About 27% of companies in the Asia Pacific region are turning to conversational artificial intelligence (AI) to strengthen customer loyalty, while 22% are increasing support from human agents, according to new data from customer engagement platform Twilio.
“Customer loyalty is under pressure,” said Nicholas Kontopoulos, VP of Marketing, Asia Pacific & Japan at Twilio. “Building resilience means responding to customers with empathy, relevance, and precision. And that begins with a data-driven, customer-first approach.”
The survey showed that 4 in 5 retailers in the region remain confident in their ability to carry out their customer engagement strategies over the next 12 months despite economic uncertainty.
Twilio said that this optimism is supported by the tools retailers are using, such as AI and enhanced human support. But it also warned that customer loyalty is no longer guaranteed in a value-driven and price-sensitive market. Maintaining customer trust and loyalty (27%) emerged as the top challenge, ahead of responding to price-related dissatisfaction (23%) and managing communications on pricing or product availability (21%).
While 43% of retailers expect both opportunities and challenges in the market, confident retailers are focusing on deliberate steps to win back customers. Loyalty and re-engagement (28%) were cited as key areas of untapped potential, showing renewed interest in loyalty programs and personalized rewards. Retailers also see opportunities in product discovery (24%) and post-sale care (18%) as part of efforts to improve the customer journey.
“Confidence is high in the region, which is fantastic. However, the brands that truly shine will be the ones that actually do something with that confidence,” Kontopoulos said.