Key eCommerce Trends for 2025

To help you navigate the challenges that lie ahead we’ve highlighted six of the key trends that we see emerging in the industry, while pulling out some of the more memorable talking points from our last eCommerce Growth Collective panel discussion here in Edinburgh.

1. The continuing evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has moved from experimental to essential, with its ability to analyse large datasets for predictive insights, personalise shopping experiences and automate customer service. As AI technology matures, the focus is shifting from adoption to optimisation - with businesses looking to extract a measurable return on their investment.

In the last year we’ve seen a huge expansion of AI-powered tools or features in the tech that many of us incorporate into our stack.

With all of this automation capability at your fingertips, it’s tempting to adopt things at pace in a set-and-forget way, but it’s important to maintain a level of human oversight, ensure consistent standards, confirm effectiveness and extract insights. And particularly in the realms of content production and customer service, we must avoid the homogenisation of the industry, maintaining our own individual voices.

Leveraging evolving AI in 2025

Be selective: Carefully curate the AI tools that you adopt into your tech stack.

Prove value and optimise: Scrutinise your stack and drive ROI.

Maintain control: Ensure that your business retains its own unique identity.

• Scrutinise your figures: Get to know what's real and what's not.
• Compare data from different sources: Don't get over reliant on any single source of 'the truth'.
• Beware of lean data: Situations where data is naturally less easy to come by can be problematic - e.g. in smaller businesses or B2B use cases.

Where it works best

Some of the key areas where we expect most businesses to benefit from a little AI assistance in the year ahead are…

• Merchandising
• Cross-sell & upsell
• Demand forecasting
• Inventory management
• Product imagery - particularly in areas like Fashion
• Product content - as a heavy lifting tool, not a replacement for human experience or insight

2. More modelling than ever before

As Andrew Hood, Founder of Lynchpin Analytics, touched upon during our recent eCommerce Growth Collective ‘Next Big Thing’ panel discussion, “we’ve slipped quite seamlessly from a world where we used to count things to a world where we model things”. 

With the continuing erosion of real trackable data due to consumer privacy regulations and browser controls, efforts by various systems to predict or model what’s happening in the un-tracked world are now commonplace. 

Many of us now don’t understand whether we’re looking at actual or modelled data in our reports or analytics - often times the lines are blurred or it’s purposefully hidden from us. This is something that’s guaranteed to become more widespread in the year to come.

While AI tools can be extremely good at working with words or pictures, they have been shown to be notoriously bad at times in dealing with numbers. The rate of development and improvement of capability in these tools is obviously massive, but as we move into 2025 it’s still important to scrutinise the data that these models produce. 

It’s always been important in areas like attribution to take the figures you see with a pinch of salt, and now is no different - even if the tools and methods have increased massively in their advancement.

Avoid modelling mishaps in 2025

Scrutinise your figures: Get to know what’s real and what’s not.

Compare data from different sources: Don’t get over-reliant on any single source of ‘the truth’.

Beware of lean data situations: Where data is naturally less easy to come by can be problematic - e.g. in smaller businesses or B2B use cases.

3. Ethical AI and consumer privacy

Regulatory frameworks are tightening and consumer awareness around how their data is used continues to grow. As we’ve already discussed, these AI tools run on data, and much of that data is customer or behavioural data. As such, there’s a good chance that the spotlight could land on the nexus between AI and customer data as we move into 2025.

There are new tools in the mix, new data processors to disclose - it’s obviously important to update your terms and policies - but there’s also a strong case for making it clearer to a consumer exacly when their data is being used to improve their experience.

As Peter Curran writes over on Coveo’s blog:

Obviously, while the aim is to build consumer trust in these processes, with any disclosure of this kind, there’s a risk that a proportion of users will be put off by the realisation. As such it’s important to use a CRO approach to changes, to ensure that the impact is positive and we don’t unexpectedly turn users off. 

This is just one of the potential quandaries and pitfalls that may arise as we work our way through 2025 and the continued rise of consumer awareness keeps pace with that of AI implementation.

Weather the AI privacy storm in 2025

Be transparent: Update your terms and policies to be clear where you’re using AI and how you’re using user data.

Be cautious: While there’s an opportunity to turn the visible use of AI to your advantage, it could have a negative impact.

Be secure: Implement robust data protection measures to secure customer information and maintain transparency.

4. Omnichannel’s ever-growing importance

With the digital and physical shopping realms increasingly intertwined, and new digital channels coming to the fore all the time, delivering a seamless omnichannel experience will be more crucial for customer satisfaction and retention than ever before. 

