The 28 Best Customer Experience Examples in 2024

The focus of retail businesses has shifted in recent years from traditional “customer service” to learning how to create memorable customer experiences. Increasingly, the emphasis is on expanding omnichannel interactions across platforms, mobile devices, online checkouts, brick-and-mortar locations, and anywhere else customers and businesses interact. ‌

eCommerce’s trajectory brought about new and improved ways of conducting business and enhancing the omnichannel experience. Statistics have a funny way of showing retailers and marketers the right way, proving what we already know. That a good customer experience is mandatory for the nurture of brand-consumer relationships; brand loyalty may be hard to come by, but it is totally worth it as dedicated customers spend 67% more than recent customers. Similarly, a 5% increase in customer retention can boost a brand’s revenue by 75%, making the importance of a good customer experience all the more clear. 

Why customer experience is so important for retailers

Customer eXperience (CX) is of critical importance to retailers since according to HubSpot Research, 93% of customers who love the service they receive will become valuable repeat customers. These same customers will also share your brand with others. A history of warm and positive interactions creates a strong connection — known as brand loyalty — that has an average of 306% higher lifetime value for retail businesses.‌ Last but not least, we should also consider that 86% of customers say they’re willing to pay more money for a better customer experience.

This, in plain words, means that when customers are given a simple and delightful purchasing experience, they’re much more likely to come back. Just as important, they’re much more likely to share a positive review of your business online and with their friends. That kind of word-of-mouth marketing is invaluable, expanding your audience and the hype around your brand while boosting sales.

Memorable customer experience examples of renowned brands

To further showcase why a good customer experience is vital for any business, we handpicked for you some of the best strategies, implemented by industry giants. Discover how famous brands ensure their audiences’ loyalty and put them to the test. Let’s see the 28 best customer experience examples:

Example #1: Disney’s seamless Magic Band system provides an omnichannel customer experience

Why we liked it:

• Customers receive electronic wrist bands — Magic Bands — in the mail after purchasing their tickets to Disney World. This adds a fun surprise right from the beginning of their customer journey.
• The wrist bands seamlessly act as a digital storage space, hotel room key, payment method, and more, giving both convenience and an all-important “VIP” feeling while at Disney parks.
• Disney builds brand loyalty and fosters repeat customers by setting itself apart from the moment of purchase, providing an innovative and unique CX that makes customers feel truly valued and personalized across their journey.

Example #2: Amazon’s delivery stations appear seemingly everywhere

Why we liked it:

• Since its inception, Amazon has built its business on knowing what its customer wants: fast delivery and minimal effort.
• Amazon is opening more than a thousand parcel-delivery stations across the suburban United States. This further narrows the gap between its fulfillment centers and shipping points.
• Amazon knows that same-day and even two-hour delivery is its unique selling point and is not afraid to invest time and money into it. Even with its massive current success, it’s constantly working to sharpen its shipping standards. 

Example #3: McDonald’s proactively pushing the right CX buttons‌

Why we liked it:

• Not content to sit on its laurels when it started receiving bad press some years ago, McDonald’s has dramatically overhauled and prioritized its customer service experience from top to bottom, such as introducing the “ MyMcDonald’s” loyalty platform to reward their frequent customers. 
• According to Chris Kempczinski, CEO, the company aims to minimize friction across all its service channels, emphasizing immersion and personalization at every level.
• The company’s goal is to create seamless customer transitions between its in-store dining, takeaway, and delivery services, aided by its newly introduced global mobile app (GMA).

Example #4: Zara’s mobile app keeps business flowing in hard time‌s

Why we liked it:

• Leave it to fashion giant Zara to set a customer experience example by transforming the retail landscape with ‘Store Mode,’ the mobile app that unites window shopping with digital shopping.
• The app displays only those products that are available at the customer’s local Zara store, making it easy for at-home customers to view items available to them.
• The incorporation of GPS and QR technology helps customers quickly find and pay for their items once they’re in the store, providing a delightful omnichannel experience. This simplifies the buying process and makes it more likely that satisfied customers will promote Zara’s ease of use to their friends. 

Example #5: Volvo’s artificial intelligence, safety, and personalization team up

Why we liked it:

• Volvo understands that nothing is more central to customer experience in the automotive industry than safety.
• Volvo’s engineers have created a new operating system that links their cars on the road, warning each other about changing road conditions and accidents.
• It’s a smooth way to raise customers’ confidence in Volvo’s brand without compromising an inch on aesthetics or drivability.

