Retail Contact Center Growth Opportunities in North America—2023

Retail Contact Center Growth Opportunities in North America—2023


Successful Providers Must Bridge the Physical and Digital Realms

Preparing for a pandemic that lifts or redescends is top of mind for retailers that must navigate increasing foot traffic in stores and in malls with a large retail footprint. To mitigate economic headwinds, customer retention is key. Malls and retailers need new ways to entice pandemic-weary customers, and retailers must find the optimal mix of digital and brick-and-mortar, making both equally compelling and open to hybrid phygital experiences.

This is the third year Frost & Sullivan has tracked the changing retail contact center landscape and is a follow on to a study published in September 2022. This growth opportunity report incorporates data from Frost & Sullivan research and other secondary sources.

Digital transformation was a central component of Frost & Sullivan’s 2021 and 2022 reports and remains a central theme in 2023. This fits well with consumer predilection for self-service options, researching and getting feedback on goods and services before they engage with a business, and wanting that information flow to continue when they move from an online to in-person experience. We are moving into an enhanced era of phygital experiences that fluidly move between online and in person.

This study is valuable for solution providers to better understand what each industry seeks in delivering excellent customer experience and healthcare organizations to benchmark themselves against the competition and other industries.

KEY FEATURES

This report details additional examples of retail transformation, including:

The embellishment of customer interaction channels, including short message service (SMS) and social messaging (Facebook, Twitter, LINE, WhatsApp, Instagram)
The further use of AI to enhance employee and customer service
Enhancing proactive outbound contact with additional capabilities (voice and SMS)
Extending proactive and interactive customer contact two ways from the contact center to brick-and-mortar retail establishments
Integrating knowledge management systems to enhance self-service channels and back up agents when self-service is not enough
Advanced analytics for increased personalization and customization, customer sentiment, and preference management
Use of newer technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and generative AI to broaden both digital and in-person consumer experiences.


  • The Changing Retail Contact Center Landscape
    • Strategic Objectives of this Study
    • Retail Recap: State of the Retail Customer Care Industry: 2010-2022
    • Moving Forward: The State of Retail Customer Care: 2023-2027
    • Definitions
  • Strategic Imperatives
    • Why is it Increasingly Difficult to Grow?
    • The Strategic Imperative 8
    • The Impact of the Top 3 Strategic Imperatives on the North American Retail Contact Center Industry
    • Growth Opportunities Fuel the Growth Pipeline Engine
  • Growth Environment
    • Top 5 Global Economic Highlights of 2022
    • Layoffs and Store Closures Illustrate the Shifting Retail Landscape
    • Retail Contact Center Growth Environment
    • Digital Transformation and the Infusion of AI in Retail
  • 2023 Global Contact Center Survey Results/Methodology: Retail
    • Customer Research Methodology and Respondent Profile
    • Retail Decision Maker Feedback
    • Enhancing the Mobile and In-Store Digital Journey
    • Bridging the Retail-Digital Divide
  • Company Use Cases
    • CallMiner
    • CallMiner Success Story: Radial
    • Clickatell
    • Clickatell Success Stories
  • Growth Opportunity Universe
    • Growth Opportunity 1: Using AI to Maximize the Value of Data
    • Growth Opportunity 2: Blended Approach to Service and Sales
    • Growth Opportunity 3: Chat/Messaging

Download our eBook: How to Succeed Using Market Research

Learn how to effectively navigate the market research process to help guide your organization on the journey to success.

Download eBook
Cookie Settings