CX for Contact Centers

Today’s business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) organizations have been evolving their call centers into contact centers, which are designed to take a more active role in delivering great CX via an omnichannel engagement strategy that focuses on improving the overall experience of the customer across all touchpoints, rather than just traditional call center key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics. This approach is leading to the purchase of new software and services that not only incorporate basic customer data, but also integrate customer journey information to help provide the most appropriate level of service (which can range from a self-service tool to a conversation or other interaction with a live agent specialist). The end goal, of course, is to ensure that the customer’s sales, support, or administrative engagements with the company are efficient, convenient, and successful.

Dash Research projects that the market for contact center software and services will reach $18.1 billion by 2026, increasing from $13.8 billion in 2019, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4%. Contact center software is likely to be purchased by organizations that have adequate financial resources to deploy each year (as most contact center software is now being sold via an “as a service” subscription model. Additionally, companies that have a dedicated focus on improving the overall CX are also prime candidates for purchasing new technology, as they realize that single-channel, primarily voice-based CXs are rarely preferred by customers.

This Dash Research report examines the market issues, drivers, and barriers for CX and CE software platforms, software applications, and services that incorporate or facilitate the personalization and/or optimization of CXs. Several case studies illustrating the various ways personalization & optimization efforts are being deployed by end users are included in the report. The scope of the market forecasts includes software that is deployed by Dash Research’s ecosystem of companies that spans 20 industries, 5 world regions, and 3 offerings (software platforms, software applications, and professional services). The forecast takes 2019 as a base year, forecasts market value from 2021 through 2026, and segments the market by offering, geography, and function (CX versus CE).

Key Questions Addressed:

• What trends are driving the market for contact center software and services?
• Which vendors are the key market participants?
• What are some key challenges involved with delivering excellent contact center-based CX?
• What barriers exist to the purchase of contact center software and services?
• What are some representative case studies highlighting successful implementations of new contact center platforms and software?

Who Needs This Report?

• Outsourced contact center providers
• Organizations with internal contact center operations
• Heads of CX, customer support, and CX
• IT directors and integration specialists
• CX training directors
• Investor community

Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary
   1. Introduction
   2. Market drivers
   3. Market barriers
   4. Market forecasts
   5. Dash Research insights
2. Market Overview
   1. Defining contact centers
   2. Key trends impacting the market
   3. Market landscape and participants
   4. Market drivers
      1. An increase in digital engagement from B2C and B2B customers
      2. A mandate for more efficient contact center labor and resource allocation
      3. A desire to deploy a multichannel or omnichannel engagement strategy
      4. A push to generate revenue via contact centers
      5. A demand to improve the overall CX
   5. Market barriers
      1. Technical integration challenges
      2. Data quality issues
      3. Data governance, privacy, and security concerns
      4. ROI considerations
      5. Agent dissatisfaction and retention issues
      6. Support and training
3. Case Studies
   1. Contact center case studies
      1. RAC: Managing unpredictable customer inquiry demand
      2. Instacart: Supporting two distinct customer bases
      3. MakeMyTrip: Managing customer demand surges
      4. MMLJ: Deploying a knowledge base for customers and service teams
      5. American Airlines: Improving CSAT scores via an omnichannel engagement platform
   2. Recommendations
4. Market Forecasts
   1. Forecast overview
   2. Contact center CX software, global market forecasts
   3. Geographic segmentation
   4. Market segmentation
   5. Product offering segmentation
   6. Industry segmentation
   7. Conclusions
5. Acronym and Abbreviation List
6. Table of Contents
7. Table of Figures
8. Appendix
   1. Scope of study
   2. Sources and methodology
   3. Forecast methodology
   4. Copyright notice

