I’m happy to announce that we just released this year’s Customer Experience Index report for Canadian brands. The report is based on Forrester’s CX Index™ methodology, which measures how well a brand’s customer experience strengthens the loyalty of its customers. This year, we revealed the complete rankings of all 192 brands across 18 industries in the Canada CX Index — based on a survey of over 74,023 adult customers.

Customer Experiences In Canada Got Worse

In brief, we found that between 2016 and 2017, customer experience quality worsened across the board:

  • Losses were far broader than gains. A full 24% of brands’ CX worsened, while just 4% improved. That’s six times as many losers and gainers. As a result, seven industry averages fell while just one rose.
  • Excellent and good scores evaporated. The number of brands in the excellent category dropped to zero, and the number of brands in the good category fell by nearly half. These brands slid down into the OK and poor categories.

Stagnation And Backsliding At The Top Expose A Lack Of Leadership

Not a single brand has managed to rise to the top of our rankings and continue to move upward — the mark of a true CX leader. Instead:

  • Virtually all elite brands’ scores stayed flat or fell. We refer to the top 5% of brands across all industries in the CX Index as the “elite brands.” Of these 10 elite brands, six showed no statistically significant score change, four lost points, and just one gained modestly.
  • Nearly all industry frontrunners stagnated or worsened. A full 16 of the 18 industries have the same frontrunners as last year. Among these, none gained points and six lost points, maintaining their positions only because runners-up declined, too.

Without Real Leaders, Only Four Types Of Brands Remain

In the absence of real leaders that rise to the top of the pack and continue to improve, there are only four types of brands:

  • Languishers: brands that rose high and then stalled. These relatively high-scoring brands have remained stuck, without a statistically significant score change, for at least two years. Overall, 13% of brands in the entire Canada CX Index are languish.
  • Lapsers: brands that rose and then fell. Lapsers’ CX Index performance has declined for one or two years. Across the entire Canada CX Index, 35% of brands are lapsers.
  • Locksteppers: brands that move up and down with the pack. Even when these brands improve, they fail to differentiate themselves because the quality of their CX remains roughly on par with that of their competitors. A full 34% of Canada CX Index brands are locksteppers.
  • Laggards: brands that have stayed at or near the bottom. Although some laggards have improved the quality of their CX, their scores remain consistently at the low end of the rankings. Overall, 18% of Canada CX Index brands are laggards.

To see the rankings of all 192 brands in the Canada CX Index and a much more detailed analysis of the results — and to discover the role that emotion plays in driving CX-fueled customer loyalty, check out The Canada Customer Experience Index, 2017.