Top 5 Customer Service & CX Articles for Week of June 23, 2025

Each week, I read many customer service and customer experience articles from various resources. Here are my top five picks from last week. I have added my comments about each article and would like to hear what you think too.

How to Improve Retail Customer Experiences: 12 Practical Tips (2025) by Shopify Staff

(Shopify) Learn what a great retail customer experience looks like, with 12 practical tips to improve the retail experience and generate more sales.

My Comment: We kick off this week’s Top Five Roundup with a reminder to check out the NiCE research about customer service happiness. This is what I found interesting. Global happiness (not related to customer service or CX) has dropped by 10 points to 58% from last year. However, happiness related to customer service increased by 5%.

Is customer experience the ultimate weapon in competitive markets? by Georgina Taylor

(Elite Business) Customer Experience (CX) was the battlefield, and the panellists marched in with real-world war stories, bold opinions, and surprisingly candid reflections, here’s what we learned.

My Comment: This article is “singing my song.” Customer experience (CX) is your most competitive weapon in a competitive market. This article is a compilation of answers from four panelists at the recent Elite Business Live conference. The questions answered and debated by the panel members started with, “Why does CX matter when everyone’s under pressure to cut costs?” In addition to the article, a link to YouTube is provided for viewing the entire panel discussion.

Fueling Brand Devotion Pays Off in Uncertain Times by Jasmin King

(Total Retail) Loyal customers are the most likely to stick with your brand during a downturn, and a loyalty program is the primary vehicle for keeping those relationships strong. By truly understanding what your customers value, you can create experiences that keep them coming back — driving increased lifetime value, improved retention, and reduced acquisition costs.

My Comment: We are experiencing some shaky economic conditions and consumers (and all customers in general) are more aware and concerned than ever about how they spend their money. That’s why this article makes great sense. Now is the time to focus on creating customer loyalty. If you can do it in “uncertain times,” you’ll keep your customers coming back when times get better.

Exceptional customer service is essential to loyalty, survey finds by Michael Brady

(CX Dive) Nearly 9 in 10 customers would purchase from a brand again following an amazing experience, according to a Verint survey.

My Comment: Following up on the last article in our roundup, this is the strategy to build loyalty. It’s simple (in theory): Create “exceptional customer service.” My customer service research is in alignment with the findings the author quotes from a survey that 9 in 10 customers would purchase from a brand again following an amazing experience. And if you want them to come back beyond the second time, be consistent in creating those experiences.

How Synthetic Customers Bring Companies Closer to the Real Ones by Andy Pierce, Louise Keely, Todd Papaioannou, Richard Lichtenstein, Basma Abdel Motaal, and Colleen Lin

(Bain & Company) From product design to campaign testing, companies are using synthetic customers to get sharper answers faster.

My Comment: If this article was written five years ago, you would think you might be reading a script for a sci-fi movie, but everything in this article is happening today. Synthetic customers are AI-generated “proxies” that can mimic human behavior and make informed buying decisions. They are created from a company’s data on all things related to the customer and are then used to simulate customer support calls. This is what training will look like in the future. Simulations based on real-life occurrences will put the best customer support agents to the test – and make them better.

Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.