to loyal advocates. There are also those that don’t. These retailers seem to fall into a common trap, I find, one that stalls growth, wastes resources, and alienates customers. These simple but costly mistakes often stem from common things like internal pressures, outdated mindsets, or a lack of clear strategy. Retailers are often stretched thin by operational demands as they grow and, therefore, become guilty of focusing on quick fixes rather than long-term solutions. In an effort to stay competitive, they end up chasing trends without truly understanding their customer base or the impact it has on their brand identity. This isn’t just a retail challenge, it’s human nature. The instinct to react quickly, follow trends, and seek immediate results often overrides the patience required for long-term transformation. Just as people jump on fad diets for quick weight loss rather than committing to sustainable health changes, retailers chase short-term CX solutions without fully assessing their long-term impact. Fear of missing out (FOMO) plays a massive role, too; when competitors are rolling out new initiatives, the natural response is to match them rather than pause and ask: Does this truly serve our customers? True CX leadership requires resisting the urge for instant gratification and staying focused on what’s really important. It’s about taking a step back, reassessing, and making experience-driven decisions that focus on deep customer understanding over reactive changes. If a retailer can master this balance they won’t just survive, they’ll redefine the industry. So as we head further into 2025, here are the five most dangerous CX pitfalls in retail that have come to life, why retailers fall into them and how to avoid them. 1. Failing to connect CX to business impact Why retailers make this mistake: So many retailers still see CX as a ‘nice-to-have’ rather than a core driver of revenue. CX initiatives are often led by marketing or operations teams without strong ties to financial outcomes, leading to underinvestment or disjointed execution. What leads them there:Pressure. Pressure to hit short-term sales targets that often overshadows long-term experience investments. We have the data now to link CX improvements to revenue, but for whatever reason, leadership often hesitates to prioritise it. Example: A national fashion retailer implemented a new in-store appointment system to reduce wait times for personal styling. The CX team celebrated improved customer satisfaction scores, but after six months, sales remained flat. Why? The team failed to track whether customers actually spent more. A shift to measuring average transaction value and conversion rates alongside CX scores led to strategic refinements that increased high-ticket purchases by a missive 18 per cent. 2. Overloading with too many initiatives Why retailers make this mistake: It normally comes from growing competition, it’s always when retailers feel the need to constantly innovate. This, in turn, leads to a ‘more is better’ approach, where multiple projects are launched simultaneously without a clear focus on impact. What leads them there: Internal pressure to show progress quickly results in scattered efforts rather than prioritising high-impact initiatives. Example: A specialty grocer rolled out 25 different CX improvements in a year, from mobile checkout to AI-powered recommendations. Despite heavy investment, customer retention hardly improved. After doing a deep dive into data, they discovered that a whopping 80 per cent  of customer frustration stemmed from long queues. Redirecting efforts into express checkout lanes and self-service kiosks led to a 40 per cent reduction in wait times and a 15 per cent lift in customer return rates. 3. Chasing touchpoint fixes instead of journey transformation Why retailers make this mistake: Businesses tend to focus on isolated problems, like speeding up transactions or improving chatbot responses, without looking at the entire customer journey or understanding their target market’s path to purchase. What leads them there: As businesses grow, organisational structures become fragmented, meaning different teams own different touch points, which makes it hard to create a seamless, end-to-end experience. Example: A beauty brand upgraded its online chat support to improve response times, but customer complaints about the returns process persisted. It wasn’t until they mapped the full journey, from product selection right through to returns, that they saw the real issue: It was unclear product descriptions, which were causing a 35 per cent return rate. A simple content overhaul reduced returns by 22 per cent and boosted both CX and profitability. 4. Underestimating the power of creativity Why retailers make this mistake: Many retailers become rigid within their operational structures and discourage experimentation. This unfortunate fear of failure leads to incremental improvements rather than bold, validated and transformative ideas. What leads them there: In my experience, it normally comes from past failed experiments or budget constraints that make leadership hesitant to invest in unconventional solutions. Example: Some time ago, a high-end sneaker brand noticed that customers loved unboxing their purchases and sharing them on social media. Instead of standard brown shipping boxes, they designed a ‘mystery vault’ package that revealed hidden messages when scanned with a phone. Social mentions tripled, and organic traffic to their website jumped by 65 per cent in six months. 5. Skipping customer input until it’s too late Why retailers make this mistake: Internal teams often get to a place where they assume they know what customers want, relying on their past experience and industry trends rather than direct feedback from their audience. What gets them there: The urge and desire to launch quickly. That combined with the belief that internal expertise outweighs customer insights. Normally, what we see are products and experiences that miss the mark. Example: I remember a department store launched a new digital fitting room experience, spending over $2 million on development before testing it with real customers. When it was rolled out, shoppers found it confusing, clunky and painful. A competitor, meanwhile, piloted a simple augmented reality mirror in select stores, iterating based on real feedback. The result? Its version was adopted five times faster, with a 30 per cent  increase in upsell conversions. Breaking the CX cycle in retail Retail success always hinges on understanding customers deeply and making experience-led decisions with precision, even when using data to get you there. Here’s what’s required to avoid the above pitfalls: Link every CX effort to a measurable business impact Prioritise high-impact changes rather than spreading efforts too thin Always look at the entire customer journey, not just isolated touchpoints Cultivate bold, creative ideas that align to your brand identity but stand out Engage with your customers early in the process to ensure relevance CX isn’t a department or a function – it’s a mindset. The brands that get it right don’t just meet expectations or make data-driven decisions, they redefine them. They recognise that every interaction, from the store layout to digital engagement, is a massive opportunity to forge emotional connections and drive loyalty. They empower their teams at every level to think like customers, make decisions that prioritise experience and feeling, and challenge those traditional retail norms. Don’t wait for industry trends to dictate your CX standards, set the benchmark yourself.  The question isn’t whether CX matters, it’s whether your brand is ready to focus on what truly drives customer loyalty and long-term success.