Attracting new customers is only the first step. Keeping them, bringing them back, and deepening their engagement with the brand are becoming increasingly important challenges in CX. The developments in August show that businesses are experimenting with different ways to build this engagement—from improving products and personalizing experiences to redesigning loyalty programs.
What these initiatives have in common is that businesses are looking for ways to create more value throughout the customer relationship, rather than focusing solely on a single transaction or interaction. When customers have better experiences, use products or services more frequently, and receive greater value over time, loyalty naturally becomes a stronger outcome.
In this issue, Viettel Customer Service highlights 5 key CX trends along with notable market case studies from Duolingo, Sonos, Booking Holdings, Uber, and Circle K.
Let's take a look at how brands are redesigning experiences so that customers don't just come once, but have more reasons to come back.
CX Trend 1: Social Listening Is Directly Shaping Products
Social listening is no longer just a way for businesses to monitor what customers are saying or address areas where they are dissatisfied. Customer feedback is increasingly being incorporated directly into product development and improvement, turning the voice of the customer into part of the co-creation process.
Sonos is a clear example. Following the launch of its new app in 2024, which faced significant negative feedback because many important features were missing or unstable, the company actively listened to customers on Reddit and combined this with in-home research, beta programs, and public previews to understand how users actually interacted with the product. This feedback was then incorporated into each round of app improvements.
👉 CX is shifting from “listening to respond” to “listening to act” — social listening not only helps businesses understand customers but is becoming a direct source of insights for improving products and rebuilding trust.
CX Trend 2: Retain Customers First, Increase Revenue Later
Rather than trying to monetize new users immediately, businesses are prioritizing creating an experience good enough to keep customers around for longer. Once customers develop a habit of using a product, converting them to paid offerings becomes more natural.
Duolingo is an example. The company found that placing too many restrictions on its free version could limit user growth, so it instead focused on improving the free experience and extended its trial period from 7 days to 1 month. As a result, user retention reached its highest level ever, while daily active users increased by 23% to 58.7 million.
👉 CX is demonstrating a different approach to growth: rather than maximizing revenue from customers from the outset, businesses can prioritize building engagement first—allowing revenue to come from a larger customer base that is more likely to stay longer.
CX Trend 3: Connecting the Entire Journey to Build Loyalty
Instead of focusing solely on optimizing individual touchpoints, businesses are looking for ways to connect multiple needs within the same customer journey. When customers can search, book accommodation, arrange tours, manage services, and receive support within the same ecosystem, the experience becomes more seamless—while also giving them more reasons to return.
Booking.com is pursuing a “connected trip” model by encouraging travelers to book multiple services for the same trip across its ecosystem, including Booking.com, Agoda, and Priceline. The company's data shows that customers who use multiple travel services tend to return more frequently. AI is also being integrated into every stage of the journey, from trip planning, search, and booking to customer service.
👉 CX is shifting from optimizing individual touchpoints to connecting the entire journey — businesses are moving beyond meeting individual needs to building a seamless ecosystem that gives customers more reasons to come back.
CX Trend 4: Loyalty Programs Are Becoming Simpler and Easier to Join
Customers don't want loyalty programs to become “another thing they have to manage.” Instead of requiring customers to track multiple types of points, conditions, or complicated reward mechanisms, businesses are simplifying loyalty by linking rewards directly to familiar purchasing behaviors.
Circle K is an example. With the new version of Inner Circle, customers simply need to visit a store and complete an eligible transaction to earn “visits,” which can then be exchanged for rewards. The more frequently customers visit and shop, the more benefits they receive. Circle K has also added challenges and personalized offers based on each member's purchasing habits.
👉 CX in loyalty is shifting from “earning points to get rewards” to “rewarding familiar behaviors” — the simpler the mechanism, the easier it is for customers to participate, maintain habits, and have more motivation to return.
CX Trend 5: AI Is Going Deeper Into Every Touchpoint to Optimize the Experience
AI is not only being used to create entirely new experiences. It is increasingly being embedded into individual touchpoints throughout the customer journey to reduce effort, increase personalization, and improve conversion.
Uber is an example. AI can turn an image of a recipe or an ingredient list into a shopping cart, predict destinations based on usage history, recommend substitute products when an item is running low, and provide content that is more relevant to each individual user.
👉 CX is shifting from applying AI to a few standout experiences to integrating AI throughout the entire journey — where each touchpoint is optimized incrementally to create an overall experience that is faster, more convenient, and more personalized.
