Trendspotting: Top Omnichannel Contact Centre Trends In 2023

Your contact centre employees are miners. They are mining crucial customer interaction data that can then be fed back into the system to grease the wheels of commerce and produce in-demand products and services.  

In 2023, businesses have to brace for rapidly changing tech landscape, and not to mention, the ever-shifting customer preferences. To remain competitive and meet the evolving needs of their customers, businesses will need to go beyond the ordinary and consistently provide exceptional, immersive experiences across all channels.

The influx of new technologies, changing global environments, and evolving customer preferences have come bearing new challenges, requiring businesses to be agile and adaptable in their approach to customer service.  

Let’s look at the trends that are set to push the transformational envelope for contact centres in 2023.

1. Contact Centres Are Evolving to Be the Experiential Hub

Over 75% of customers wish to have the option to connect with a customer support agent at the touch of a button, but 70% also want the choice to seek the information on their own terms.

The customers couldn’t be saying this clearer. By opting to connect with contact centre agents, they are seeking the much-coveted ‘human touch’ and personal experience.

This is especially true when they have need help in resolving sensitive issues, such as a dispute over a charge or personnel-related grievances.  

Recent studies have shown that 86% of customers will stop purchasing from a business after only two poor experiences.

In 2023, contact centres will continue to focus on strengthening the relationship between customers and businesses by consistently delivering timely, personalised, and efficient experiences, resulting in increased brand advocacy and revenue growth.

2. EX Will Be as Important as CX

It would be an understatement to say that employee experience (EX) has been a sore point for businesses over the past couple of years. Gone are the days when it was alright for customer support agents to be huddled in compact cubes next to each other, answering calls from customers around-the-clock.  

The status quo is changing as most businesses seek to reduce agent churn rate and prevent their employees from burning out in 2023.  

A study conducted by Deloitte and Workplace Intelligence mentions that nearly 60% employees are seriously considering switching their jobs due to lack of well-being.  

The contact centre market is touted to be reach over $149 billion by 2030. But to get there, businesses will need to retain talent by looking after their well-being and equipping them with the right tools to manage the ever-changing expectations of customers.  

3. CX Will Become Key Differentiator

Did you know that businesses lose approximately $75 billion every year due to poor customer service.  

In 2023, customer experience will be a crucial factor in differentiating businesses from one another. Customers are willing to pay more for experiences that matter to them. Businesses that prioritise customer experience see a revenue boost of almost 15%.

4. AI will be at the Forefront of Contact Centre Revolution

We needn’t deliberate on impact of AI on businesses, do we? Recently, we all had witnessed the phenomenal growth of ChatGPT, the fastest app to hit 100 million users in history.  

When customers interact with self-service solutions powered by AI tech, it is imperative for the solutions to be intuitive and competent because those nuances inadvertently impact the perceived quality of customer experience.  

74% customers prefer interacting with an AI-powered chatbot when contacting a business online. Not just that, deploying chatbots resulted in increasing sales by 67% according to business leaders.  

5. IoT will add Another Layer to the Omnichannel Approach

Internet of things or IoT devices, as they are commonly known, such as smart home devices and wearable devices generate large amounts of customer data that can be utilised by omnichannel contact centres to improve customer engagement.  

94% retailers agree that the benefits of implementing IoT outweigh the risk.  

By analysing collated data from IoT devices, contact centres can gain a deeper understanding of customer behaviour and preferences, which can then be used to craft personalised experiences and proactively address potential concerns. This can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty, as well as reduced call volume and shorter call times.  

Integrating IoT devices with omnichannel contact centre also opens up a new avenue for customer interaction, such as voice-activated virtual assistants, chatbots, and mobile apps, which can further enhance the overall customer experience.  

Let’s look at an example of how businesses can design customer experience by marrying IoT with omnichannel contact centre solution.  

A customer who has a smart home device installed can receive proactive notifications from the manufacturer or service provider about potential issues, such as a malfunction or low battery, and be offered solutions through the device's app or a chatbot. The customer can then choose to resolve the issue on their own or connect with a live agent through the app or call. The contact centre agent can access the customer's device information and usage data to diagnose the issue and offer personalised support. This not only helps in resolving the issue quickly, but also provides a convenient and personalised customer experience that can increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.

The consumer IoT market is estimated to reach $142 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 17%.

6. Self-service will Become More Mainstream

In this customer-led automation future, self-service solutions such as AI-powered chatbots, virtual assistants, and knowledge bases will become the primary means of engagement for customers. Contact centres can configure self-service options to handle a wide range of customer enquiries and requests, freeing up contact centre agents to focus on more complex and high-value tasks.

We will see more modes of self-service engagement emerge in 2023.  

7. Rise of Voice Commerce

Use of voice-activated virtual assistants for shopping and customer engagement, is expected to have a significant impact on omnichannel contact centre in 2023.  

The growing popularity of voice-activated devices such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home will drive the adoption of voice commerce, as customers become more comfortable using their voice to control their devices and interact with businesses.

In 2023 voice commerce will become a key channel for customers to engage with businesses, alongside traditional channels like phone, email, and chat.

By offering a convenient and hands-free way to interact with businesses, voice commerce is expected to increase customer satisfaction and reduce the volume of calls. It will also provide new opportunities for businesses to gather valuable customer insights and data through the analysis of voice interactions. The amount of data generated by IoT devices is expected to reach 73.1 zettabytes by 2025.  

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CINNOX humanises connections for better business. Give your customer support team the CINNOX-advantage by bridging the gap between digital and telephony channels, and converging data, identities, interactions, and technologies under one roof for a unified omnichannel contact centre solution that’s equipped to win more customers and turn them into brand advocates.