Published: October 7, 2025 | Last updated: October 7, 2025
Marketing and customer experience (CX) strategy are not opposed to margins – in fact, thoughtful investments in customer experience increase profitability, customer loyalty, and ultimately improve long-term margins.
Many SME online retailers face a dilemma: invest in customer service and brand development, or cut costs to protect margins? However, an effective CX strategy not only doesn't conflict with margin goals, but is one of the best tools for increasing them.
Do CX Strategy and Margins Exclude Each Other?
This is a question many e-commerce business owners ask. Does focusing on customer experience (CX) mean higher costs that will lower margins? Is cheap = profitable?
The answer is clear – the CX strategy does not conflict with profitability; it is its long-term ally. Thoughtful actions in the customer experience area can boost conversions, shorten the purchase journey, increase cart value, and improve purchase frequency. All of these metrics directly translate into margin growth.
Good to know:
According to PwC research, 86% of customers are willing to pay more for better shopping experiences. In the e-commerce sector, this means a willingness to choose more expensive offers with better service and return policies.
Marketing vs. Margin? ORLEN Paczka on CX Strategy | Olaf Furmanek
CX Strategy – How to Implement It in E-commerce
Developing a CX strategy in an online store should be based on a deep understanding of the customer. It's not just about basic personas or client types, but analyzing their purchasing journey, emotions, and touchpoints with the brand.
Key Elements of an Effective CX Strategy in E-commerce:
- NPS (Net Promoter Score) Monitoring – a quick and simple measure of customer satisfaction after purchase
- Customer Journey Mapping – identifying key decision moments and problematic points
- Fast feedback loops – rapid response to reported issues and errors in the purchasing process
- Good UX practices – clear layout, easy navigation, optimized checkouts
- Efficient logistics and payment processing
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Cohort Analysis – Measuring Customer Experience
Many e-commerce businesses base their performance analysis on aggregate data such as total orders or sales value. However, only cohort analysis allows you to understand how CX efforts impact the behaviors of specific customer groups over time.
What Does Cohort Analysis Reveal?
- How long a customer remains active after their first purchase
- What their average order value is over time (LTV)
- How changes in service, delivery, or UI affect retention
When implementing a new logistics solution (e.g., Orlen Paczka) or an updated payment process, it's worth tracking whether the customer cohort acquired after this change shows better return and purchase metrics. That’s direct proof of the quality of CX investments.
Service Quality and Customer Loyalty = Higher Margins
We earn margin not once, but over the long term, when the customer returns, buys more often, and spends more. That’s why instead of focusing only on acquisition, it's better to invest in the behind-the-scenes of customer service:
- Automated order status notifications
- Real-time shipment tracking
- Instant handling of complaints
- Feedback and suggestion collection systems
Improving service quality is not an expense — it’s a lever for increasing LTV (LifeTime Value), and thus, margin.
Brand Communication Aligned with Shopping Experience
Customer experience is not just UX and CRM — it’s also emotions and brand perception. Brand communication must be consistent with operational reality. If you promise “24h delivery,” it must truly happen. That’s the only way to build credibility. And that leads to customer loyalty.
In a world saturated with advertising, authenticity and consistency between promises and real customer experiences are key. Broken promises = loss of trust = margin decline.
CX Strategy and Margins: Key Takeaways
The relationship between customer experience quality and margin is not oppositional — on the contrary. A well-thought-out CX strategy is not a cost but a high-return investment. It increases loyalty, order frequency, cart value, and reduces the cost of acquiring new customers.
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Sources:
- PWC Future of CX Report 2023
- Intercom: Customer Retention Benchmarks 2024
- ORLEN Paczka – press materials
- Przelewy24 – https://www.przelewy24.pl
- Przelewy24_Official - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gys1zB2b5g
