With the holiday season booming, Christmas and New Year celebrations are now on the cards, and global ecommerce sales are surging incessantly. Online ordering is no longer an option but a necessity for the purchasing population as a whole. Evolving ecommerce trends must be tailored to enhance the user experience to offer a smooth and seamless ordering journey and a pleasant checkout.
Based on constantly updating digital technology and consumer expectations, here are the top 10 ecommerce trends predicted by experts that could impact online sales this holiday season through 2025.
1. Mobile commerce
Gone are the days when sites were designed with adaptability to desktops and larger screens. The "mobile-first" approach now demands creating websites that are first mobile-friendly rather than going for a version that is compatible with larger screens.
Experts predict that mobile commerce will account for 59% of global sales in 2025 and expected to generate $2500 billion (Source: Statista) With the increasing use of mobile devices for online shopping, mobile-friendly designs and fast loading times (even a one-second delay in loading can result in a loss of conversions as high as 10%) will help achieve more peak-hour conversions. Mobile devices are also used for price comparison and reviews even while making purchases.
Build a mobile-friendly UX website with a unique user experience across all devices and facilitate one-click checkout.
2. Augmented reality
Online shopping should provide a user experience on par with shopping in-store and convince customers to proceed with purchases. Visualizing the products as they appear in-store is what customers look for before placing orders.
In 2025, augmented reality (AR) is expected to contribute around $36 billion (Source: Statista) to global retail sales as it enables customers to interact with products virtually even from home. To make quick decisions, users will look for a clear and accurate visual representation of products, which can be achieved through augmented reality that gives a virtual 3D view of the products. Going forward, the metaverse is now evolving for better engagement in the ecommerce ecosystem by way of gamification with reward points and safe and secure payments through digital currencies.
Provide perfect visualization of products with interactive and user-friendly interfaces through augmented reality and metaverse technology.
3. AI and big data
The ecommerce business is becoming overwhelmingly competitive, and stereotyped marketing will push your online store to no man's land. Targeted marketing is the need of the hour.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are expected to transform the ecommerce shopping experience through personalized recommendations and instant customer service through chatbots. Customers can get immediate responses to their questions related to products, offers, and delivery in an interactive manner, enhancing trust and loyalty. Big data analytics can help you understand customer purchasing habits and arrive at more reliable and personalized recommendations. Ecommerce sales happening through AI-driven personalized recommendations are expected to increase considerably in 2025.
Offer on-time support through AI-powered chatbots and initiate effective marketing campaigns based on recommendations from big data analytics.
4. Social commerce
As of today, it's safe to say that there can be almost no one who does not have an account on social media. Engaging with social media platforms is almost customary for every individual on the globe, and browsing and purchasing products from Facebook, X (Twitter), and other social media channels is now becoming popular.
With advantages like universal product specifications, pricing across all channels, and one-click checkout, social commerce is now captivating online shoppers. Social commerce, in a way, promotes influencer marketing, in which influencers who have established a good profile strength can market on behalf of brands through compelling content. In 2025, social commerce will account for 20% of global ecommerce sales, which is around $80 billion.(Source: Techtarget)
Engage customers through their most preferred networking channels to display your products and gain more conversions.
5. Voice commerce
The fast-improving voice recognition and natural language processing techniques enable understanding and responding to queries more accurately. With tools like Alexa and Google Assistant, voice commerce makes browsing and ordering easy and enjoyable.
Customers can purchase and reorder items using voice commands. Hands-free shopping and interacting through natural language will increase with customers switching over to voice commerce-based shopping in the future. Voice commerce finds its major applications in the grocery and clothing industry for hassle-free reordering procedures. With Google Assistant supporting over 40 languages across 80 countries, voice commerce is a fast-evolving ecommerce trend.
Provide the comfort of ordering with voice commands to your customers and boost your online sales.
6. Omnichannel commerce
While online commerce is dominating the show, physical shopping is still succeeding and is an in-demand alternative. Shopping in-store, online, across multiple devices, and through social media channels require ordering from one main source and picking from the store (BOPIS) or from the nearest delivery point.
