CES (Customer Effort Score): Measuring Ease in Key Flows

By Philip Burgess | UX Research Leader

When customers interact with a product or service, their experience often hinges on how easy it is to complete important tasks. The Customer Effort Score (CES) is a simple yet powerful metric designed to measure this ease. Unlike other customer satisfaction tools that focus on feelings or loyalty, CES zeroes in on the effort customers must put in to achieve their goals. Understanding and improving CES can lead to smoother experiences, higher retention, and stronger customer relationships.

Customer navigating an online checkout process

What Is Customer Effort Score?

CES asks customers a straightforward question after a key interaction: How much effort did you personally have to put forth to handle your request? Customers respond on a scale, often from "Very low effort" to "Very high effort." The goal is to identify friction points where customers struggle.

This metric focuses on key flows—the critical steps customers take to complete tasks such as making a purchase, resolving an issue, or signing up for a service. By measuring effort in these flows, companies can pinpoint where customers face obstacles and take action to simplify those steps.

Why CES Matters More Than Other Metrics

Traditional metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS) or Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) measure overall feelings or likelihood to recommend. While useful, they don’t always reveal the root causes of frustration or ease. CES directly targets the customer's experience of effort, which research shows strongly correlates with loyalty.

A study by the Corporate Executive Board found that 94% of customers who had low-effort experiences were likely to repurchase, compared to only 4% of customers who had high-effort experiences. This makes CES a predictive tool for customer retention and growth.

How to Measure CES in Key Flows

To get meaningful CES data, focus on these steps:

• Identify key flows: Map out the most important customer journeys, such as account creation, product purchase, or support resolution.

• Ask the CES question immediately after the flow: Timing is critical. Ask customers right after they complete or abandon a task.

• Use a simple scale: Typically a 5- or 7-point scale works best, with clear labels from low to high effort.

• Collect qualitative feedback: Alongside the score, ask customers to explain their rating in their own words. This reveals specific pain points.

  
  

For example, an e-commerce site might ask after checkout: How much effort did you have to put into completing your purchase today? Customers who struggled with payment options or slow loading times will give higher effort scores.

Examples of Improving CES in Practice

Many companies have successfully used CES to improve customer experience:

• A telecom company noticed customers reported high effort when trying to change plans online. By simplifying the interface and reducing form fields, they lowered CES by 30%, leading to fewer calls to support.

• An online bank tracked CES during loan applications. They found customers struggled with document uploads. Introducing a mobile app feature to scan documents reduced effort and increased loan completions.

• A software provider used CES after onboarding new users. They identified confusing setup steps and created tutorial videos, which cut effort scores in half and boosted user retention.

  
  

These examples show how CES highlights specific issues and guides targeted improvements.

Dashboard displaying customer effort scores and comments

Best Practices for Using CES Effectively

To get the most from CES, keep these tips in mind:

• Focus on key flows, not every interaction: Measuring effort everywhere can overwhelm teams. Prioritize the most impactful journeys.

• Combine CES with other metrics: Use CES alongside NPS and CSAT to get a full picture of customer experience.

• Act on feedback quickly: Use qualitative comments to identify quick wins and long-term fixes.

• Communicate results across teams: Share CES insights with product, support, and design teams to align efforts.

• Track changes over time: Monitor CES trends to see if improvements reduce effort consistently.