Customer effort inflation: why an e‑commerce journey diagnostic has become vital in 2027

In 2027, your customers are working harder than ever to buy from you.

That’s the clear takeaway from CSG/Netcracker’s report “2027 State of the Customer Experience.” Despite massive investments in digital, AI, and omnichannel, 74% of consumers say it takes as much — or more — effort than a year ago to resolve an issue with a brand. Even more alarming, 86% say they’re likely to leave a company if resolving a problem requires too much work.

In other words: if your purchase journeys are getting more complex, it’s not just a UX concern. It’s a direct risk to your sales, retention, and brand reputation.

In this post, we break down the report’s key findings, explain what “effort inflation” looks like from a customer’s point of view, and show how a client journey diagnostic, combined with the right e‑commerce strategy, can reverse the trend.

Effort inflation: when every order costs too much customer energy

The report uses the term “effort inflation” to describe a phenomenon many e‑commerce teams have been feeling for a while: for the same outcome (paying a bill, submitting a form, completing an order), customers now have to spend more time, more steps, and more mental energy than a few years ago.

A few striking numbers:

• 74% of consumers say resolving an issue with a brand takes as much or more effort than last year.
• 1 in 5 consumers abandoned trying to resolve a problem in the past 12 months because it was too complicated.
• 81% feel that AI or automated support takes more effort than talking to a real person.

In practice, effort shows up everywhere: password resets, two‑factor authentication, client portals, chatbots that don’t understand the request, channel switches, re‑explaining the same story… Each micro‑friction seems “normal” in isolation, but together they wear people down.

That’s why a journey diagnostic is so strategic: it lets you map, with an external perspective, all those small “pebbles in the shoe” that, when added up, hurt your conversions.

What customers really mean by a “low‑effort” experience

We often equate “effortless experience” with a 100% digital journey or heavy automation. The report paints a different — but very clear — picture.

Among respondents who say they’ve had an “effortless” customer experience:

• 52% mention being able to talk to a real person when they needed one.
• 44% say their issue was resolved on the first contact.
• 40% value an overall process that was quick and efficient.
• 33% highlight not having to repeat themselves.

In other words, for customers, a low‑effort experience is first and foremost: “Once is enough. They understand me, they solve it, and I can move on.”

For a transactional site, that translates into very concrete questions:

• Is essential information clear and easy to find before checkout (pricing, timelines, conditions, availability, delivery, B2B rules, etc.)?
• Does the customer have to enter the same data two or three times?
• Does switching channels (website, phone, email, messaging, store) erase the context or reinforce it?
• Is access to a knowledgeable human visible and available at the right moment, or hidden behind a maze of bots and forms?

At Ciao, our purchase‑journey diagnostics are specifically designed to test these dimensions by putting ourselves in your customers’ shoes — on desktop and mobile — without access to your internal systems.

AI, automation, and CX: when shortcuts make the path longer

Another strong conclusion from the report concerns automated channels. Many organizations are betting on chatbots and AI to “take pressure off” customer service. Customers, however, are seeing something different:

• 57% say it has become harder to get a chatbot or automated system to understand what they need.
• 40% say reaching a human has become more difficult than before.
• 60% feel that being routed to a chatbot is a sign the company doesn’t really care about them, rather than proof of efficiency.

The result? Customers are building their own workarounds:

• 87% looked for a workaround in the past year because a task with a brand took too much effort.
• 77% used a third‑party AI assistant (like ChatGPT or Claude) to help resolve an issue with a brand.
• 55% tried to reach a real person at all costs.

This “shadow CX” — the unofficial experience layer customers build around your brand — is a key signal: if your site, your journeys, and your tools don’t help effectively, people will look for information somewhere else… or simply go to a competitor.

In our e‑commerce practice, we see this misalignment regularly: checkout flows designed for internal efficiency (inventory management, complex pricing rules, B2B approval flows) that, once live, push customers to bypass the official interface to get what they want.

A rigorous customer journey diagnostic lets you pinpoint the exact spots where your automation becomes a roadblock instead of a lever.

When effort turns into real churn risk

The study is very clear: effort isn’t just an annoyance, it’s a churn driver.

• 86% of respondents say they’re likely to consider leaving a brand if resolving an issue takes too much effort.
• 1 in 5 customers completely abandoned a customer‑service case this year because it was too complex.

For an online merchant, that behaviour shows up as:

• Abandoned carts at critical steps (account creation, shipping details, payment).
• Customers who don’t come back, even though they were satisfied with the product itself.
• Extra pressure on internal teams (sales, support, operations) who need to compensate manually for journeys that don’t handle complexity well.

