Sustainability remains a top priority for consumers, according to Blue Yonder’s most recent “Consumer Sustainability Survey,” which is based on the sentiment of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers polled last month.
For 78 percent of the poll’s respondents, sustainability concerns “are very or somewhat important to them when choosing to buy a product or shop at a retailer,” researchers at the company said.
The report also showed that 70 percent of consumers polled “indicated that they have shopped at a retailer promoting their products as sustainable at least once or more in the past six months, which closely matches the 74 percent who reported doing so in 2022 and 2023,” Blue Yonder said, adding that interest in sustainability is also growing at a steady pace with 47 percent of consumers reporting “that their interest in shopping sustainably has greatly or slightly increased in the last year.”
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The report’s authors said that interest was underscored by consumers’ “willingness to spend more for sustainable products, with 40 percent of respondents saying they would pay up to an additional 5 percent, and 25 percent saying they would pay an additional 10 percent or more.”
Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer at Blue Yonder, said the company is encouraged “to see that the majority of consumers take sustainability into account when making purchasing decisions. It’s especially promising that so many respondents are willing to spend more for sustainable products, given that price concerns, exacerbated by the ongoing challenge of inflation, have marked conversations around consumer behavior over the last year.”
Van Gendt also said consumers’ willingness to spend more “should send a clear message to brands and retailers that investing in sustainable solutions and practices is worthwhile, not only for the planet but also for maintaining consumer loyalty and trust.”
Other findings include that 83 percent of respondents said they are willing to delay deliveries “if an incentive is given to do so,” the report stated. “However, this flexibility has its limits. Only 23 percent of respondents said they were willing to delay a delivery by a week or more. Nearly half (47 percent) of consumers also said they would be likely or very likely to pay more for greener shipping options such as lower carbon footprint delivery and sustainable packaging.”
The survey also revealed mistrust among respondents. “Consumers are looking closely at exactly how brands are executing on their sustainability goals,” said van Gendt. “With more than one-third (35 percent) of respondents reporting that they don’t trust brands’ sustainability claims, it’s more important than ever for companies to have full visibility into their supply chain operations so they can back up their sustainability claims with tangible data to strengthen consumer trust.”