DCX Links | March 2, 2025
Is CX improving, or are we just moving the pain points around?
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Welcome to the DCX roundup of customer experience insights!
The way we shop, work, and interact with brands is changing fast. Automation is streamlining experiences, but not without trade-offs. Companies are making big bets on customer experience, yet some of the biggest pain points remain unresolved. And as expectations rise, so does the challenge of keeping customers engaged, loyal, and—most importantly—satisfied.
What’s working, what’s falling short, and what does it all mean for the future of CX? Let’s get into it.
Happy reading—and stay curious, DCXers!
-Mark
This week’s must-read links:
Your Next Uber Eats Driver? A Sidewalk Robot
We’ve Made It—So Why Doesn’t It Feel That Way?
IKEA Just Made Your Life 87% Less Annoying
Sam’s Club Just Gave CX a Corner Office
In-Store Shopping Is Now a Scavenger Hunt
AI Agents Are Here—But Who’s Paying the Bill?
Your Next Uber Eats Driver? A Sidewalk Robot
Rolling in hot
Avride just teamed up with Uber Eats to launch autonomous delivery bots in Jersey City. These little robots are hitting the sidewalks to drop off meals while cutting costs for customers and restaurants.
How it works
AI-powered bots roll to your door, dodging pedestrians along the way.
Customers track them in the Uber Eats app and unlock their order on arrival.
The test run focuses on busy urban streets to see how well it works.
Why CX folks should care
Faster, cheaper deliveries could shake up expectations. If bots can cut costs and improve reliability, customers might start demanding more of this convenience. But there are hurdles—regulations, sidewalk congestion, and customer trust all come into play.
What’s next?
If this takes off, robot couriers might become a normal part of food delivery. The big question—are customers ready to swap drivers for droids?
We’ve Made It—So Why Doesn’t It Feel That Way?
Living like kings, complaining like peasants
We have hot showers, instant food delivery, and medicine that actually works—stuff that would have blown the minds of past generations. But do we wake up feeling like royalty? Nope. We grumble about slow Wi-Fi and overpriced lattes.
Yesterday’s miracles are today’s meh
Air conditioning, global travel, and endless entertainment used to be for the elite. Now, they’re just…expected.
We don’t have to fight off plagues or haul water from a well, but we do have the crushing burden of choosing what to watch on Netflix.
Life has never been easier, yet gratitude has never been harder.
Why are we like this?
Because we get used to good things fast. The bar keeps rising, and what once amazed us becomes the bare minimum. It’s the same with customers—delight them once, and suddenly, they expect it every time.
What this means for CX
Great service fades into the background unless you remind people why it’s great. Customers won’t always notice what’s working—until it’s gone. The real challenge? Keeping them aware of the magic they’re already experiencing.
The big question
If kings of the past could swap places with us, they’d think we were gods. How do you make customers see that they’re already winning?
IKEA Just Made Your Life 87% Less Annoying
No More DIY Disasters
IKEA knows assembling their furniture can feel like a test of patience and hand-eye coordination, so they’re making it easy—now you can book a Taskrabbit at checkout. No more juggling hex keys, vague instructions, or questioning your life choices.
How It Works
One-click, stress-free assembly – Add a pro to your cart when buying furniture.
Instant setup – Taskrabbit emails you right after checkout to schedule your assembly.
Skip the drama – A Tasker shows up, tools in hand, and does the hard part for you.
Why This Is a CX Win
IKEA finally solved its biggest customer headache without changing its core product. Instead of making furniture easier to assemble, they’re making it someone else’s problem. Genius.
The Big Takeaway
If customers love your brand but hate a certain part of the experience, fixing that one thing can turn them into die-hard fans. IKEA just turned “some assembly required” into “no problem at all.” What’s your brand’s biggest pain point—and how are you solving it?
Sam’s Club Just Gave CX a Corner Office
CX is officially big business.
Sam’s Club just made a bold move, naming Diana Marshall as its first-ever Chief Experience Officer (CXO). Translation? CX is now a C-level priority.
Why this matters
Marshall, formerly Chief Growth Officer, now owns the entire customer journey, from in-store to online to membership perks.
