Retailers Leaned on AI for Over 30% of Holiday CX—But Consumers Still Turned to Humans When It Mattered Most

Peak-season results show how brands blended AI & human support to scale faster, control costs, and protect trust, pointing to the next phase of CX orchestration

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA, AZ, UNITED STATES, February 10, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The 2025 holiday season pushed retail service operations to the edge, with high-volume shopping periods, fulfillment complexity, and customer expectations rising across every channel. To keep service fast and reliable, brands leaned heavily into AI and automation while scaling human support for moments requiring empathy, judgment, and resolution.

New insights from Liveops retail programs, along with findings from the Liveops 2025 Holiday AI and Customer Service Report, show a clear takeaway for retailers: AI and automation helped increase speed and access, but customers still looked to people when it mattered most.

What Liveops enterprise retailers did differently this peak season

During the most recent peak season, leading retailers accelerated structural changes to how customer service is delivered—combining AI, global delivery models, and flexible on-demand labor to manage volatility, control costs, and protect the customer experience.

Across retail programs, results from Liveops-supported operations illustrate these broader market shifts:

- Retailers moved aggressively to AI-first containment, with automation handling over 30% of total customer interactions, leaving agents to manage fewer but more complex, higher-value conversations.

- Global delivery strategies expanded, as retailers increasingly blended U.S., nearshore, and offshore support to reduce costs while maintaining service standards. In one case, shifting operations to the Philippines drove 54% cost savings without degrading CX performance.

- On-demand, flexible staffing models became critical for peak volatility, enabling rapid scale when forecasts broke. During a major retail promotion, capacity expanded from 107 to 1,103 agents in just three weeks, reaching 185% above forecast when unexpected volume hit.

- Multi-location, multi-vendor models outperformed single-site approaches, with dual-location delivery across voice and messaging maintaining top-tier performance even as automation increased interaction complexity.

“Retailers count on speed during peak season, but speed only matters if it holds up under pressure,” said Molly Moore, Chief Operating Officer at Liveops. “These results show what happens when automation, channel coverage, and scalable human expertise work together to protect resolution and performance.”

AI surged, but shoppers still preferred humans for resolution

AI and automation became a default layer of holiday customer service in 2025. According to Liveops survey data of 1,000 U.S. adults who completed most or all of their holiday shopping, 78% of consumers used AI or automation for customer service this season, and 73% said they relied on it more than last year. Consumers reported the biggest increases in automation in online chat and website help (61%), followed by customer service phone lines (39%) and automated emails and texts (36%).

While 85% said AI sped up service and improved accessibility, the quality of those interactions did not consistently translate to better outcomes. Only 29% said AI improved their experience, while 54% said human support delivered better service. More than half of respondents (55%) said they had to escalate an AI-handled issue to a person, and 45% said AI failed to understand their problem.

“Shoppers aren’t asking for more AI, they’re asking for better AI,” said Jim Watson, Chief Executive Officer at Liveops. “Speed alone isn’t enough. This season made it clear that automation should remove friction, and human support should handle the moments where trust, empathy, and context matter most.”

Key trends from the 2025 holiday season

- Hybrid service models became essential: Retailers used automation to improve speed and access while pairing it with expanded human coverage, real-time performance monitoring, and stronger escalation support to protect quality during high-volume, high-pressure moments.

- Dual-location delivery increased resilience: Brands aligned coverage across the U.S. and the Philippines to improve scalability and cost efficiency.

- Omnichannel volume continued to rise: Retailers expanded voice, messaging, chat, and email support to meet customers where they preferred to engage.

- Transparency emerged as a trust factor: Only 22% of consumers said brands clearly disclosed when AI was used, while 69% said companies should always reveal it.

Looking ahead to the 2026 retail season

As retailers prepare for 2026, the data points to a clear path forward: expand automation where it removes friction, maintain transparent practices that build trust, and ensure human support is readily available for escalations and high-impact moments —especially as interactions grow more complex.

This is where hybrid delivery models matter most. Liveops supports retailers year-round and through peak seasons by combining flexible, on-demand human agents with AI-driven insights—allowing brands to route the right work to the right resource at the right time.

Through LiveNexus, Liveops’ AI + human orchestration platform, retailers gain a foundation for coordinating automation, global delivery, and human expertise as a single system. The result is a more resilient CX model—one that adapts to seasonal spikes, shifting consumer expectations, and expanding AI adoption without sacrificing empathy, security, or trust.

About Liveops

Liveops is redefining what outsourced customer service means in a modern, always-on world, built on the belief that genuine connection drives brand loyalty. For over 25 years, we’ve paired cutting-edge technology with trusted, remote, and empathetic human expertise to deliver agile, high-touch customer support solutions that scale with precision and care. As pioneers in the flexible workforce model, we bring global reach with unmatched adaptability, helping brands meet customer needs, anywhere, anytime. From complex interactions to seasonal surges, we proudly serve Fortune 500 and enterprise clients, delivering personalized experiences that earn trust and drive lasting impact. It’s not outsourcing, it’s outsmarting.

For more information, visit www.liveops.com.

About LiveNexus

LiveNexus is the AI and human orchestration engine from Liveops that helps enterprises modernize customer experience with confidence. Powered by real-world CX data and a nationwide talent network, LiveNexus enables brands to test, learn, and scale AI-driven solutions with operational rigor, accountability, and speed.

For more information, visit https://liveops.com/livenexus/.

Shelby Bozekowski
Liveops
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