Australia’s CX progression has become inert over the past 12 months, with many organisations lacking the necessary formal governance structures and data sets to take their CX to the next level, according to Ipsos and Ashton Media’s latest State of the CX Nation report.
The report, introduced in 2023, offers first-of-its-kind research insights into Australia’s CX industry as companies increasingly recognise the importance of embedding customer experience into the fabric of their operations.
The new report found that many Australian organisations are still struggling to realise the full potential of their CX programs, attributed to persistent, systemic challenges.
Despite eight in 10 CX leaders recognising the importance of brand alignment, just over half (55 per cent) felt they were delivering customer experiences that fulfilled their brand’s pledge. Alarmingly, 37 per cent felt their brand experiences were generally worse than promised.
In the past 12 months, Australia’s progress on CX maturity has been relatively stagnant, with more than half of organisations (54 per cent) still delivering CX in silos, resulting in an ad hoc, inconsistent experience.
More than half of those surveyed (51 per cent) pointed to CX strategy and governance, particularly competing priorities, as the top challenge to progressing on CX, along with data challenges (32 per cent) like siloed customer data and incomplete customer profiles. Another 23 per cent blamed the lack of actionable insights, specifically the ability to create actionable insights from data, while 31 per cent said their organisations needed to build a customer-first culture.
CX and governance
When it comes to governance, 35 per cent of survey respondents said while their organisation had a formal CX governance structure, there was no clear definition of accountability for CX objectives and activities. Another 15% per cent said their organisation had no clear person or team governing CX.
Additionally, just 27 per cent said their organisation had a long-term, strategic CX roadmap, leaving most CX programs without a clear vision or direction.
Data challenges
Data challenges are also still plaguing CX progression, with just 16 per cent of organisations saying they have a data ecosystem that is designed and managed to enable CX integration. Most (63 per cent) said they were only able to integrate data sources on an ad hoc basis.
The need for a customer-first culture
Building a customer-first culture was cited as another key challenge to CX growth. Most organisations said the issue was being compounded by low employee awareness and engagement. And while half of respondents said their organisation actively provided employees with access to customer feedback, just 16 per cent said employees regularly ‘speak the language’ of CX.
AI and the future of CX
The report revealed 13 per cent of organisations surveyed currently have no plans to incorporate AI in their operations, and just over a third (34 per cent) said they were planning to invest in AI tools and solutions to improve efficiency. More than half (51 per cent) said they were beginning to integrate some AI tools into certain tasks.
The research, which was conducted by Ipsos between March and May this year, focuses on identifying future trends, best practices and challenges facing CX leaders in Australia, and the evolving nature of customer experience.
This year’s report revealed that without executive engagement and strategic investment to overcome the barriers to CX implementation, the industry could “struggle to evolve beyond tactical plays and short-term quick fixes.”
Ipsos CX Advisory Australia director, Rollo Grayson, said: “CX has seen a wave of momentum for over 10 years. During that time, I have seen amazing developments from Australia and around the globe, but this report is a wake-up call for CX teams and executives; if they want that momentum to continue, things need to change. CX needs to become more strategic and integrated with other parts of the business. With the arrival of AI, the need for strategic thinking becomes even more critical. For years, CX technology has been the focus and organisations dived in with no clear plan – it’s these organisations that are now struggling. We hope this report is a rallying cry – the potential value gains from CX remain huge, we just need to realise that value.”
Ipsos CX Australia director, Melissa Yow, said: “It’s worth recognising our progress in elevating CX and making it part of the boardroom dialogue in most organisations. We’ve made significant strides in eliminating major friction points and demonstrating CX’s tangible benefits to the C-suite. However, we seem to have reached a plateau and the instances of CX as a true brand differentiator are few and far between. Our annual State of the CX Nation report validates this, showing little change in the proportion of organisations at a foundational CX maturity level. The ask of CX leaders is ever-increasing, encompassing mastery of strategy, data, technology, people management and now AI. However, a clear CX strategy with solid governance is crucial to avoiding misguided investments and efforts.”
Ashton Media CX portfolio director, Stacy Goater, said: “Ashton Media are thrilled to partner with Ipsos on the State of the CX Nation report for a second year. As leaders in facilitating connections and knowledge sharing among senior CX professionals, we’re proud to support this thriving industry and to continue driving the thought leadership and discussion that shapes its future.
“Over the past 11 years, we’ve had the privilege of bringing the CX community together at our industry-leading events, and we’ve witnessed firsthand the remarkable growth in both the size and maturity of the profession. But, as has been highlighted by the findings in this report, there is still a tremendous amount of work to be done to operationalise a customer-first mindset throughout all levels of the organisation. But with strong foundations to build upon, it’s an exciting time for the profession.”
The State of the CX Nation report is based on survey data collected from 190 CX professionals nationwide, along with in-depth interviews with national CX leaders in various sectors including finance, insurance, automotive, retail, healthcare, consumer packaged goods and telecommunications.
