What 2024 taught us about digital CX: Key insights from testing hundreds of sites and apps
2024 was a pivotal year for our clients and their digital customer experience (CX). As they pushed boundaries with new features, global expansions, and cutting-edge functionality, we observed a surge in certain types of issues that directly impacted user journeys, conversions, and user satisfaction.
At Digivante, our role is to uncover these issues before they reach your customers. Last year alone, our global crowdtesting community completed over 1,000 real-world testing projects, identifying more than 8,500 UX-disruptive issues and over 160 business-critical defects that could have cost businesses valuable revenue and customer trust.
But beyond the numbers, deeper insights emerged. From challenges with localisation issues to recurring usability flaws, this blog explores the key trends we observed, real-world examples, and what they mean for your digital CX strategy in 2025.
Website and app issue trends we saw in 2024
1. International payment frictions
Global expansion remained a priority for businesses in 2024, but payment methods and currencies often presented challenges. For example:
- One of our clients, a major US appliance company, experienced critical checkout failures when users tried to apply promo codes or edit cart items. In some cases, invalid codes led to discount failures, frustrating customers and leading to cart abandonment.
- For another client, we discovered that payment timeout settings in specific markets caused bank transfers to fail, as the system didn’t account for slower bank processing times.
Why it matters:
If customers cannot pay quickly and seamlessly, they will abandon their purchases. Localising payment processes is essential, not just technically, but also in aligning with user expectations for a smooth digital CX.
2. Localisation pitfalls
Expanding into new markets means adapting to more than just language; it requires tailoring the entire user journey to meet local norms. We have observed issues such as:
- Currency errors and translation mistakes: A top UK fashion retailer faced mismatched regional settings, resulting in incorrect translations, currency conversion issues, and confusion around product categories.
- Date and time formats: Inconsistent formatting caused friction in countries like Germany and Japan, where users expect precise conventions.
- Content display issues: Geolocation errors caused users to see irrelevant products or services in regions where they weren’t available.
Why it matters:
Localisation isn’t just about translating content, it is about creating an experience that feels native. Overlooking local preferences and norms can alienate your audience and erode trust.
3. Performance issues by region
Even well-optimised websites can falter when accessed in different parts of the world. Regional infrastructure differences revealed issues such as:
- Device-specific problems: On mobile devices, we saw persistent issues like autofill errors, unresponsive pages, and payment page failures, particularly on older Android and iOS models.
- Slow loading times: In areas with limited bandwidth, pages struggled to load fully, impacting both engagement and conversions.
Why it matters:
Customers won’t wait for your site to catch up. Regional testing helps uncover these blind spots, ensuring global audiences have consistent access to fast, responsive digital experiences.
4. Post-release defects
Post-launch issues remained a common pain point. These often stemmed from rushed updates or unforeseen interactions:
- Regression problems: New feature launches led to regressions, breaking existing functionality. For example, a retailer’s filtering and sorting tools stopped working after a platform update.
- Broken links and navigation errors: A well-known holiday park company encountered broken links that misdirected users to irrelevant pages, while some buttons were unresponsive.
- Unclear validation feedback: In several projects, users were left guessing when form errors occurred due to missing validation messages.
Why it matters:
Even a single post-release defect can lead to customer complaints, reputational damage, and lost conversions. Continuous testing ensures updates enhance your digital customer experience rather than detract from it.
Relevant case study: A great example of addressing post-release challenges can be found in our work last year with Pepe’s, where we conducted rigorous testing on their new 3rd-party developed mobile app. This collaboration uncovered critical issues, such as app crashes and functionality failures, preventing significant customer frustration and lost revenue. Read the full case study here.
How Digivante helped businesses in 2024
In 2024, we partnered with numerous organisations across industries, identifying and prioritising critical issues that could have derailed customer journeys. Our impact included:
- 1,000+ testing projects across ecommerce, travel, automotive and other sectors.
- Global payment testing in 30+ countries and across 20+ payment methods to support international expansion.
- Real-world insights: We identified problems like frozen dynamic content, inaccurate product sorting, and regional inconsistencies in filtering tools.
- Critical issues unearthed and prioritised: Over 160+ business critical issues were uncovered, alongside 8,500+ medium and low-level defects that would have disrupted user experiences.
These aren’t just numbers, they represent how proactive testing safeguards customer trust and drives conversions.
Looking ahead to 2025
As the digital CX landscape grows more complex, the fundamentals remain the same: customers expect fast, seamless, and intuitive experiences. Addressing 2024’s website and app issue trends – such as payment frictions, localisation pitfalls, performance variability, and post-release defects – will be key to staying competitive.
At Digivante, we’re here to help you deliver flawless user experiences, no matter how complex your challenges. With our global crowdtesting community, we provide the scale, speed, and expertise you need to tackle critical issues before they reach your customers.
Let’s make 2025 the year your digital CX sets the standard.
Explore our services here.