Charts

• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Region, World Markets: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Segment, World Markets: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Product Offering, World Markets: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Industry, World Markets: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CE Software and Services Revenue by Industry, World Markets: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX Software and Services Revenue by Industry, World Markets: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Services Revenue by Region, World Markets: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Application Revenue by Region, World Markets: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Platform Revenue by Region, World Markets: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Product Offering, North America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Product Offering, North America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Industry, North America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Services Revenue by Industry, North America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Application Revenue by Industry, North America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Platform Revenue by Industry, North America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Segment, Europe: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Product Offering, Europe: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Industry, Europe: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Services Revenue by Industry, Europe: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Application Revenue by Industry, Europe: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Application Revenue by Industry, Europe: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Segment, Asia Pacific: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Product Offering, Asia Pacific: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Industry, Asia Pacific: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Services Revenue by Industry, Asia Pacific: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Application Revenue by Industry, Asia Pacific: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Platform Revenue by Industry, Asia Pacific: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Segment, Latin America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Product Offering, Latin America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Industry, Latin America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Services Revenue by Industry, Latin America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Application Revenue by Industry, Latin America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Platform Revenue by Industry, Latin America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Segment, Middle East & Africa: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Product Offering, Middle East & Africa: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Industry, Middle East & Africa: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Services Revenue by Industry, Middle East & Africa: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Application Revenue by Industry, Middle East & Africa: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Platform Revenue by Industry, Middle East & Africa: 2019-2026

Tables

• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Region, World Markets: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Segment, World Markets: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Product Offering, World Markets: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Industry, World Markets: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CE Software and Services Revenue by Industry, World Markets: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX Software and Services Revenue by Industry, World Markets: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Services Revenue by Region, World Markets: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Application Revenue by Region, World Markets: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Platform Revenue by Region, World Markets: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Segment, North America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Product Offering, North America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Industry, North America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Services Revenue by Industry, North America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Application Revenue by Industry, North America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Platform Revenue by Industry, North America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Segment, Europe: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Product Offering, Europe: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Industry, Europe: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Services Revenue by Industry, Europe: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Application Revenue by Industry, Europe: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Platform Revenue by Industry, Europe: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Segment, Asia Pacific: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Product Offering, Asia Pacific: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Industry, Asia Pacific: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Services Revenue by Industry, Asia Pacific: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Application Revenue by Industry, Asia Pacific: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Platform Revenue by Industry, Asia Pacific: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Segment, Latin America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Product Offering, Latin America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Industry, Latin America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Services Revenue by Industry, Latin America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Application Revenue by Industry, Latin America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Platform Revenue by Industry, Latin America: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Segment, Middle East & Africa: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Product Offering, Middle East & Africa: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Software and Services Revenue by Industry, Middle East & Africa: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Services Revenue by Industry, Middle East & Africa: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Application Revenue by Industry, Middle East & Africa: 2019-2026
• Contact Center CX/CE Platform Revenue by Industry, Middle East & Africa: 2019-2026

Figures

• Contact Center vs. Call Center
• Traditional Customer Life Cycle vs. Digital Customer Life Cycle
• The Customer Journey: An Infinite Loop

Author Information

Clint Wheelock

Clint brings over 20 years of market research and consulting experience, focused on emerging technology markets. He was co-founder and CEO of Dash Network, an integrated research and digital media firm focused on the CX market, which was acquired by The Futurum Group in 2022. He previously founded Tractica with a focus on human interaction with technology, including coverage of AI, user interface technologies, advanced computing, and other emerging sectors. Acquired by Informa Group, Clint served as Chief Research Officer for Informa’s research division, Omdia, with management and content strategy responsibility, formed by the combination of Tractica, Ovum, IHS Markit Technology, and Heavy Reading.
Clint was previously the founder and President of Pike Research, a leading market intelligence firm focused on the global clean technology industry, which was acquired by Navigant Consulting where he was Managing Director of the Navigant Research business.

Prior to Pike Research, Clint was Chief Research Officer at ABI Research, a New York-based industry analyst firm concentrating on the impact of emerging technologies on global consumer and business markets.

Clint holds a Master of Business Administration in Telecommunications Management from the University of Dallas and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Washington & Lee University.