One out of five Canadian brands experienced a drop in CX quality over the past 12 months
Forrester’s Canada Customer Experience Index Rankings (CX Index) reveal that the average CX quality among Canadian brands fell for an unprecedented second year in a row as brands struggled to deliver on customer needs. Average CX scores fell in six of the nine industries surveyed, including luxury and mass market automakers, multichannel banks, credit card issuers, investment firms, and utilities. Additionally, 21% of brands saw significant drops in CX quality in 2023, with declines being more severe on average compared to 2022. CX quality in Canada is now at its lowest point since 2016.
Only two brands, Tangerine Investment Funds and PetSmart, improved their CX quality in 2023. Four out of five elite brands — the top 5% of brands in the entire CX Index — returned to the rankings this year: CAA Insurance, Etsy, IG Wealth Management, and Well.ca, with PetSmart being a new addition. Brands that provided the best CX quality this year delivered, on average, 17 positive emotions for each negative emotion. Positive customer emotions that have the biggest impact on loyalty across all brands include feeling respected, happy, appreciated, and valued.
“In Canada, brands are struggling to provide effective, easy, and emotionally positive experiences for customers,” said Rick Parrish, VP and research director at Forrester. “When brands put customers at the center of their leadership, strategy, and operations, they enable stronger customer loyalty – which in turn drives revenue, profitability, and business resilience, even in uncertain times.”
Conducted for the eighth year in a row, Forrester’s Customer Experience Benchmark Survey, which collects data to calculate Forrester CX Index scores, is based on more than 39,500 Canadian customers across 101 brands and nine industries. Forrester’s proprietary Customer Experience Index methodology provides the data and insights needed to assess CX quality, understand how CX impacts loyalty intentions, and prioritize improvements that drive revenue. Even a minor improvement to a brand’s customer experience quality can add tens of millions of dollars of revenue by reducing customer churn and increasing share of wallet.
Forrester’s Customer Experience CX Index rankings and results reports are accessible within the Forrester Decisions portfolio of research services. Clients of Forrester Decisions services for Customer Experience, B2C Marketing Executives, and Digital Business & Strategy have access to the CX Index Extended Data Benchmark to help prioritize improvements based on industrywide trends and impact on customer loyalty.
