GBS WORLD NEWS | WEEK 4 | JANUARY 2023

While global retailers are battling to keep costs down, they are also having to consider increasing wages to attract and retain talented workers. This is undertaken in an effort to maintain quality customer experience (CX) delivery, according to an Insider Intelligence news report. In fact, Walmart is increasing its starting wage by 17%. Conversely, Amazon UK workers went on strike for better pay, causing disruptions in CX delivery.

In the US, Ford is increasing its remote service options to allow customers to avoid visiting the dealership for maintenance tasks such as oil changes and recall repairs. The new program guarantees that more Ford owners across the country will have access to free vehicle pickup and delivery, as well as the possibility of mobile repairs.

More exciting developments in America where, in the heart of New York, H&M has installed a Proto hologram display in its Williamsburg store as part of the H&M Move concept. The idea combines a physical store with a marketing campaign for H&M Move athletic clothing, as well as dance and fitness classes led by instructors from Grind House and Good Move.

Over 1 000 new contact center jobs will be created in Durban, South Africa with the establishment of a new Advanced Call Center Technologies (ACT) delivery site. The global CX provider’s decision to open a new delivery operation in Durban was based on the city’s highly educated and motivated workforce. Other factors included the ideal time zone in Durban for global support, native English-speaking and multilingual ability, the highly developed IT infrastructure and significant cost advantages.

Over in Australia, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia is leveraging cloud and microservices to empower engineering teams to solve complex customer problems. The strategy is in addition to the bank’s investment in a technology stack geared to use data to deliver the value and experience that customers expect.

The UK and European arm of Xoxoday, a global SaaS Fintech company has recently appointed CX experts Stephen Humphreys as Business Head to elevate CX with a global-to-local approach, scale the business and execute global ambitions. Humphreys has established and managed various businesses in Europe, the USA, and the EMEA region with operations that span multiple regions and countries and has a strong background in SaaS companies.