Earlier this year I had the opportunity to co-host ExCom 2016, a conference focused on how customer experience, customer engagement and eCommerce were converging, and the future direction this convergence is pointing to. And mobile devices and apps have been at the forefront of this convergence.

Although there is no disputing the role of mobility in bringing commerce and customer experience closer together in a digital world, businesses have to have a strong digital foundation in place to create the kind of experiences modern consumers expect when they engage on various channels from those devices. During the keynote conversation I moderated, Dilawar Syed, president of customer support platform Freshdesk, shared why businesses of all sizes need to have a service-first culture in place in order to be successful engaging customers through a growing number of channels via their mobile devices.