On the flip side, brands that manage to reduce perceived effort gain a durable competitive advantage. They don’t just promise “a great experience” — they finally deliver the simplicity customers have been told to expect from digital and AI.

That’s exactly where Ciao’s customer journey‑diagnostic offer and e‑commerce services come in.

Ciao’s purchase‑journey diagnostic: seeing your store through your customers’ eyes

At Ciao, we’ve designed an e‑commerce purchase‑journey diagnostic to help organizations regain control over this “effort inflation.”

What does that look like in practice?

We analyze your main e‑commerce journey, on desktop and mobile, acting as mystery shoppers, with no access to your internal systems. The goal is to reproduce the real‑life conditions in which your customers discover, compare, add to cart, order, or look for help.

You then receive a concrete, action‑oriented report, which includes:

• Evaluation results on key journey points (clarity of the offer, cart and checkout flow, forms, error messages, mobile/desktop consistency, etc.).
• Targeted recommendations for improvements, both UX and functional.
• An effort/impact estimate so you can decide where to start based on your capacity and constraints.

In other words, we help you answer the report’s central question: “Exactly where are my customers working too hard — and which improvements will generate the most value, for them and for us?”

E‑commerce that fits your business model — not the other way around

CSG/Netcracker’s report also reinforces a critical point: many frictions come from the gap between journeys as they were designed on paper and how they actually work in the real world. For businesses selling online, that gap is often widened by a poor platform choice or an architecture that doesn’t reflect their business rules.

Launching a transactional site is not just “turning on a shopping cart.” You need to factor in:

• Your business model (B2C, B2B, hybrid, multi‑brand, multi‑site).
• Your organizational processes (order intake, approvals, credit, logistics, customer service).
• Your existing systems (ERP, inventory, accounting, CRM, POS, etc.).

At Ciao, we guide companies through that reflection, without technological bias, using three main families of solutions:

• Standard SaaS platforms like Shopify, ideal for standard B2C commerce that wants to move quickly and benefit from a strong app ecosystem.
• Our Addio Commerce solution, particularly suited to B2B models and complex business rules, where journeys, pricing, and integrations need to be tailored.
• WordPress‑ or Drupal‑based solutions, with a focus on control, open‑source software, and a high degree of customization for very specific needs.

In each case, our e‑commerce approach follows four key steps:

1. Understanding your reality (goals, customers, processes, pain points to solve).
2. Designing purchase journeys and integrations (UX, pricing rules, ERP, CRM, inventory).
3. Comparing trade‑offs (speed, customization, control, total cost of ownership).
4. Supporting the evolution of your commerce (delivery, maintenance, continuous optimization).

The end goal mirrors the CX report’s message: reduce the overall effort your teams and your customers need to put in. Less double data entry, simpler orders, and more autonomous buyers.

Concrete results: when simplifying journeys pays off

On the ground, this effort‑reduction mindset leads to tangible results.

For Groupe Richer, a family business and a major player in horticulture and landscaping in Québec, we modernized their online commerce with the Addio Commerce platform. The impact: higher sales and daily productivity gains. As their team sums it up, staff can now focus on higher‑value activities like consultative selling.

For Piscines Soucy, our digital redesign with Shopify helped transform the customer experience and optimize online sales. Right after launch, the client saw a clear increase in quote requests, largely thanks to better‑designed forms that support the sales process. The team also appreciates having full control of the site through its Shopify account.

In both cases, the common thread isn’t just the technology — it’s the way journeys were redesigned to lower effort for the customer: clear information, relevant forms, sensible steps, and integrations that support — not hinder — the experience.

Reconnecting “designed CX” and lived CX, one diagnostic at a time

The “2027 State of the Customer Experience” report is a strong signal for Canadian organizations that rely on digital to grow. Customers aren’t asking for flashy experiences — they want predictable, fast interactions that don’t overload them with unnecessary effort.

Doing that well requires two complementary levers:

• An honest, structured diagnostic of your current purchase journeys, to see clearly where effort is building up.
• An e‑commerce strategy aligned with your business model, systems, and priorities, so each improvement is sustainable.

At Ciao, we bring these two dimensions together: a field‑level view of your online store in mystery‑shopper mode, and deep expertise in e‑commerce development (Shopify, Addio Commerce, WordPress/Drupal) to turn insights into durable solutions.

In a world where perceived customer effort directly influences buying decisions and loyalty, investing in simpler journeys is no longer a “nice‑to‑have.” It’s a core condition for making online commerce a true engine of growth — today and in the years ahead.

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