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Customer Service Trends To Keep On Your Radar In 2026

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Published on February 20, 2026

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The quality of your customer service can make or break a purchase decision. Not only that, but it’s a key consideration for returning customers. In fact, the majority of the businesses we surveyed (57%) are improving their customer service as a way to retain customers amid changes to their pricing strategies.

AI and automations have driven plenty of developments in customer service, and it’s important for brands to evolve their online services to keep up with these developments. Use these customer service trends as inspiration!

Our in-house research team interviewed 322 small to medium US-based businesses (less than 500 employees) on their financial plans for 2026. We surveyed them on:

Their current and future financial focus
Their operating expenses
The external challenges they’re facing
Their strategies to offset these challenges

#1. Complex AI Chatbots

Brands are continuing to develop their AI-powered chatbots to provide immediate, high quality customer service to their customers. On top of handling answers to your commonly asked questions, the best AI chatbots are capable of:

Tracking orders and returns
Providing personalized product recommendations
Initiating conversations based on a user’s browsing behavior
Assess availability and make bookings on behalf of the customer

Adding or enhancing an AI chatbot helps lower ticket volumes and minimizes the need for hiring extra staff. This gives you more time to handle the most complex queries with care and maintain strong customer relationships.

ai chatbot recommending a product page for a pair of glasses, followed by a short paragraph explaining the types of rectangular frame material — Eye-oo’s chatbot acted as a virtual shopping assistant by recommending products based on my style preferences. I could also click buttons to checkout and track my orders without needing to contact support and wait for a response. Source: Website Builder Expert

How To Implement An AI Chatbot

There are plenty of AI chatbot platforms to choose from. I recommend Tidio for budget conscious ecommerce stores, since it has a free-forever plan that allows 50 conversations per month.

#2. Hyper Personalized Self-Service

Providing customers with the resources to help themselves is essential. In 2026, consumers expect to manage routine tasks quickly and independently.

This goes beyond generating FAQs and knowledge bases. Keeping up with the competition now involves providing personalized dynamic tools to help your customers find the answers to their questions. This includes:

Personalized size guides
AI powered product try-ons
Interactive product matching quizzes

A 3 step product matching quiz for a pair of earplugs, recommending the "Loop Switch 2" based on answers — Loop’s “Help me choose” entirely cut out the research process by making a confident product recommendation based on my habits and preferences. Source: Website Builder Expert

How To Implement Personalized Self-Service

A product matching quiz is the easiest self-service tool to implement, since it can be created with a vibe coding tool, such as Base44 or Lovable, without needing any technical expertise.

If you’re worried about costs, you should be able to create a simple product matching quiz without needing to upgrade to a paid vibe coding plan. To get the best results from your free credits, read our guide on how to write effective AI prompts.

#3. Preemptive Action

Responding to queries with speed and efficiency is the foundation of customer service. However, preempting your customers’ needs and providing solutions to problems they didn’t know they had is what will help you stand out from the competition.

There are many ways to be proactive in customer service, including:

Sending regular tracking update emails
Communicating longer delivery times during peak season
Sending timely reminders to order products in time for special occasions

Email from Look Fantastic apologizing for a delayed order with a "view your account" CTA — Email notification of my order delay prevented me from worrying it was lost and eliminated the need to contact customer service about my delivery. Source: Website Builder Expert

How To Implement a Preemptive Customer Service Approach

To preempt your customers’ needs, you need to know them inside out. Walk through the entire user journey, and pick out the pain points and issues they may have along the way to see where you can help them.

For example, if you run a personalized card business, you could nudge your customers annually to put in an order ahead of seasonal holidays and birthdays that they’ve previously ordered for.

The Importance of Customer Retention

Increased operational costs and labor shortages mean that businesses must act strategically to stay stable. Refining your support system before adjusting your pricing allows you to deliver a memorable experience that builds long-term loyalty.

What else should you be doing?

We asked small to medium businesses about their top customer retention strategy for 2026, and the results showed improved customer service and email marketing and newsletter to be the most popular:

Improved customer service: 57%
Personalized email marketing and newsletters: 42%
Seasonal sales and discounts: 36%
Referral programs: 34%
Implementing loyalty schemes: 24%

Written by:

Annie Angus Writer

Annie Angus is a Writer for Website Builder Expert with a passion for shaping jargon-heavy research into digestible content. She has previously researched and written about industries ranging from tech to fashion, and now, after testing our top website builders such as Wix and Squarespace, she is enthusiastic to share her findings with our readers. With first-hand experience in utilizing social media and online marketplaces to grow a small handmade clothing business, Annie understands the priorities and concerns held by SME owners, and knows precisely what they look for in a website builder. She combines this unique perspective with her knowledge of website builders to produce engaging content spanning all areas of the small business journey, from creating a strong website to growing and maintaining an audience.

Customer Service Trends To Keep On Your Radar In 2026

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