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At first glance, this is another example of a “well-managed customer experience.” In reality, however, this project shows something more fundamental: a shift from partial initiatives to the systematic management of Customer Experience (CX) and Employee Experience (EX) as one interconnected ecosystem.
One of the largest e-commerce companies in Central Europe asked itself an ambitious question: what does it truly mean to be a market leader at a time when product and price are ceasing to be differentiating factors? It did not find the answer in marketing or logistics, but in a detailed understanding of the entire customer journey.
58 moments of truth
During customer journey mapping, the team identified a total of 58 touchpoints that influence the resulting customer experience. This in itself is not unusual — for example, according to a study by McKinsey & Company (2016), organizations often underestimate the number of interactions that shape customer perception of a brand.
What was key, however, was what followed: the company realized that the quality of the experience is not decided only in the “main moments” (e.g. purchase), but also in those seemingly marginal ones — delivery, communication with customer support, use of additional services.
This approach corresponds to long-term findings of research by Temkin Group (now part of Qualtrics XM Institute), according to which customers evaluate experience cumulatively across interactions, not in isolation.
Data as navigation, not as a burden
With the growing number of touchpoints comes a fundamental problem: complexity. Companies often collect large amounts of data but are unable to use them effectively. According to Gartner (2023), up to 70% of CX projects fail precisely due to the organization’s inability to operationalize data.
Here, a key architectural choice proved crucial: decentralization of the view of data while maintaining a unified metric.
Each department received its own environment (InsightSofa instance), in which it works only with relevant data:
Teams at the department level track metrics that directly influence their processes
Sales directors have an immediate overview of the performance of their teams
Service project managers receive specific recommendations in real time
Top management works with one aggregated indicator — the Satisfaction Index
This model corresponds to the principles of so-called “data democratization,” discussed for example by Harvard Business Review (Davenport, 2018): data have value only if they are accessible to those who make decisions based on them.
One metric for leadership, thousands of signals in the background
The introduction of a single top-level indicator (Satisfaction Index) is not only a matter of clarity. It is a strategic decision.
According to Bain & Company, companies that systematically work with the Net Promoter Score (NPS — a measure of willingness to recommend) grow on average 2–3× faster than their competitors. The key, however, is not in the metric itself — but in its ability to connect the organization around a shared goal.
In this case, the Satisfaction Index fulfills exactly this role:
it enables leadership to quickly identify a problem across dozens of touchpoints without getting lost in the details.
Customer experience does not end with the customer
Perhaps the most fundamental decision came when the company extended measurement to employees as well.
Employee Experience (EX) — that is, the employee’s experience across their “lifecycle” in the company — is today considered a key factor of customer satisfaction. A study by MIT Sloan (2020) shows that companies with high-quality EX achieve up to 25% higher customer satisfaction.
This company did not take the path of one-off surveys. Instead, it created a continuous feedback loop:
regular measurement of employee satisfaction
systematic collection of improvement suggestions
active response to feedback
involvement of candidates already in the recruitment phase
The last point deserves special attention. Collecting feedback from candidates — often overlooked — is, according to Talent Board research (Candidate Experience Research, 2022), one of the strongest predictors of future employer reputation.
Technology as an enabler, not a solution
It is tempting to see mainly technology in this story. In reality, technology is only a means.
The difference lies in the fact that the company adopted experience (both CX and EX) as a management discipline — not as a project that has a beginning and an end. This is also confirmed by research by Forrester (2023): organizations that manage CX systematically across departments achieve higher customer and employee loyalty, as well as lower operating costs.
What to take away from this
This case shows three principles that distinguish leaders from the rest of the market:
First, experience needs to be mapped in its full breadth — not only in key moments.
Second, data must be distributed in a way that leads to action, not paralysis.
And third, customer experience is inseparable from employee experience.
Companies that ignore these principles will continue to optimize individual parts of the system. Those that adopt them will begin to manage the whole.
And that is exactly where real competitive advantage is created today.
