picked up, but CEO Marc Benioff still expects people and AI to work together.

    By • Sept. 4, 2025
  • A woman chooses the goods online at the self-service device
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    Getty Images
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    CX leaders expect self-service and live chat to overtake phone, email by 2027

    Customer experience executives, however, are skeptical that AI agents will significantly expand and improve self-service, according to a Gartner survey.

    By Michael Brady • Sept. 3, 2025
  • A woman shows an older woman something on a smartphone.
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    Generational preferences are shaping attitudes toward customer service

    All consumers demand accuracy, while younger consumers stand out with an affinity for self-service and AI, a Decagon survey found.

    By • Aug. 27, 2025
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    Customer surveys alone are insufficient for understanding CX, study finds

    Conversational intelligence can fill the gaps in insight left by surveys, and merging both strategies can help leaders craft better experiences, experts say.

    By • Aug. 25, 2025
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    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
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    How Bank of America’s Erica raised the stakes for virtual assistants

    “A big area of focus for us was: How can we find that balance between the AI support and the human support that Bank of America is known for?” said Jorge Camargo, head of digital platforms.

    By • Aug. 25, 2025
  • Zoom's Eric Yuan
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    Kena Betancur via Getty Images
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    Zoom stakes the future of its contact center business in AI

    The vendor’s ability to support agents with AI, as well as offer agentic AI that can handle calls on its own, are each driving adoption, executives said.

    By • Aug. 22, 2025
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    Getty Images
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    Want to boost loyalty? Fix your customers’ problems

    Solving customer challenges shows that “a brand sees them, hears them and, more importantly, is willing to take action to make their experience better,” one expert said.

    By Michael Brady • Aug. 20, 2025
  • A woman talks on a headset in front of a computer.
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    Getty Images
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    AI delivers the best customer support when it’s enhancing humans, study finds

    “AI is most effective when human agents can use it as a ‘sixth sense’ or as an ‘angel on the shoulder,’” Verizon Business’ Daniel Lawson said.

    By • Aug. 18, 2025
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    Customers still don’t love AI in customer service

    While AI is making inroads in customer support, 82% of customers say they’d prefer human support even if wait times and time spent are the same, a HubSpot and SurveyMonkey report found.

    By • Aug. 15, 2025
  • A call center manager assists her team.
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    Getty Images
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    Bipartisan call center bill seeks to deter offshoring, disclose AI use

    The Keep Call Centers in America Act would limit access to grants and loans for companies that move customer service jobs overseas.

    By • Aug. 6, 2025