This year's celebration comes at a pivotal moment. Consumer expectations have never been higher, trust has become the ultimate differentiator, and as businesses scramble to demonstrate ROI from AI investments, a troubling pattern has emerged: Too many companies are deploying AI to cut costs, not solve problems.
Customers aren't looking for scripted, automated responses–they're craving authentic connection in those unpredictable moments that define great experiences. AI-powered customer service is failing at nearly four times the rate of other AI applications. And customers can tell the difference. They're voting with their wallets, staying silent after bad experiences, and walking away from brands that prioritize automation over understanding.
This isn’t just a trend to monitor–it's your moment to lead.
This CX Day, join thousands of experience professionals who are transforming unpredictable customer moments into intelligent action—and building the trust that drives lasting loyalty.
Our latest research reveals exactly where the biggest opportunities–and risks–lie.
Four critical trends reshaping consumer experience in 2026
Our 2026 Global Consumer Experience Trends Report, based on insights from 20,000+ consumers across 14 countries, reveals the shifts that will define success:
AI-powered customer service isn’t living up to its promise. After the hype of 2024 and the crash of 2025, AI adoption has matured–73% of consumers now use AI for daily tasks and half believe it will positively impact society. But customer support is the glaring exception. When consumers rated AI applications for convenience, time savings, and usefulness, customer support tanked at the bottom, with nearly 1 in 5 seeing no benefits at all.
Price sensitivity is high, but loyalty can't be bought. While 46% of consumers choose companies for value, those who select brands for great customer service show the highest satisfaction (92%) and trust (89%) ratings. A race to the bottom on prices might win customers short-term, but meaningful connections drive lasting relationships.
Customer feedback has hit an all-time low. Only 29% provide direct feedback after bad experiences (down 7.5 points since 2021), while 30% stay completely silent (up 9 points). Nearly half of bad experiences lead to decreased spending, leaving businesses flying blind while customers vote with their wallets.
Personalization requires trust, not just data. While 64% want tailored experiences, only 39% trust companies to use their data responsibly. The path forward isn't collecting more data, it's earning trust through transparency and control.
Why this matters for your business
Despite these challenges, customer experience metrics improved across the board in 2025, proving that organizations willing to put human connection back at the heart of CX can win. Our research shows satisfaction up 3.0 points, trust up 2.7 points, and likelihood to recommend and purchase more both rising 2.6-2.7 points year-over-year.
The strongest improvements came from industries where customers can easily switch–like fast food and online retail–while harder-to-switch sectors like utilities improved more slowly. This pattern reveals a fundamental truth: When customers have choice, experience excellence becomes essential for survival.
But with nearly half of bad experiences leading to decreased spending, businesses can't afford to leave CX programs underfunded and understaffed. The opportunity is massive for organizations that get it right.
Celebrating experience management champions
Organizations across industries are on the cutting edge of experience management, transforming how they listen to customers and act on insights. Here are just a few examples of dynamic companies that are all-in on CX:
Autodesk
The design software company faced a common challenge: manually analyzing thousands of survey responses from their quarterly "Trust Survey for Fusion" was taking up significant time and resources, delaying actionable insights and hindering their ability to drive rapid product improvements. By leveraging Qualtrics' Insights Explorer, Autodesk transformed their feedback analysis process, reducing the time needed to identify key themes from open-text responses from 2 days to less than 5 minutes. This dramatic efficiency gain freed up their research team to focus on ensuring accuracy and conducting deeper strategic analysis.
"AI allows us to mature our practice by freeing up time to explore deeper, more complex correlations between data as opposed to spending time on first-level coding."
- Elise Lockwood, User Research Manager
TUI Group
One of the world's leading tourism groups serving 30 million travelers annually faced a challenge of fragmented customer feedback scattered across systems, trapped in silos, or worse, not captured at all. Colleagues on the frontline–whether in hotels, retail shops, or service centers–couldn't access the insights they needed to take action, navigating without a compass. Even when feedback was collected, it often came too late; the guest had gone home and the opportunity to make it right had passed. Today, TUI has transformed this experience with a unified VoC program spanning every touchpoint of the customer journey. Their recent pilot of Adaptive Follow-Up using Qualtrics AI delivered remarkable results: 85% of customers provided additional feedback after receiving AI-generated follow-up questions, delivering a 75% increase in collected words and empowering frontline teams to resolve issues before checkout.
"This is more than just a Voice of the Customer program. This is about human connection at scale. It's about making sure that every guest, on every journey, feels heard–and valued."
— Kira Drabner, Head of Voice of Customer Program, TUI
Ready to take your CX program to the next level?
- Learn about how Qualtrics NextGen CX transforms "unscripted" customer moments into intelligent action
- Get more highlights in our global experience consumer trends breakdown with actionable insights to stay ahead of shifting customer expectations
- Read the full 2026 Global Consumer Experience Trends Report for detailed findings and strategic recommendations
This CX Day, let's celebrate the experience professionals and companies getting it right. Join us on LinkedIn to share a shoutout to someone who delivered an exceptional customer experience that made your day.