Example #6: Starbucks thrives with eco-friendly personalization

Why we liked it:

• Starbucks knows that its customers are conscious of the environment, desiring products that are both high quality and sustainable.
• To satisfy their expectations, Starbucks is rolling out nationwide oat milk options to complement its existing non-dairy menu.
• The company’s focus on putting its customers first and becoming a gathering place for its community has led it to expect a net growth of 3% by FY22.

Example #7‌: Apple becomes a town square

Why we liked it:

• Apple’s Senior Retail Vice President says the emerging store layouts are a part of Apple’s effort to not just sell people things but to become a central community hub replete with comfortable seating, eateries, and play areas for kids, prompting face-to-face interactions.
• Apple’s focus on community building also manifests in offering on-site programming and education classes to youth.
• The company is so committed to turning itself into an “experience” for Apple Customers that its employees no longer refer to their stores as “stores”. Instead, they’re becoming a kind of “town square”, a living and vibrant part of the community. 

Best customer service experience examples

Example #8: Magic Castle Hotel’s Popsicle Hotline

Why we liked it:

• When the customers of Los Angeles-based Magic Castle Hotel spend time by the pool on a sunny day, they will notice a fun surprise: a red phone with a direct hotline to the hotel’s “instant popsicle” service. Just dial the number and within moments an employee delivers a popsicle straight to your hand. 
• The phone is bright red to catch your attention and make you curious about who’s at the other end. You can tell some thought went into this particular customer experience example. It knows what people want (a cold treat on a hot day), pleases kids and adults, and offers a unique and fun experience for your customers to post on their social media pages. ‌

Example #9: Zappos is a customer service company that happens to sell shoes

Why we liked it:

• Zappos willingly makes an important trade-off: returns are more than three times higher on Zappos than for other Brick & Mortar stores, thanks to Zappos’ zealous return policy.
• The company’s 365-day return policy and 2-way shipping mean that it indeed handles a lot of returns, but it gives online customers the confidence they need to shop with them.
• This is a customer experience example that shows how a short-term sacrifice can dramatically build customer loyalty and repeat business, paying off in the long term.

Example #10: Taco Bell maximizes its drive-thru experience

Why we liked it:

• Taco Bell didn’t let the closure of indoor dining slow it down — it adapted to the times and looked for ways to continue satisfying its customers.
• The company introduced fast indoor pickup shelves, expanded its drive-thru lanes, and streamlined its kitchen equipment to expedite food processing and delivery.
• Taco Bell’s customers have always been interested in a faster and more convenient experience. Rather than letting the global health crisis slow them down, Taco Bell looked for ways to make the most of the resources it already had.

Example #11: Whole Foods turns its customers into mini-chefs

Why we liked it:

• Whole Foods‘ health-conscious customers can now take advantage of an online educational program teaching them how to prepare new recipes using Whole Foods ingredients.
• The program cleverly maximizes the customer experience by giving Whole Foods customers the tools and knowledge to do their own convenient meal prep.
• By making a measurable improvement in its customers’ lives, Whole Foods is building brand loyalty that will likely be well rewarded when its customers need to purchase new ingredients in the future.

Example #12: Ugg aims to help its customers stay home comfortably

Why we liked it:

• The pandemic threatened to take a bite out of in-store shopping, the heart, and soul of the retail sector. But Ugg’s ready-to-wear line is crafted specifically to fulfill the needs of its stay-at-home customers, maintaining contact with their brand even while physically separated.
• The ready-to-wear line refocuses the Ugg shopping experience toward stay-at-home essentials, like soft robes, sandals, and other fashionable in-door clothing items to help its quarantined customers stay warm and comfortable. 
• It’s a thoughtful customer experience example that prioritizes producing value for customers wherever they are, even if they never leave the house.

Example #13: DoorDash sees an opening and takes it

Why we liked it:

• DoorDash introduced DoorMart, a service that expands DoorDash’s offerings across the convenience store market. It allows customers to make individual purchases of single items like a toothbrush or deodorant instead of needing to leave the house during quarantine. 
• DoorMart is a customer experience example that seeks to make customers’ lives easier and more economic amid the pandemic.
• The fast and efficient nature of the service makes first-time customers more likely to become repeat customers. It sparks word-of-mouth, and users of DoorMart will surely be more likely to take advantage of DoorDash’s other services. 

