Everyone has a moment that reminded them just how powerful brand experiences can be. For one person, it was the time they got an unexpected email from their favorite airline offering them a free upgrade to business class. 

For someone else, it was when their online order arrived sooner than expected with a small gift included as a token of appreciation. 

These moments can stick with us for a long time and shape the way we view brands.

We've asked 11 business experts to talk about the best customer experience examples they came across. Here is what they said.

Best examples of cohesive customer experience

Zalando is doing a great job of providing a cohesive customer experience. They successfully combine fashion and IT processes with complex logistical operations to ship products to customers and process returns while redefining what modern retail is and what it can become.

They do this by providing a great customer experience, from searching for a product, finalizing the transaction, receiving a package, and even returning it.

Moreover, the app successfully mirrors the customer experience of a regular shop, where people can try on clothes in a brick-and-mortar store. 

I think they're a great example of a brand that is not only transaction-focused but puts a lot of effort into taking care of their potential clients at every stage of their customer journey.

They provide additional information on clothes' sizing, making sure that the offer meets the client's expectations and needs.

The marketing campaigns they run are also about connecting with people on a more human level.

All their brand materials are coherent and nicely designed. The newsletters users get are tied to past purchases and likes, making them relevant to customers.

Netflix knows a lot about how to make user experience really great. This easy-to-use platform offers a large variety of movies and series. But they do more than just provide streaming. They also produce their own films and series.

Netflix is not just a massive base of content; it's also a place where you can find exciting titles based on your recently viewed movies.

The more you use the platform, the more accurate suggestions you get. It's a great way to keep customers involved and maintain their interest high. 

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Netflix knows how to master local advertising campaigns by including locally-known actors and social influencers in their social media activities. Netflix has really cohesive values and tone of voice in all its brand materials.

Their campaigns are usually clever and have a bit of a meme-based approach. This is something that their social media audience really responds to. A great way to keep them engaged with Netflix's content.

Agnieszka Jucha, Product Designer & Team Leader at Netguru

If you want to make sure you’re at the top of your game, you need to measure your customer experience at all times. NPS is a great way to accomplish this as it’s an industry-wide standard and measuring it takes minutes with this template:

Amazing customer focus

Amazon prides itself on providing excellent customer service, and the truth is that it really is one of the top customer-pleasing businesses out there. 

Their prices, ease of completing purchases, and super fast shipping options are primarily what keep people coming back.

Not to mention their easy return policy and their typical offers of reimbursing customers for goods they want to return while still allowing them to keep the items.

Amazon aims to help customers find solutions to every problem and understands the importance of delivering on the promised shipment dates. And it excels at turning tables if things go array.

Nate Masterson, a Business Consultant and the CMO for Maple Holistics

Going the extra mile

Bed Bath & Beyond is a rare place in NYC. In a city where most retail service is provided by employees with severe burnout and no consequence for poor customer service, Bed Bath & Beyond is a striking example of really high-quality employee training.

Whether or not you choose to shop there or enjoy their 20% off discounts, there is a consistent image and service provided every time you enter their stores.

Here are some key factors that set them apart:

1. The stores are clean, bright, and organized, without fail.
2. There are enough staff employees so, in every department, you can easily find someone for advice.
3. Even when the employee you stopped was just passing through, they will happily answer your questions, walk you over to the correct area, or get you someone more knowledgeable to help.
4.  Although you may need to wait a while in line, they make sure to have many cashiers available when the store is busier and have a supervisor on hand to help facilitate the movement of customers to cashiers and see when they need to call more cashiers in.
5. Every cashier is friendly, quick in ringing you up, and patient when you are bringing up coupons. They even help you find a way to save money:Suppose you have been waiting long, or there's a special offer mix-up. In that case, the employees are empowered to authorize discounts without customers' requests. You leave these stores with a smile.
   

These experiences are not just one-off great customer service moments but are part of a cohesive strategy that relies on employee training, creating a culture of helping, and employee benefits to ensure your workers are happy to be there.

Jacqueline Horani, Founder & Legal Consultant at Horani Law

To make sure you’re truly going the extra mile, you need to track your customers’ interactions with your brand. Just like you can send transactional emails, you can do transactional NPS measurements. All it takes is this template:

Happy employees = happy customers

The companies that immediately came to mind were Bath and Body Works and Kohls.

