There ha s been much trumpeting of "customer experience" over the past decade. However, the experiential foundations of the past 100 years are still these: sales and service.
Have we forgotten what exceptional sales and service entails? Have productivity efforts gone too far? This is different than having shiny interactive displays in store... this shows up when we shoppers have our specific problems solved, when we gratefully buy something more expensive because an associate helps us better understand the value it brings. We don't feel 'sold'.
Why is it eroding? What are the underlying causes that are getting missed? Why does online face its own challenge? And where do some innovations such as advanced chat or facebook live offer a lifeline?