Sustainability isn’t usually a customer experience (CX) topic. In fact, the popularity of fast fashion and instant-service ecommerce platforms suggests a huge number of consumers value convenience and price over reducing their environmental impact.
It’s understandable that when faced with their own economic pressures, consumers choose to prioritize lower upfront costs over longer-lasting or better-made products; even more so given that consumer culture actively promotes replacing and upgrading products so frequently, product lifecycles are getting shorter and shorter.
However, according to CX Network members, there is a strong demand from consumers for products and services that are sustainable and ethical.
For our 2025 research into the Global State of CX, we asked the CX practitioners in our network to tell us about the consumer behaviors shaping their work. When presented with a list of more than 20 behaviors, two sustainability related responses made the top 10 most selected responses: awareness of ethical working conditions and demand for sustainable/ethical products and brands.
Year on year, there is a decline in the number of practitioners observing this behavior. Awareness of ethical working conditions dropped from eighth to ninth place between 2024 and 2025, and demand for sustainable/ethical products and brands held on in tenth place, albeit with five percent less of the vote. Elsewhere, as many as 65 percent of survey respondents in 2025 either agreed or strongly agreed that customers are more conscious of sustainability.
Aymen Ismail, head of customer engagement solutions for electric vehicle manufacturer smart Europe GmbH, says “the paradox between increasing awareness of sustainability and declining prioritization of sustainable products,” isn’t surprising. But he adds: “It’s a reflection of shifting customer behaviors and sharper expectations. For those paying attention, this is less a paradox and more a signal to rethink how we engage.”
On how to engage, Ismail highlights five things practitioners should keep front of mind when promoting sustainability as part of a customer’s experience:
- Economic realities dominate: Inflation is biting, disposable income is shrinking and customers are prioritizing survival over ideals. Even those with strong sustainability values are opting for affordability when times get tough. For brands, this means sustainability can’t come with a premium price tag – it has to be accessible and practical.
- Sustainability is no longer a differentiator: It’s table stakes. Customers now expect businesses to be sustainable by default. It’s not a bonus anymore; it’s baked into the baseline of their expectations. What matters now? Price, convenience and an exceptional experience. If you’re still using “sustainability” as your headline act, you’re out of touch.
- Greenwashing has eroded trust: With so many brands throwing out vague sustainability claims, customers have grown skeptical. They want proof - clear, transparent and verifiable evidence - that aligns with their values. Words alone no longer carry weight; only actions do.
- Sustainability has competition: While it’s still important, it’s part of a growing list of ethical concerns, including diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) and fair labor practices. Customers are no longer single-issue voters – they’re balancing multiple priorities, and sustainability has to fight for attention.
- The intention-action gap is wider than ever: Customers often express their support for sustainability, but when the price is higher, options are limited, or effort is required, reality sets in. Convenience still reigns supreme, and brands need to close this gap by making sustainable choices seamless and accessible.
On what’s next for brands, Ismail says: “Sustainability needs to be an integral part of operations, but it’s not enough on its own. The focus must shift to creating affordable, meaningful value propositions that align with customer realities.
“Authenticity and transparency will win the day, but only if they’re combined with solutions that meet customers where they are—not where brands wish they were.”
Caring about people and planet
Whether it’s the environmental impact of over-consumption or the sustainability credentials of the products themselves, platforms such as Temu, Shein and Amazon are frequently making the news for all the wrong reasons.
Their scandals aren’t limited to environmental sustainability – from the factory floor to the warehouse and last mile fulfillment, fast product turnarounds and next-day delivery also have a direct and undeniable impact on the people delivering convenience and choice.
As more people become aware of the human impact of instant service and 24/7 shipping, Musa Hanhan, founder and managing partner of Xperiente, says “a complex dynamic is emerging as awareness grows about the human and environmental impacts of this trend.”
He explains: “While the demand for immediacy has created seemingly unsustainable expectations, it has also led to frequent disappointments when promises aren't met. This tension between instant gratification and ethical concerns is reshaping customer behavior and business practices.”
In response, he says organizations will need to refine their business models to account for “the true cost of convenience on human capital and the environment”.
Hanhan sees four ways the situation could evolve:
- Companies balance automation and human interaction, implementing hybrid delivery options that consider both speed and sustainability.
- Transparent pricing will become more prevalent, with premium pricing for instant service offset by more economical options for flexible delivery times.
- “Ethical delivery” options prioritizing worker welfare and environmental concerns may emerge, with a growing segment of consumers willing to wait longer for sustainable options.
- Consumer advocates may play a role in exposing organizations that prioritize total convenience at the expense of ethical considerations.
Hanhan says the expectation for instant service is unlikely to disappear – it may even increase, however, businesses “will need to determine the tipping point where maintaining instant experiences becomes prohibitively expensive, even after automating last-mile service delivery.”
He adds: “The future of customer experience lies in finding innovative solutions that satisfy the desire for convenience while addressing ethical and sustainability concerns.”
Environmental regulation and Digital Product Passports
Where customer demand is lacking, regulation can often help to ensure organizations are operating responsibly, without waiting for market dynamics to demand they do.
The European Union’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation (ESPR) came into force in July 2024 and is intended to help modern consumers become more “eco-informed” when it comes to the goods they purchase. The ESPR also includes mandatory Digital Product Passports (DPPs), a traceability tool set to come into use as soon as 2027 in some industries.
Matthew Ekholm, Digital Product Passport and circularity specialist at Protokol, says the transparency offered by DPPs “will be a central tool in bridging the current information gap between brand and consumer”.
The full details of what a DPP will include are yet to be confirmed, however the information is likely to cover the product’s carbon footprint, supply chain and correct disposal information, to allow consumers to make more informed purchasing decisions that consider the environmental impact of the products they use. All they will need to do to access this information is scan a QR code at the point of purchase.
“The ESPR, and particularly its DPP mandate, will provide consumers with a clearer path to making more sustainable choices,” Ekholm says. “As DPPs enable customers to have access to a range of complex product data, such as information on the product’s carbon footprint, and enable access to guidance on how to recycle products or components for end-of-life items – and at no cost to them – DPPs empower consumers to be more mindful of an item’s sustainability attributes and encourage sustainable action.”
Ekholm says that from a business perspective, DPPs can also be “a steppingstone to support more sustainability efforts that re-engage customers, such as take-back schemes,” as well as supporting brands to better enter the resale market.
In offering more transparency and a means by which to verify the sustainability claims a company may make about its products, DPPs could also become a way to tackle greenwashing.