The annual Customer Experience Excellence Report has found that the overall experience customers received from the 376 UK organisations ranked in the survey fell 3.8% in the last year.

The survey had 13,000 respondents in the UK, who were asked to score brands across six areas including empathy and personalisation.

The overall customer experience excellence (CEE) score, a weighted average of each brand’s score, is 7.09 in the UK in 2023, compared with 7.37 in 2022, and 7.21 in 2019.

Almost two-thirds ( 64%) of brands included in the report saw their scores decline in each of the six areas studied, compared with the findings of last year’s study. All sectors saw an average decline in loyalty.

First Direct was the top ranked UK brand for customer experience, followed by Lush, American Express, John Lewis & Partners and Nationwide.

The report attributes the decline in customer satisfaction to extra care exhibited during Covid-19 reverting to business as usual, and brands cutting costs, substituting human interaction with technology.

KPMG also analysed how the 376 UK brands use artificial intelligence, finding that the top five sectors for AI adoption are financial services, travel and hotels, telecoms, public sector and logistics.

Tim Knight, UK head of customer and operations at KPMG UK, said: “In the last year, UK customers have suffered, as businesses have cut costs, often implementing older technology to inconsistently automate their service. While these brands may deliver lower costs this year, it’s likely they will lose customer spend over time.

“The latest artificial intelligence platforms are helping early adopters in the UK to address this, delivering both improved service and enhanced business performance. These brands are using AI to empower colleagues to achieve more, or to directly deliver empathetic and personalised customer experiences.”

The research was conducted online between 8^th June and 3^rd July 2023, exploring experiences with organisations over the previous six months. 13,143 UK consumers were interviewed, and 376 brands were included in the final ranking.

The CEE score is a weighted average of each brand’s score, as mapped against six areas: personalisation, integrity, expectations, resolution, time and effort, and empathy.