Sam’s Club is betting big on personalization, convenience, and tech-driven experiences to keep up with Amazon and Costco.
CX is no longer a department—it’s the strategy. If a retail giant like Sam’s is doing this, others will follow.
What CX pros should take from this
If your company still sees CX as a side project, this is your wake-up call. Sam’s Club is putting experience at the heart of its business—because they know customers don’t just buy products, they buy experiences.
The real question
If your company doesn’t have a CXO yet, who’s owning the experience?
Source
Related - One of Costco’s biggest rivals just knocked it down a peg
In-Store Shopping Is Now a Scavenger Hunt
The internet didn’t kill stores—it just made them annoying.
A new Wall Street Journal article lays it out: Retailers have gutted the in-store experience in their rush to compete online. Stores are understaffed, inventory is scarce, and shoppers are tired of hearing, "We can order it for you."
Where’s all the stuff?
Only 9% of women’s clothing inventory from online retailers is actually stocked in stores. For department stores, it’s 7%. Mass merchants? A sad 2%.
Retailers thought they could cut inventory and still keep customers happy—spoiler: they were wrong.
Now, walking into a store often feels like a showroom experience without the service.
Why this is a CX disaster
Shoppers go to stores because they want to leave with something—not get told to go home and order it. When that expectation isn’t met, loyalty disappears faster than a trending Zara dress.
What retailers need to fix
Stock the shelves—if people can’t find what they came for, they won’t come back.
Make shopping fun again—Nordstrom, Hermès, and TJ Maxx still get it right by offering an experience, not just stuff.
Stop the “just order it” routine—because if customers wanted to shop online, they would have done that from their couch.
The real question
Are retailers finally going to fix the in-store experience, or are we stuck playing retail roulette every time we walk in?
Source
AI Agents Are Here—But Who’s Paying the Bill?
Big Tech’s Pricey Gamble
AI agents promise to run errands, make decisions, and maybe steal some human jobs. Tech giants are all in, but Reuters reports no one has cracked how to make real money off them.
Why the Hype?
Big savings already—Amazon’s AI agents have cut $260 million in costs, and Salesforce claims a 30% productivity boost.
Massive market potential—Predictions say AI agents could pull in $52 billion by 2030—but that’s still a guess.
More than chatbots—Unlike their clunky predecessors, today’s AI agents aim to plan, execute, and even interact with other AIs.
So What’s the Problem?
No one knows how to charge for them—Subscriptions? Bundles? Enterprise deals? Still TBD.
They’re not as smart as they sound—Most AI agents are just chatbots in a fancier suit.
They mess up—big time—Air Canada’s AI misled customers, and finance AI has approved risky loans.
Why CX Pros Should Care
If AI can’t turn a profit, it won’t evolve. That means stalled innovation, half-baked features, and companies pulling the plug before AI can truly change CX.
The Real Question
Are AI agents the future of work or just another expensive tech experiment? Right now, the business model is as fuzzy as their promises.
Thank you!
I hope you found value in this week’s links. See you next Sunday at 8:15 am ET!
If this edition sparked ideas, share it with a colleague or team member. Let’s grow the DCX community together!
👋 Please Reach Out
I created this newsletter to help customer-obsessed pros like you deliver exceptional experiences and tackle challenges head-on. But honestly? The best part is connecting with awesome, like-minded people—just like you! 😊
Here’s how you can get involved:
Got feedback? Tell me what’s working, what’s not, or what you’d love to see next.
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— Mark
www.marklevy.co
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📌🚀Get Your Free CX Leader’s Playbook for Winning Buy-In
Ready to cultivate a customer-obsessed culture? A CX Leader’s Guide to Organizational Buy-In is your playbook for ensuring that every department—customer service, sales, product, tech, finance, HR, and beyond—puts customers at the center of everything it does.
Learn how to rally every department around customer obsession, click the button below to get started:
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Hey Mark, love these weekly CX links, will be linking to these in my Thursday issue of Backstage Pass.
Sam’s Club creating a Chief Experience Officer is a really big deal, isn’t it? More retailers will be following suit and that will lead to more emphasis and investment on CX. Very exciting!!