A look at wish lists that will ignite action in patrons this year.

Customers can sometimes be a riddle wrapped in a puzzle, but as we enter 2025, what they want from brands seems to be fairly clear: Convenience, speed, choice and flexibility (in no particular order), along with memorable experiences that are delivered with a human touch.

They want to be treated as unique individuals with distinct desires, are aggressively seeking out value from every penny in a period of economic uncertainty, and becoming increasingly protective of personal data.

Forrester’s Buyers’ Journey Survey 2024 reveals a generational shift in enterprise customers with more and more Millennials and GenZ occupying purchase decision roles, and businesses will want to include them in their radar this year.

Finally, preservation will be important in 2025 - both at a personal and at an environmental level - as customers prioritize green practices and combat the blues with occasions of joy.     

While putting all of these together in a single box may not be easy, (86% of agents, after all, admit customer expectations are at a never-before high), the payoffs will make it worth the while. 

  • 68% of consumers are willing to pay higher for special experiences. 
  • Company coffers rake in about 60% more when leaders focus on what patrons want. 
  • Existing customers spend about 67% more than new ones, making retention and loyalty more lucrative than acquisition.   

With even the littlest effort bearing fruit - taking a customer’s experience from poor to okay raises their chances of purchase by 1.6 times and doubles their probability of recommending it – brands will be bullish about making their customers nod, smile and circle back. 

Rewards are resonating again 

Rewards programs are expected to be a major influencer of buyer choices in 2025 wit 90% of digital users already registered for them and 95% describing them as important factors in making a brand related choice.

Yes, people want to be rewarded in 2025, but with what? Figuring out the right buttons to press will be top of mind for revenue leaders as they look to build lifetime affinity, increase transaction frequency and turn customers into brand advocates. 

15 big customer motivation triggers in 2025

Customer Motivation Triggers

We scan the landscape to curate some of the top motivators and wish-lists that will inspire action or trigger repulsion in customers this year. Each is a bellwether, carrying vital signals and cues for rewards and loyalty leaders to adjust their sails on-the-go, and ensure that fans keep returning.   

1. I want a better value 

With inflation and uncertainty lurking, selective indulgence and stoic underconsumption are surfacing as trends in 2025.

Case in point? Virtual wardrobing app Restyle is helping users style existing clothes instead of buying new outfits. The stats are in: 40% of consumers are already spending less:

They’re actively seeking out deals and swapping fancy labels for cost efficient substitutes. Interestingly, they are not averse to exploring lowbrow alternatives.

The Shein saga says it all: Here’s a brand that’s been called out for environment and human rights violations several times, and yet continues to rake in big moolah. 

Brand loyalty is clearly on wobbly ground this year with nearly half of buyers ditching favourite labels (when the latter failed to deliver on expectation) and with over a third of consumers admitting to trying out different brands. 

Bottomline: In 2025, 78% of customers will ‘get smart’ about their loyalty programs.

They will be leveraging rewards more often, primarily to squeeze them off the last drop of value. 40% consumers want more discounts, cashbacks and promotions and these are areas where - along with gift cards, perks, subscription offers, product bundling, Buy-Now-Pay-Later and others –rewards brains will want to focus on.

2. I want it easy-breezy

In 2025, customers will look to cut through information overload with frictionless experiences and predictable patterns.

As per a Glassbox report, a hiccup-free digital experience is as important as the product or service itself​ for 80% of customers. 73% would even be OK to switch to a rival brand following an unsavory exchange.

As per Gartner, 89% of brands have already made their customers’ digital experience a priority. 

To create a unified, seamless, and consistent ecosystem of digital touchpoints, leaders will be looking to invest in Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs) across 2025.

With their intuitive and inclusive suite of tools and tech, DXP’s will help rewards players decode non-linear customer journeys, understand complex, multi-channel interactions and create innovative and customized digital experiences. 

Artificial Intelligence will lead the pack. Garner forecasts that by 2025, 80% of service & support companies will try generative AI in some form to ramp up Customer Experience (CX).

The ripples will be felt in the loyalty landscape as well, as rewards programs create moments of simplicity and convenience to reunite fans with their beloved brands. Per McKinsey & Company, the results are positive so far: Automated AI-driven solutions have brought down response times and lifted customer satisfaction by 40%

3. I want autonomy

Don’t tell me, just show me. In 2025, 88% of customers will base their buying decisions on brand interactions, not sales speeches. Rewards platforms will be reimagined around ‘Human Free’ DIY ecosystems, while AI agents will be trained on the large volumes of feedback these platforms generate. Self Service is on the rise with 40% favouring it.

Fun fact: 60% of customers prefer to be contacted by email, indicating a preference to engage with brands asynchronously on their own sweet time (‘don’t call me, I’ll call you’). 