Digital customer experience examples

Example #14: Retail chain Ralph Lauren sends you to the dressing room with the help of Snapchat

Why we liked it:

• Snapchat users with a love for Ralph Lauren now get the best of both worlds. They can use their Snapchat avatars to try on Ralph Lauren outfits virtually and buy them through the app.
• This customer experience example is a brilliant union of opposites, bringing digital users a virtual storefront and making it fun and easy to buy.
• New Ralph Lauren customers will be attracted by the sheer novelty of using their Snapchat avatars to demo the latest outfits, promoting brand awareness and ultimately conversions. 

Example #15: Ritz-Carlton empowers its employees with $2000 of customer service discretion‌

Why we liked it:

• Ritz-Carlton grants its employees an unusually generous discretionary spending account of $2,000 to quickly deal with customer experience obstacles.
• It empowers its employees to take initiative and problem-solve to ensure each guest receives personalized service.
• It enhances the seamlessness and immersion of spending time at a Ritz-Carlton Hotel when staff can resolve all your complaints on the spot.

Example #16: JetBlue CEO leaves no time lost

Why we liked it:

• Customers waiting in line in JetBlue terminals have been met with a surprise: the CEO himself handing out drinks and donuts to anyone interested.
• It’s a small but nice gesture that relieves some of the stress of travel and sets JetBlue apart from its competitors.
• Even those who never fly can hear about the gesture secondhand. Elevating a brand’s reputation for delivering an excellent customer experience inevitably attracts more business.

Example #17: Netflix and all 33 million versions of it

Why we liked it:

• Netflix is a data-driven company, using complex internal algorithms to determine what its customers want and what new TV shows and movie licenses to acquire, offering a personalized, unique experience.
• They focus on their high-frequency users, knowing that those who watch at least 15 hours of content per week are 75% less likely to cancel their subscriptions than others.
• Netflix uses data to deliver a unique customer experience to each Netflix user so that no two people see exactly the same streaming recommendations. 

Example #18: Burberry augments reality to maintain a presence anywhere customers want‌

Why we liked it:

• Burberry’s Augmented Reality (AR) tool is made in partnership with Google Search technology to take advantage of Google’s well-known data and geo-location advantages.
• Customers shopping online can now use the AR tool to measure in real-time the size of an item or outfit compared to other objects or outfits in their immediate surroundings.
• The tool enhances the personalization of luxury retail, allowing customers to effectively try on and gauge the look of Burberry’s product line from the privacy of their homes.

Example #19: Uber uses machine learning to put smiles on faces‌

Why we liked it:

• Knowing full well that many customers rely on its services to get to work on time, Uber uses A.I. and machine learning to document and categorize incident and reliability reports received from across the world.
• The company makes approximately 22,000 app tweaks per month to customize their app for each city that they operate in, based around three KPIs: availability, latency, and accuracy.
• Uber prioritizes eliminating problems early in the data pipeline, minimizing expenses by proactively eliminating barriers to a seamless customer experience.

Example #20: Lyft partners with Tinder to get customers dating again

Why we liked it:

• Ridesharing company Lyft knows that its customers, many of whom spent 2020 and 2021 in near isolation, will soon be looking once again for normal human-to-human interaction. With that in mind, it has paired with dating company Tinder to arrange the meeting.
• Here’s a customer experience example that shows a meeting of separate industries that nonetheless go together for their mutual benefit; Lyft intends to remove as many obstacles as it can for customers to use its services smoothly.
• Lyft will be using the data-driven nature of ridesharing to constantly improve the reliability and accuracy of its app. It knows just how to motivate its customers to interact with its main product.

Personalized customer experience examples

Example #21: Taylor & Hart turns data-driven CRM into stellar CX

Why we liked it:

• It’s easy to fall into the trap of collecting data for data’s sake and not take action — Taylor & Hart didn’t.
• By using a simple customer satisfaction survey, ranking on a scale of 1 to 10 how likely someone would be to recommend their brand, Taylor & Hart identified its “Net Promoter Score” (NPS) and funneled its marketing resources into improving it.
• The company used the NPS score of each customer to drive its CX initiatives and raise its revenue by two times.

Example #22: Silva Homes makes sure its customers aren’t forgotten‌

Why we liked it:

• A housing association by the name of Silva Homes has taken to personally making inspirational “check-up” calls to customers who sign up for the service. 
• Customer experience examples like this build brand loyalty, both among those who immediately benefited and those who hear about it in the news.
• Silva’s personalized service delivers a customer service experience that warms hearts, makes people feel appreciated, and helps puts its name out there.

