Contact Babel UK Customer Experience Decision Makers guide 2025-26

NEW REPORT FOR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE PROFESSIONALS

The UK Customer Experience Decision-Makers’ Guide (2025-26 – 8th edition) is a major annual report studying the CX strategy, performance, operations and technology aspects of UK organisations.

REPORT BASED ON RESEARCH WITH 211 UK ORGANISATIONS AND 1,000+ INTERVIEWS WITH UK CONSUMERS

This report shows customer experience and contact centre professionals:

CX as a Competitive Differentiator – Most UK organisations now compete primarily on customer experience rather than price or product quality, highlighting its strategic importance for profitability.
Investment Priorities and Channel Trends – Technology dominates CX investment, with strong focus on digital channels (email, web chat, social) despite telephony still handling 65% of inbound interactions.
Technology Impact and Challenges – AI, analytics, and omnichannel platforms are seen as critical for improving CX, but legacy systems, lack of unified customer view, and budget constraints remain major barriers.
Customer Expectations vs Reality – Customers value first-contact resolution and short wait times above all, yet many report long queues, repeated calls, and poor self-service experiences.
Future Strategy and AI Adoption – AI-driven self-service and agent assistance are top priorities for the next two years, but customer trust issues (accuracy, empathy, transparency) must be addressed for successful adoption.