Customer experience is making or breaking consumer loyalty, regardless of AI

Robert Stockdill

21st Jul 2026

Customer experience has become an increasingly decisive factor in consumer loyalty and spending decisions across Apac, according to the fifth edition of Genesys’ State of Customer Experience report. 

Half of the nearly 6000 consumers surveyed across the region – including in Australia and New Zealand – would rather do “anything else” than contact customer service. 

The report concluded that poor service is impacting retailers’ bottom line: Across Apac, 86 per cent of consumers say poor service has caused them to spend less or stop doing business with a brand altogether. 

Other findings include: 

• More than nine in 10 consumers across the region want every organisation they interact with to deliver experiences on par with the best experience they have ever had, and the same proportion judge a company by the quality of its customer service. 

• Consumers are embracing AI – but expect it to deliver. Half of the consumers surveyed said they are comfortable with AI making decisions on their behalf if it improves speed and resolution. But their patience is limited when AI falls short: 82 per cent of Apac consumers will give a virtual agent only up to three attempts to resolve an issue. 

• Poor experiences will drive consumers to other providers. Sixty-one per cent of Apac consumers would switch to a competitor after three or fewer bad experiences with their most favourite companies or brands. For 17 per cent, just one bad experience is enough to make them switch.

The report concluded that the vast majority of consumers increasingly care more about outcomes than whether AI or a person provides the service. 

“Across Apac, consumers are increasingly confident in AI’s ability to improve customer experiences,” said Albert Nel, senior VP and regional sales leader for Genesys Asia Pacific. “But they also expect organisations to remember context, connect every interaction and resolve issues with minimal effort.

“As agentic AI becomes part of everyday customer engagement, organisations need to use it to reduce customer effort – not just automate interactions. The businesses that succeed will be those that connect AI, people and customer context to deliver faster resolutions and more seamless experiences.”