Bath and Body Works – I love the experience of both the store and the website, which I frequent. In-store, they encourage customers to try the products and assign them a sales associate to help them shop.

Both the store and the website are extremely inviting with colorful and invigorating products. I love that they keep sending out coupons for 20% off for frequent customers in order to foster long-term relationships.

Kohls. Kohls is easy to shop online and in-store. The customer experience of their website is excellent in that they make everything simple to locate. I appreciate the attention to detail in the product descriptions as well. They send out mailers with a chance to get a 30% discount regularly and offer Kohls Cash.

The Kohls Cash enables customers to come back to the store on a future trip to get free items or get money off for purchase. During Christmas, they have $15 Kohls Cash on each $50 purchase. I love shopping during the holiday season to get Christmas presents for my family and friends at Kohls.

Their return policy is outstanding in that you can return any item at any time with no questions asked. I've returned clothes before and even my coffee machine when it stopped working. They gave me a refund without asking what the problem was.

The difference between great customer experience and a well-thought-out strategy is offering customers incentives to shop again at the store, which both stores do.

Beck Beach, UX/CX Designer at UXBeach

Community-based customer experience

Glossier and Target are two brands that provide a superb customer experience.

Glossier's flagship stores in New York and now Los Angeles allow customers to see, touch, and experience trying on products before they buy. Glossier's in-store sales team delivers service reminiscent of beauty counters of the legacy department stores. The advice is straightforward and unbiased. This is not a revolutionary approach.

The secret to Glossier's success is creating a community experience, not merely offering expertise in products. The community created by the blog, Into the Gloss, is recreated in the flagship space by the line that you need to wait to enter the store.

You can then browse, chat, and learn not only from the highly trained staff but from fellow customers. Your fellow-enthusiasts journey can be yours, as well.

Glossier's approach provides excellent insights to brick-and-mortar stores seeking to thrive:

1. Build a brand that people love.
2. Offer your customers unparalleled service.
3. Create the opportunity to become part of a community, which shares a passion for the value you offer.

Target is mid-way through massive investment in its physical space. More than $7B will be spent updating stores across the country.

Making them more inspirational and easier to shop than ever. Stores are becoming more customized based on the neighborhoods in which they are found.

Customers still crave a physical shopping experience. Target seeks to set the bar for a mass retail shopping experience.

As part of this investment, Target is also upping its game in providing services that reduce friction when it comes to buying.

The stores' investment wasn't just about the look and feel of your Target store. Stores are now also doing double duty as fulfillment centers.

And, Target's recent purchase of Shipt allows Target to further up its game. For $9.99, you can now have Target products shipped to your door the same day.

These enhancements are focused on one goal: making life easier for their customers to be inspired and make purchases.

‍Juli Lassow, Founder and Principal of JHL Solutions 

Fairy-tale-like customer experience

Disney World is one of those brands that truly offers a cohesive customer experience. Their website is filled with images of their famous cartoon characters and their magical world. Their brand experience is so cohesive they have on-brand decorated credit cards, apparel, and just the thought of them makes you feel a certain way.

When you visit Disney World in person, their whole brand promise comes to life in their magical corner of the world. Disney World has managed to create a cohesive customer experience and is an example all brands should strive to emulate.

Stacy Caprio, Owner at Her.CEO

Strong brand persona shining through

U.S.-based grocery store chain Trader Joe's does a remarkable job of creating a long-term customer experience reinforced at every touchpoint.

By thoughtfully creating and constantly reinforcing their brand's persona, they easily contrast themselves from major competitors such as national players such as Whole Foods and regional grocery chains.

I often point to Trader Joe’s as a brand that brilliantly aligns their visual and verbal identities. All touchpoints drive home the fact that they are serious about food but not so serious about anything else.

From the uniforms of their associates and the quirky style of their visuals to the names, they give their products and signage that might read, "Shhh. Hear that? It's the sound of someone standing in front of a closed register," Trader Joe's creates a consistent customer experience before, during, and after a sale.

Douglas Spencer, President and Chief Brand Strategist at Spencer Brenneman, LLC

Wonder how consumers perceive your brand? Use this survey template and send it across different channels—email, SMS, website, or anywhere you can add a link. Get it for free below:

Customer experience that inspires 

I feel Lululemon does an excellent job of offering a cohesive customer experience. Whether I'm shopping in-store or online, I always feel well taken care of. Every single time I've walked into a Lululemon store, I've been kindly greeted by their employees. They are always so knowledgeable, offering helpful insight when it comes to sizing.