To feed their patrons’ need for greater control over their time and their decisions, loyalty leaders will focus on empowering customers with self-service portals, knowledge bases (product notes, FAQS, explainer videos, community forums, educational content), chatbots, contextual help, in-app guidance, instant access, frictionless authentication (Single Sign On SSO technology, for instance) and autonomous resolutions. 

4. I want it to be fatigue-free

Digital fatigue is a definite thing in 2025. Which means rewards planners will look to enrich digital and AI interactions with empathetic intelligence and natural experiences via speech, gesture and thought to reduce online exhaustion.

A Capgemini report says consumers enjoy interactions that are a blend of Human and AI. AI’s learning abilities can be a game changer here, helping rewards teams get better at reading emotion and individualizing intervention. With their deep predictive approach, firms like Spotify and Netflix are showing the way. 

5. I want it asap, please

54% of customers like brands that respond fast. With their patience at an all-time low, customers will insist on instant gratification, insisting their wish-lists be ticked without delay.

AI powered automation has already managed to diminish response times significantly. Low patience is also leading to FORO:  Fear Of Reaching Out to tedious processes and laborious websites that tend to be big time-sucks. Instead, customers will want to go for ‘One shot, one kill’ in 2025. 

6. I want it to matter

In a time of global conflict, climate calamity and work related anxieties, people are rebalancing key behaviors to connect with what matters. Loyalty leaders must align with people’s relish for JOMO – the Joy Of Missing Out (on stressfully overworked routines) - to make rewards experiences memorable. Being memorable isn’t just about just being recallable, though.

The real mandate for loyalty leaders is to add purpose, meaning and spark - with streaks of truly intentional living, extraordinary moments and community connections.

We’ll be redeeming more points for in 2025 will be digital detox, positive affirmations, calmcations, decluttering, holiday romance, personal boundaries, nostalgia tourism, creative hotel workshops, seasonal diets, athletic adventures, gaming and literature tours, LIVE events and opportunities to contribute to social impact. The longlist is restricted only by our imagination. 

7. I want someone fatigue-free I can trust

61% of customers cite trust as a top expectation from companies and brands. Honest and authentic communication, consent based data sharing and transparent policies top the list. The challenge for brands will be to balance personalization with privacy by doubling down on listening, accountability and communication. 

Xoxoday can help build a trustworthy relationship with customers by implementing transparent and authentic communication strategies, which are essential for fostering trust. Their customer engagement solutions focus on personalized experiences and consent-based data sharing, ensuring that customers feel valued and secure in their interactions.

Plum dashboard

By offering a robust rewards platform that emphasizes accountability and proactive support, Xoxoday addresses the challenge of balancing personalization with privacy, ultimately enhancing customer loyalty and satisfaction

8. I want it where I am

In 2025, like in previous years, brands will meet consumers ‘where they are’, building connected omnichannel experiences across social media, email, website, chat, mobile, text, whatsapp, voice and offline stores.

A Harvard Business Review study shows 73% of all customers use multiple channels in the course of their discovery journey. Ecommerce trends support the view, indicating shoppers convert only after consuming information from a variety of channels. Case in point: Many comfortably combine in-store binging with meta-mall visits to redeem digital loyalty rewards.

This makes it mandatory for brands to relentlessly reinforce their stance across platforms, and carefully weed out any mismatch or dissonance. Nike, Amazon, Disney, Apple and Starbucks are all maestros of the omnichannel game, seamlessly toggling between platforms to incentivize behaviour, track purchase and enable points redemption.

 9. I want it just for me 

2025 promises to be the year of what McKinsey describes as the ‘Care of One’, as intense personalization offers brands a powerful way to recapture loyalty.

McKinsey found 71% of customers expect their experiences to be personalized, with 76% balking when brands drop that ball.

In fact, the desire for a ‘Made For Me’ experience is so strong that in a Forrester survey, respondents were even willing to share personal information for it, despite the growing risks of data piracy.

This will also be a year of hyper-local personalization with regional and cultural nuances integrated into experiences. 

Nothing keeps customers coming back like bespoke experiences, states IBM Institute for Business Value’s 5 Trends for 2025 report. Loyalty leaders will turn to Artificial Intelligence (73% of consumers claim that AI lifts their experience), Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing (NLP) and advanced analytics to go beyond browsing and search data.

They will parse customer interactions with a fine toothed comb to understand unaddressed emotions and interpret hidden intent. Sophisticated strategies will be plugged to create rewarding journeys that feel uniquely tailored to each individual. 

Customers will want their voice to be heard in 2025. According to Hubspot, 69% of buyers want companies to “Listen to my needs!” while 87% of customers consider reviews their most authentic interaction with a brand.

Feedback will therefore be gold as rewards programs prioritize active hearing and listening tools to create tailored offerings.

With two thirds of Millennials and Gen-Z demanding AI-powered hyper-personalized recommendations and 71% of overall consumers wanting that generative AI be integrated into their shopping, meaningful personalization could well democratize the magic of white-gloved service.

