Vending machine launched that can detect things Gen Z find most annoying

Open-mouth coughing, queue jumpers, and not getting a ‘thanks’ after holding the door open for someone. Just some of the everyday bugbears that annoy the hell out of Gen Z, according to new research from Sprite. 

21% said that they get rattled when they hear music being played on a phone without headphones, while 22% say people putting their feet on seats on the train really gets their goat. 

Also on the list is getting stuck behind people who walk at snail's...

Consumers want personalised experience but wary of sharing data

European consumers expect to receive the 'VIP' treatment when it comes to marketing and interactions they have with brands, yet they remain concerned about the sharing, use, and protection of their personal data. 

These trends are gleaned from the fourth annual State of Personalisation Report from Twilio, the customer engagement platform that drives real-time, personalised experiences for today’s leading brands. With data being an enabler of personalisation and enhanced...

Almost half of British shoppers unsubscribed from marketing emails

A email app icon on a smartphone.

Against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, inflation, rising customer acquisition costs and growing data regulations, Airship, the mobile app experience company, today at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity announced a new global report, “The Mobile Consumer 2023.” The research helps brands better understand evolving consumer preferences, behaviours, and expectations in order to accelerate value creation. 

Based on a survey of more than 11,000...

More than two-thirds of consumers being sent irrelevant messages by retail brands

With the high street reporting negative sales for the first time in more than two years, it’s clear that retailers are continuing to face a challenging and competitive environment.

Yet, at a time when positive and personalised experiences are more critical than ever, new findings reveal many retailers are not meeting the mark, with over two-thirds (69%) of consumers reporting that they receive irrelevant messages from brands and 41% saying they do not feel valued when it comes...

Braze unveils additions to its AI capabilities to enhance customer engagement 

Braze, the comprehensive customer engagement platform that powers interactions between consumers and the brands they love, today announced updates to its existing artificial intelligence capabilities, now collectively named Sage AI by Braze.

In its next evolution, Sage AI by Braze consists of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities that are deeply integrated into the Braze platform, data flows and execution stack to power better, faster and...

Just 8% of customers used chatbots during most recent customer service interaction

Only 8% of customers used a chatbot during their most recent customer service experience, according to a survey by Gartner. Of those, just 25% said they would use that chatbot again in the future.

Despite customer service and support leaders’ growing focus on chatbots, customer use of them remains low, suggesting they don’t consistently help customers accomplish their goals.

A Gartner survey of 497 B2B and B2C customers from December 2022 through February 2023 found...

1 in 3 want more personalised ads, but only 6% willing to share more data

Precis Digital, a data-driven digital marketing agency, has unveiled its latest research, conducted by the YouGov analysis institute, on consumer attitudes towards privacy and wider societal issues in digital advertising in the UK.

The study highlights that while one-third of consumers express a desire for personalised advertisements, a mere 6% are willing to share additional data to receive highly personalised ads. This disparity raises questions about the alignment...

Complaints about nuisance calls saw freak drop of 57% in 2022

A telephone off the hook.

The number of nuisance calls and texts reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) dropped by 57% in 2022, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from technology company Quadient has revealed.

The ICO received 56,015 complaints about nuisance calls and texts in 2022, less than half the 131,491 received in 2021 and fewer than in any year since 2019. Overall, there were 32,317 complaints about live calls (down 35%), 13,790 about automated calls...

Banks admit to losing 20% of their customers due to poor customer experience

Someone using an ATM.

Global banks are losing one in five (20%) of their customers due to poor customer experience, having overlooked what truly matters, according to new research by 10x Banking.

The landmark study commissioned by 10x, the transformational cloud-native SaaS core bank operating system founded by former Barclays CEO Antony Jenkins, revealed that banks in key markets across the globe are shedding large numbers of their customer base to rivals. One in eight banking leaders (12%) state they...

Twilio debuts CustomerAI ahead of its developer conference

Twilio, a customer engagement platform that drives real-time, personalised experiences for brands, today unveiled CustomerAI ahead of SIGNAL, its upcoming user and developer conference.

Debuting in a new video, Twilio’s CustomerAI couples the power of large language models (LLMs) with the rich customer data that flows through Twilio’s Customer Engagement Platform, to help companies unlock the potential of their customers. On behalf of more than 300,000 active customer...