Example #23: Magic Mind sends personalized videos to new customers‌

Why we liked it:

• Magic Mind, the producer of a well-known productivity drink, has developed the wholesome habit of sending a welcome video to all of its new customers. These videos explain details about the company’s brand and ways that the drink helps others.
• It’s an easy-to-do, quick, and simple customer experience example that stands out in a competitive marketplace, demonstrating the level of care and attention to detail that retail customers look for.
• With 76% of customers saying they trust information from ordinary people rather than “brands,” it’s an excellent idea to put a live and friendly face customers can identify and interact with.

Example #24: Hubspot reinvents the wheel for an enhanced B2B customer experience‌

Why we liked it:

• Taking one look at the traditional marketing and sales funnel, HubSpot boldly said “No” and created its own flywheel schema. With it, service, marketing, and sales all revolve proportionally around the customer.
• In an industry that often revolves around maxims and jargon, Hubspot develops itself as a thought leader by creating its own.
• This is a smart move for a company with so many B2B clientele who turn to it for expertise and assistance with some of the most sensitive areas of their business operations.

Example #25: Adidas rewards its most loyal customers‌

Why we liked it:

• After a difficult year, Adidas has refocused its 2021 efforts toward prioritizing the customer experience and growth.
• By 2025, Adidas plans to have bought into an efficient hybrid model, built around retail and eCommerce and powered by its own proprietary membership program. It aims to grow this program from its current 150 million members to 500 million.
• Adidas isn’t just focused on acquiring new customers but on retaining and enhancing the value of the ones it already has by personalizing their experience.

Example #26: Pura Vida: How to do personalized recommendations the right way

Why we liked it:

• When bracelet designer Pura Vida was looking for ways to expand its reach across the market, it partnered with Yotpo to introduce small customer review thumbnails across all of its product and SEO pages.
• The move helped customers see at a glance what others were saying about the product they were looking at or had just purchased, making them feel like part of a large community of shoppers enjoying Pura Vida’s bracelets.
• Immersing customers into your community as such is an excellent way to create a self-confident customer experience. It also encourages them to leave their own reviews for others.

Example #27: Stitch Fix is using A.I. to personalize customers’ entire wardrobes‌

Why we liked it:

• Clothing retail store Stitch Fix uses shared customer information to collect data on sizing preferences, price points, reasons for returns, customer ratings, and more to cross the subjectivity barrier and create outfits that are truly personalized to each customer.
• It’s not easy to find the right style using a subjective parameter like “good.” But, StitchFix uses a program called ‘Shop Your Looks’ to generate compatible outfits and find matching pairs.
• Using automation to make a memorable customer experience provides immediate feedback, a long-term payoff as marketing automation further penetrates the retail landscape.

Example #28: L’Oréal’s mobile-friendly A.I. knows your face better the more you use it

Why we liked it:

• L’Oréal’s A.I. products drive the customer experience both at home and in-store by utilizing face-scanning sensors to measure a customer’s skin and the surrounding environmental conditions that might affect it.
• The metrics allow L’Oréal to recommend a host of skincare products from its line that matches the customer’s needs exactly.
• The point of personalization is to give the customer exactly the product that they want at the right time. Incorporating data-driven A.I. and machine learning are important ways to ensure the customer experience provides just that.

Learn from the best and put it into practice 

There are many ways to accelerate positive customer experience interactions in your particular business; the exact means to do so will vary from one case to the next. Yet, that’s part of the beauty of it. No matter the current circumstance of your business, there’s always a way to do better and increase the value that you provide to customers.‌

While you should take inspiration from the above-mentioned customer experience examples, pay attention to the one common motif in all their efforts: adaptability. The ability to assess the current environment and make decisions with the tools and resources you have on hand is key. ‌

With more and more customers demanding omnichannel shopping experiences, it’s only a matter of analyzing data and finding the one concrete action you can take that would improve or even revolutionize the customer experience. So, it’s time to get started; there will be plenty of opportunities to provide seamless, streamlined, and efficient omnichannel shopping experiences for the rest of this year and throughout 2022. 

At ContactPigeon, we offer you the necessary tools to deliver meaningful engagements with your customers, anytime, anywhere. An award-winning platform, specially designed for eCommerce will surely aid you in building an engaging customer journey. Book a free 30-min consultation call and our skilled representatives will introduce you to a data-driven, omnichannel customer engagement platform that can deliver consistent business results. 

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