Xoxoday is poised to enhance the personalization of customer experiences in 2025 by offering a robust digital rewards platform that emphasizes customization and localization.

With features like personalized rewards catalogs, multi-channel delivery options, and seamless integrations with existing systems, Xoxoday enables businesses to tailor their offerings to individual preferences and regional nuances.

Plum dashboard

This aligns with the growing consumer demand for bespoke experiences, as evidenced by studies showing that a significant majority of customers expect brands to listen to their needs and provide personalized interactions.

By leveraging AI and advanced analytics, Xoxoday can help brands create unique reward journeys that foster loyalty and engagement, making every customer feel valued and understood.

10. I want options

Customers in 2025 will not stop at convenience and control. They will also want choice and flexibility that accommodates their preferences while offering novel and fresh options.

Amazon brilliantly uses this insight: Their Prime Membership offers access to ‘extra’ benefits like behaviour-informed content, music, and digital pharmacy, in addition to the core promise of free shipping and quick delivery.

Xoxoday Plum can significantly enhance customer experience by providing a platform that prioritizes choice and flexibility, much like Amazon's Prime Membership model. Their multi-benefit card allows users to access a variety of benefits, including telecom, meal access, and educational resources, all through a single, customizable platform.

This not only streamlines the process of managing multiple benefits but also empowers employees to select options that best suit their individual needs and preferences

11. I want to feel good

Joyconomy – a resilience driven response to global turbulence, cost of living and stress - will grow stronger in 2025 as customers place a premium on happiness and companies wield dopamine – the ‘rewards chemical’ - as a hard competitive edge.

In a survey by Wunderman Thompson recently, 61% of respondents longed for brands to ignite emotions that are intense. To satisfy the impulse, brands are resorting to bold expressionism, age-agnostic playfulness and joyful activities to foster giddy, dopamine induced feels via neuro-engagement models.

The Pantone Color Institute positioned Color Of The Year Viva Magenta as an “unconventional shade for an unconventional time.” Highly downloaded app Gas is designed to compliment peers in a positive, intimate environment. McDonald’s invented Happy Meals – this time for adults.

Psychologist Kelly McGonial’s ‘Joy Workout’ for the New York Times intentionally selects exercises that make people happy. Amazon and Nike both drop exclusive deals and flash deals regularly to capitalize on dopamine driven FOMO purchases.

 12. I want multi-sensory

Immersion rooms that simulate real life experiences, scenographic storefronts that reimagine the shopping mall as a theatrical experience and AI audio-scaped sonic branding will grab customers by the ‘feels’ as the latter – 82% of them to be exact - demand more multisensory experiences from brands in 2025.

Ericsson Research envisions an internet of the senses - and a way to digitally connect sentiment - by 2030. Looks like we might be reaching there sooner. 

13. I want to experience it together

Walmart’s Shop with Friends app feature. Apple Vision Pro’s Virtual Closet app by J.Crew offering chat with shopping mates.

Fan pods where gamers-cum-shoppers hang with friends. Avatar driven binging experiences on Roblox type virtual shopping universes. Live social shopping.

Examples of collective technologies that have one thing in common. Each is feeding the customer’s newfound appetite to indulge in group experiences and connected consumption. 

14. I want two-in-one

Joint loyalty programs are due for the spotlight in 2025 with 85% of Gen Z respondents showing a distinct preference for it, and nearly 75% confirming they would stick with brands that have combined rewards programs.

When it comes to the nature of the reward itself, this is a crowd that favours entertainment and exclusive experiences. Single-checkout points, multi-product reward options and easy points transfers emerged as other preferences in the Forrester survey.

Examples of joint loyalty programs are retailer X credit card, airline X hotel, brands teaming up around a shared philosophy on sustainability, and so on. Delta Airlines and Starbucks famously paired up to deliver effortless value and special treatment to members of both programs.

15. I want to go green 

We should see more and more brands integrating ESG metrices into their rewards programs in 2025. The stats are a deep shade of green.

According to Deloitte, around 3 in 4 brands are voting for a sustainable "circular economy" approach, in line with a global survey sentiment that indicates 85% of people have been steadily turning their purchases ‘greener’ over the years.

Deloitte also notes that 30% of consumers have quit patronizing certain labels owing to sustainability or ethical issues. 47% of millennials openly support brands with a responsible stance on products and social issues.

Mastercard, Prada, Patagonia, Ikea and Mother of Pearl and Stella McCartney are a few names doing sustainability right going into 2025. For those wondering, yes, sustainability does make commercial sense. Big time!

A global electronics maker saw a 35% hike in loyalty after introducing a recycling program. And IBM shares that 70% of consumers are willing to buy products at a premium from brands that provide full transparency and traceability.

What did we miss? Write back and let us know!

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