What is digital customer experience

Digital customer experience refers to the sum total of all the digital interactions a customer has with your brand. It may start with your company website, but it could also mean an omnichannel experience, including mobile apps, chat bots, social media, and any other digital channels where the touchpoint is virtual. And what matters here is the perception customers take away. Is it cumbersome and frustrating to ask for help or place an order, or is the process frictionless, memorable, and delightful?

Don’t overlook the importance of operational aspects of the user experience. From the shopping cart to the ‘contact us’ form, every customer interaction adds up to an overall feeling about your brand. What story do you want these moments to tell? What story do you want those who experience them to share?

Would you pay more for a memorable experience, provided by a brand you like? In the coming years, your customers most certainly will. More than prices or products, personalized experiences that spark powerful emotions will shape customer behaviors and brand loyalty. Consider these statistics:

The message for creating the right digital customer experience strategy is clear. Your brand needs to become an experience leader, or you will fail to meet your prospects’ and customers’ expectations. Through effective optimization of digital touchpoints, companies can uncover a key competitive advantage.

As the move toward an all-digital world accelerates, the majority of customer experiences will be delivered through online channels, where it’s more difficult to gauge sentiment and interpret reactions. Whether you’re on the frontlines interacting with customers, or behind the scenes focused on the enabling technology, learning what works, fixing what’s broken, and crafting a digital customer experience with clarity and intention should be top-of-mind for every marketing team around the world.

Digital customer experience (DCX) is inseparable from the all-encompassing customer experience (CX), which includes in-store and other interactions in the physical world. If CX is about showing empathy, building trust, and human connection, DCX is the online expression of those same values—delivered through sleek, user-friendly interfaces.

It’s important to remember that the customers’ behavior generally isn’t based on thinking about the various stages of their journey the way marketers do. Whether the interaction is physical or virtual, offline or online, people expect consistency across all channels and throughout the entire journey with your brand. For customers, it’s all one experience with your brand. That’s why it’s essential to have the right digital platform, blend of people skills, and technical expertise to meet customer needs wherever they arise.

Consumers have come to accept that providing data to companies is a necessary part of digital. However, they expect brands to know them in return. And they know when the human element is missing. Your challenge is to proactively seek out and fix broken experiences long before they drive customers away.

Strong customer experience management requires consistent effort. Companies that take time to do the hard work of customer journey mapping and action those insights will come out ahead. You can’t create unique seamless experiences until you know when and where customers interact with your brand.

With this in mind, it helps to think of DCX management as a four-step process:

1. First, you need to really know your audience. What kinds of emotions will create sparks within each segment? What pain points can you solve?
2. Identify personas within those audiences. What characteristics do the customers in each persona have in common?
3. Now you’re ready to address each phase of the digital customer experience journey with relevant content and consistent experiences. Do you have each part of the funnel covered, top, middle, and bottom?
4. Make sure to personalize digital experiences each step of the way, even if you start with just the basics.

Customer data offers essential insight, which is why it’s critical to have solutions like a digital experience platform (DXP) that can connect data across digital touchpoints. Machine learning and AI are increasingly able to help you collect and connect data—and also understand it. But unless you have powerful AI that applies insight for you, it’s up to your team to apply what you’ve learned correctly. Even if you do have AI, this is where the creative fun comes in.

You must continually test and refine experiences to maintain relevance. Operational excellence in digital customer experience management is about balancing technical precision with creative storytelling—ensuring all your efforts lead to sustained business growth and improved customer support outcomes. Connecting customer journeys in helpful, exciting, and delightfully surprising ways can make all the difference, and creating those journeys depends on your team.

A great digital customer experience is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s a mission-critical differentiator for every business. Brands that combine the three essential elements of great products, successful digital customer experiences, and memorable human connections score higher in customer satisfaction, engagement, and loyalty.

Here are some additional metrics you can track and improve:

• Higher customer retention.
• Reduced customer churn rates.
• Higher lifetime customer value.
• Greater brand equity.
• Reduced costs of service.

Each of these metrics reflects how well your business understands and addresses customer needs, resolves pain points, and delivers consistent value across digital touchpoints.

These companies have demonstrated the ability to build customer relationships by showing empathy, telling great stories, and using AI to let their humanity shine through. Follow the links to learn the secrets to their customer success.

• Chick-fil-A: Learn how to increase online revenue through customer engagement and loyalty.
• Brompton Bicycle: This company has delivered a personalized and relevant customer experience across 48 markets, fueling growth and boosting customer loyalty.
• Thule: Manage content diversity across different markets and languages, for powerful ecommerce experience.
• The R&A: Streamlined ticket-buying, year-long build-up, and live streaming on the Sitecore platform enhanced the fan experience, as well as golf-championship revenue for The Open.

As customer expectations continue to evolve, delivering exceptional digital customer experiences is no longer optional—it’s foundational. Every interaction, every click, and every second spent with your brand is an opportunity to build loyalty, address pain points, and differentiate through value-driven, user-friendly experiences.

Brands that lead in digital customer experience management don’t just react to customer needs—they anticipate them. They understand the importance of aligning functionality with emotional impact, of merging operational excellence with seamless interfaces, and of turning raw customer data into actionable insights. This is where real competitive advantage begins.

Whether you're looking to streamline your digital journey, elevate customer support, or deliver tailored experiences across every touchpoint, the right platform can make all the difference.

Ready to create digital experiences that connect, convert, and inspire? Discover how a CMS and DXP work together to enhance digital experiences.