Who Will Own Customer Experience in E-commerce in 2025?

How will B2B e-commerce companies manage the customer experience in 2025? Who will own customer experience in e-commerce in 2025? What will be the role of AI in e-commerce? Will chatbots finally enhance sales and customer support?

These were among the questions I was invited to provide my point of view on recently on a 2025 e-commerce predictions webcast hosted by Andy Hoar and Brian Beck from MasterB2B. It was a fantastic experience to be part of such an engaging discussion, and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to contribute my insights alongside other industry experts.

Here’s a recap of some of the predictions I shared.

Who Owns the Customer Experience? My POV: It’s Time to Centralize

Customer experience ownership has always been a moving target. Historically, IT departments took the lead. Then, the responsibility shifted to e-commerce leaders and business owners. I’ve heard people say that the customer experience is owned by the CEO. Some even say that the customer owns the experience.

Simply listening to the loudest voice or the most dramatic feedback may not provide the most balanced perspective. You need to consider all channels and influencers to create a balanced and comprehensive customer experience. This means sometimes saying no to certain demands and focusing on what will truly benefit the overall customer journey. It's about interpreting the vast amount of information we have and turning it into actionable insights.

I advocate for establishing a “center of excellence.” What I mean by that is: If you shift your focus and assign a centralized, dedicated role to oversee customer experience strategy, this could help you ensure a cohesive approach, integrating feedback from diverse channels while avoiding reactionary decisions driven by the loudest voices. Strategic ownership allows businesses to align with customer needs, differentiate from competitors, and prioritize what truly matters for the customer journey.

A well-rounded product manager can make a profound impact on the customer experience. It's not just about being an internal evangelist but having the capability to drive requirements and development. By balancing the external perspective of customer expectations with internal operational realities, they can ensure that development efforts are focused on delivering meaningful outcomes. It’s not just about being a customer advocate; it’s about turning insights into actionable strategies that resonate across the organization.

Do you agree?

“Where’s My Stuff?” My POV: Letting AI Handle the Routine Tasks Will Immediately Enhance Your Sales and Customer Support

AI continues to revolutionize e-commerce, particularly in sales and customer support. AI is not just about replacing human roles but enhancing them. For instance, AI-driven solutions can handle routine inquiries, such as "Where's my stuff?" (WMS) questions, which traditionally make up a significant portion of call center volume.

By redirecting these routine tasks to AI, your inside sales and customer support teams can focus on more complex and value-added activities. This shift not only improves efficiency but also enhances the overall customer experience. Additionally, empowering sales reps with AI-driven insights enables them to perform their roles more effectively and make informed decisions. At HCLSoftware, we're tripling down on this space because we firmly believe that combining outside sales, inside sales, and call center functions with e-commerce will be a major disruption in 2025.

During the webcast, I shared interesting anecdotes about how AI is already making a significant impact. For example, AI now writes 25% of the code at Google, allowing their engineers to focus on more critical tasks. This kind of efficiency can be replicated in e-commerce, where AI can take over repetitive tasks, freeing up human resources for more strategic roles.

AI Chatbots Will Redefine Customer Service by 2027 (if not by 2025)

You’ve already heard it, I’m sure. By 2027, chatbots are expected to become the primary customer service channel for roughly a quarter of all organizations. We are already seeing a growing comfort with AI-driven chatbots and, according to recent data, 88% of users engage in at least one conversation with a chatbot, and only 9% oppose companies using bots. This trend is particularly strong among millennials, with 40% engaging with digital assistants daily. So my prediction is that, if not by the end of 2025, then at least by 2027, chatbots will become the primary customer service channel for roughly a quarter of all organizations. This shift will allow inside sales teams to focus on more complex issues while AI handles routine inquiries.

Do you want to learn more? Download the 2025 predictions report that was the foundation for the webcast and sign up for our newsletter where we share market trends, predictions, realities, and everything else commerce-related.

Happy 2025!