Google data suggests that omnichannel strategies drive an 80% higher rate of incremental store visits, while 53% of shoppers say they always do online research before they buy to make sure they’re making the best choice. A 2024 report indicates that 79% of UK retailers expect omnichannel strategies to be the most successful format, underscoring the industry's recognition of its importance.

Consumers now expect a cohesive journey across multiple touchpoints, including online platforms and marketplace, physical stores and mobile applications. They want to research products online, experience them in-store and make purchases through their preferred channels without friction. As Michelle Gunn, Head of Digital Trading at Schuh pointed out during our recent panel discussion,

As we move into 2025, retailers need to put a focus on aligning their strategy, technology and processes around that ultimate goal - but it’s far from a simple challenge. While a single view of the customer is frequently discussed as being key to omnichannel success, it’s a much more difficult piece of the puzzle to achieve than a single view of the product, which can be a far easier enabler of sales to achieve.

Even if you don’t have a highstreet presence, it’s important to remember that it’s not just about the traditional online and offline channels this year, as new and emerging channels like TikTok Shop start to gain traction, there are new opportunities to be tested and touchpoints in the mix to manage.

Win at omnichannel in 2025

Invest in technology integration: Ensure your tech stack supports real-time inventory management, unified customer data, and seamless communication across all channels.

Align internal processes: Train staff and streamline operations to support a cohesive customer experience, enabling flexibility in purchasing, returns, and customer service.

Prioritise customer-centric strategies: Focus on understanding customer behaviours and preferences to personalise interactions and build loyalty across all touchpoints.

5. TikTok Shop and the rise of social commerce 

Social media platforms are increasingly becoming shopping platforms, with integrated purchasing features that make it easier for consumers to buy directly from their feeds. TikTok Shop has been the platform story of the last six months, with the right kind of brands finding ways to monetise it to massive effect. 

While it’s still a struggle for some brands and simply won’t work for everyone, it does offer immense potential for the right business. You can access a large, engaged audience, the profile of which is broadening all the time - but just don’t expect to hook it up to a feed and see the sales start rolling in.

Success in platforms like TikTok requires a significant investment of time and effort into your content and profile, with frequent live shopping events becoming a key driver of engagement and sales across the platform. That said, with the right product-market fit and some clever presentation, there are sales there to be made. The one benefit of this type of content is that it often doesn’t require a high production value - so a low-cost DIY aesthetic can prove just as effective as a more polished approach. 

The important part is to have a strategy and be authentic, as Marianne Morrison, CEO of Metrimax, discussed at our eCommerce Growth Collective event:

Open up TikTok Shop as a channel in 2025

Invest in the platform: Develop authentic content that resonates with your audience to boost engagement.

Leverage partnerships: Utilise influencer partnerships to expand reach and credibility.

Take a lo-fi approach: Don’t feel you need to go all-in on production. Increase volume to test and learn quicker. The key is to be real and authentic.

6. CDPs becoming VIPs

In an era where privacy concerns and regulations like GDPR and CCPA are tightening, the importance of first-party data cannot be overstated. Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) emerge as indispensable tools for businesses aiming to leverage their own data efficiently. These platforms help unify customer information from various touchpoints into a centralised hub, enabling personalised marketing and streamlined customer service without relying on increasingly restricted third-party data.

As we progress into 2025 and beyond, we expect the value of CDPs to grow, not just as a tool for compliance, but as a core component of customer-centric ecommerce strategies.

With consolidated data, you can tailor your marketing efforts more accurately to individual customer preferences and behaviors, enhancing the customer experience and potentially boosting loyalty and conversions. What's more, owning and controlling your data reduces your reliance on third-party sources, which can enhance data security and compliance with privacy laws. 

Ultimately, being able to quickly access and leverage your unified data will allow your business to be more responsive and agile in its marketing efforts, adapting to trends and customer feedback more rapidly. That said, setting up and integrating CDP can be costly and complex, requiring significant upfront investment in technology and training - both up-front and on an ongoing basis - so it’s important to be sure that any solution you choose is the right one for you both now and in the future.

Consider a CDP in 2025?

Choose the right platform: Select a CDP that integrates seamlessly with your existing technologies and is scalable to grow with your business needs.

Focus on data quality: Regularly cleanse and update your data to maintain its accuracy and effectiveness.

Train your team: With any significant investment, it’s crucial that your team is trained on all the ways in which they can leverage the tool in their roles.

Want to explore more ways to improve your business in 2025?

That’s it for our top trend picks for the year - but they’re far from the only insights we can offer. We’d love to talk to you about your own insights, challenges and goals in ecommerce in 2025, so don’t delay, and get in touch today!

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