A customer experience (CX) storm is brewing: While consumers will favor CX quality more in 2023, it fell in 2022 for the first time since 2017. Brands should respond by investing more in ensuring quality — but that’s a challenge when budgets are shrinking due to downturn fears. How to resolve this tension? Invest in designing for quality experiences where it affects customers most, in the post-purchase phases of the customer lifecycle: product and service. If that requires shifting budget from customer acquisition to retention, don’t hesitate — acquisition costs five to 25 times as much. This short report explains this dynamic, what to do, and how to align marketing and CX to get it done.