CX Insights
Amazon rolls out 1 and 3 hour deliveries in select cities
Delivery on demand: Amazon is rolling out super-fast deliveries with three-hour deliveries of over 90,000 products in over 2,000 cities. Hundreds of parts of those cities will see one-hour deliveries. Shoppers will be able to filter by which products are available for the super-fast deliveries.
Many retailers have kept up with Amazon raising the bar for convenience with things like store and curbside pick-up, but this is a new level. Fellow titan Walmart maintains it can deliver to 95% of American households within 3 hours. It’ll be interesting to see if it attempts to compete on speed.
CX leaders: how will your brand respond to heightened customer expectations around fulfilment?
U.S. Senators investigate Social Security Agency customer service disruption
U.S. senators are investigating a growing customer service crisis at the Social Security Administration, citing staffing cuts, employee reassignments, and minimal training as key drivers of declining service quality. Field offices now average roughly one human representative for every 4,000 beneficiaries, roughly 12% higher than before the workforce reductions. Some field offices have shut down.
With fewer workers handling rising demand - about 100,000 people visit field offices daily - wait times and service outcomes are worsening. Automation and AI could likely help the situation to some degree, but the target audience demographics are also of an age group that is least comfortable with automated CX.
The situation underscores a broader CX challenge for public-sector organizations: aligning workforce, training, and channel strategy to maintain service quality while modernizing operations.
Food packaging as an experience touchpoint
Takeout demand is surging, and so are customer expectations for quality, freshness, and presentation. For restaurants but particularly quick service restaurants, packaging has become a critical customer experience touchpoint.
The right packaging preserves food integrity, enhances presentation, supports sustainability goals, and even improves safety with emerging tech. As costs rise, brands must balance performance, compliance, and efficiency to meet expectations and protect margins.
How to do a tiered loyalty program right
Customers can love tiered loyalty programs, but the design is critical to get right to keep customers engaged. If your brand is considering starting or adjusting its loyalty program, check out these tips from the managing director of EY Studio+ Customer Experience:
- Analyze customer behavior before setting tiers
- Make sure the gap between tiers isn’t too wide
- Make sure you’re measuring for engagement, not wealth as a proxy for spend
- Make sure the point redemption system isn’t too complicated
Loyalty programs can be a great way to tap into psychology to retain customers and boost their lifetime value, but CX leaders need to work with the psychology, not against it.
AI For CX Guide
Not all AI is created equal. What separates inefficient, overly complex tools from AI that drives lasting value for CX teams?
In our new guide, we answer that question and more. You’ll learn:
- The three core pillars of an AI-driven CX org
- How effective AI impacts customers, reps, and leaders
- The five most essential capabilities for AI that drives results
Read the full guide to cut through the AI noise and deliver value across the entire CX spectrum.
AI Headlines
Half of consumers prefer brands that avoid consumer-facing GenAI - Customer skepticism of generative AI in customer experience is growing, with most questioning what information is real and verifying information independently. This data was collected in October 2025, which is a lifetime in terms of the development of AI - the customer-facing AI of March 2026 is faster, more accurate, and can accomplish more. Still, customers could carry impressions from past bad experiences. Experts advise brands to treat AI as a trust decision. CX leaders should prioritize transparency, clear value, and customer choice to maintain credibility with their customers.
Meta strikes infrastructure deal worth up to $27b and plans layoffs as AI investments pile up - Meta is doubling down on AI, committing up to $27 billion in infrastructure to power next-generation experiences—while reportedly planning major layoffs of up to 20% of the company to offset costs and boost efficiency. The move highlights a growing trend: companies investing heavily in AI to transform operations and customer experience, while relying on smaller, AI-augmented teams.
Nvidia drops tons of updates in 3-hour keynote - CEO Jensen Huang spotlighted a major push into agentic AI with the new NemoClaw platform, enabling developers to build autonomous AI agents with enhanced security and ease. Coupled with upgraded Vera Rubin systems optimized for inference, Nvidia is positioning itself as the backbone for scalable, action-oriented AI workloads.