What helps is that Lululemon employees are passionate about the clothing they sell! They wear it, love it, and are more than happy to share their thoughts and feelings on various products with you. You can tell they want you to love the items you purchase, which is nice. 

I also like how they pay extra attention to you in the fitting room. They are always happy to run and get you different sizes or styles of clothing. I also find it impressive how Lululemon partners with fitness experts to offer free workouts to community members, including in-store. As for shopping online, Lululemon's website is super easy to use! 

I also love how you can live chat with an educator if you have any questions.

As for overall branding, I feel Lululemon knocks it out of the park. Their messaging is clean, consistent, and inspiring.

Liz Jeneault, Vice President of Marketing at Faveable

If you don’t shop at your own business, it’s hard to get an outside perspective of what your customer service is like. To find out about it, simply place this survey template at a relevant spot in your customer journey:

At-your-service

Do you know who excels at making customers want to come back for more? GoDaddy.

I consistently hear this feedback from their B2C segment. You call into GoDaddy's customer service, and you get genuine assistance. They may try to upsell or cross-sell you, but they will be completely upfront about the limitations of that cross-sell in its application to your use case.

There isn't any wait time to get into customer service. They help you navigate, or take over for you if you prefer. And, they get to the solution, fast.

That's customer service. That's what customers want.

Yaniv Masjedi, CMO at Nextiva

One company that I've been totally impressed with the customer service department would be Siteground hosting. I've been using them now for over five years and have rarely used the same tech support, people, twice, but they're all extremely consistent about helping me and – if they can't help – escalating my issues to higher-level people.

Bobby Kittleberger, Editor of Guitar Chalk®

World-class customer experience 

The Georgia-based eatery surpassed Wendy's this year as the #3 restaurant chain in the U.S., behind only McDonald's and Starbucks. What is even more amazing? Chick-fil-A is only open 6 days a week! Their success in CX is hardly accidental.

They invest heavily in their team members: industry-leading wages, education scholarships, advancement training, free meals on shift, and more. You cannot have a great CX unless your team is well-supported. On top of how they treat their team, their world-class customer service is rehearsed, recognized, and rewarded.

Best of all, they practice an inclusive work & CX environment. Contrary to some information in the news, team members and customers of all beliefs enjoy their experience at Chick-fil-a. A hungry person can get a chicken sandwich anywhere.

But with a world-class CX? Chick-fil-a is clearly the industry leader in that category. And don't even get me started on the sweet tea and waffle fries!

Nordstrom. With one retail giant after another failing largely (Sears, Kmart, Macy's, JC Penney's, etc.), Nordstrom continues to see great success in both CX and sales. 

Why? The team members are fiercely passionate and hugely creative when it comes to taking the very best care of their customers.

The freedom to take whatever measures needed to exceed customer service expectations is supported at the highest levels of the organization. Tires were accepted as a return once. Nordstrom doesn't even sell tires!

Salespeople have gone to legendary lengths to ensure their customers received what they needed, no matter how crazy the circumstances or the deadlines. How does a company charge more for their retail goods and still remain hugely successful nowadays? World-class CX. Nordstrom has it!

Starbucks. The power of the name. When someone uses your first name, it creates a subconscious feeling of belonging. Not only does Starbucks personalize the experience, but they are also remarkably swift in their delivery times.

The baristas are well-known for their polite, professional, prompt service. How can a company charge $5 for a single cup of coffee AND be the 2nd largest restaurant chain in the U.S.? CX.

John D. Hanson, Author/Consultant/Keynote/Trainer at 7 Ways Menu

You want to know what it takes to be a world-class brand? Maybe you’re already there but you just don’t know it yet. Just use this survey template to ask your customers about the strength of your brand.

Great customer experience starts with customer feedback

Customer experience is a big part of any business strategy. I hope these customer experience examples will inspire you to create an experience that all your customers will talk about!

But how do you even know if your customer experience is any good without asking first? The great news is, finding out where you stand is not complicated and does not cost an arm and a leg.

All you need is Survicate to create surveys and collect amazing customer feedback in the form of qualitative and quantitative data. Are you ready? Unlock the power of customer experience insights with our free trial.