Omnichannel commerce delivers an integrated and unified user experience, enabling the customer to order, reorder, cancel, pay, and return across all channels at any stage of the transaction. Inventory needs to be replenished as sales happen through any channel, and subsequent stocking should be initiated to meet the demand. Analysts say that 73% (Source: Magenest) of online customers use multiple channels for their online purchases, and this is expected to increase in the days to come. Omnichannel commerce will help bring down shipping charges and increase in-store visits. Upselling and cross-selling become viable too.
Let your customers use their preferred channel for placing orders and collecting items and gain more flexibility.
7. Sustainability and eco-commerce
Gen Z shoppers give more importance to sustainability than the brand. Leaving the environment eco-friendly for generations to come should also be the goal of an ecommerce business.
Online stores should frame policies to accommodate the resale and reuse of items and carbon-neutral shipping to reduce carbon footprints considerably. Product buyback options will encourage customers to use products for a particular period of time and return them back to be reused after refurbishment. Nielsen Studies show 66% of global customers are willing to pay more for sustainable products. Opting for biodegradable packing materials is getting popular among online retailers. Employing electric vehicles for delivery and optimizing delivery routes also minimize carbon emissions.
Supporting eco-commerce is a welcome trend and will enhance brand trust among environmentalists.
8. Cross-border commerce
Globalization has made the movement of people across countries easy. The choice of procuring goods also gets extended from local markets to businesses across borders. Making your online business reach global customers and enabling them to trade and transact from any part of the world is a prevailing ecommerce trend.
Businesses should ensure a smooth and accurate exchange of currencies, feasible transportation by road, air, and waterways, global marketing campaigns, and voice commerce through local languages. Both people at work and customers must be educated about tax regulations and return policies associated with the region from which they are making purchases. Restrictions and exemptions to sell any specific items should be taken care of. Cryptocurrencies like bitcoins and Ethereum make cross-border commerce more transparent and trustworthy.
Empower your ecommerce business to adapt to cross-border commerce requirements and attract customers from all parts of the world.
9. Subscription-based ecommerce models
To instill loyalty and create long-term customers, you need to work on schemes that hold customers for a specified period and offer them special privileges; that is what subscription commerce aims to do.
Customers are requested to pay a recurring sum for a set period, and they are allowed to enjoy certain special benefits like access to articles, videos, and podcasts, special offers and discounts, and free shipping. Repeated reordering of items and scheduling routine shipping will be done without requests. Hand-picked and curated items, especially from categories like food and cosmetics, for subscription holders build loyalty and long-term engagement with your brand.
The global subscription ecommerce market is expected to grow from $199.41 billion in 2023 to $400.63 billion by 2025. (Source: Research and Markets).
Eliminate the hassles of reordering frequently purchased items and offer exclusive privileges to your loyal customers through subscription-based ecommerce models.
10. Agile and fast logistics
It is the last-mile delivery that decides the supremacy of your ecommerce store, as this is not about the commitment alone, but it eliminates the mounting anxiety and frustration that builds as the delivery gets delayed. Delayed deliveries can chase away loyal customers and decrease sales. Same-day or even same-hour delivery is the expected trend of 2025.
Maintaining delivery vehicles adhering to performance specifications is the first step to making deliveries as promised. When sharing delivery time, it is best to collect insightful data that includes traffic conditions and weather. Offer multiple delivery options such as express, same-day, and normal deliveries. AI-driven tracking systems help track deliveries precisely and notify customers with the delivery status, leaving no room for anxiety. Third-party logistics (3PL) providers can assure accurate and on-time deliveries, follow the best tracking facilities, and manage returns effectively.
Ensure that the last-mile delivery is a delightful one to achieve the highest customer satisfaction and retain customers.
Have you started empowering your ecommerce business to match the evolving trends for this holiday season's sales?
The end of the current year and the beginning of the new year are full of celebrations, and it is a hectic time for online retailers to process surging orders efficiently.
Refer to the holiday season celebrations across the globe in the table below:
Holiday season sales generate revenue three times more than the ones expected during the rest of the year. Adapting to future ecommerce trends, aligning with the customer's purchasing behavior, and constantly upgrading technology will help boost your online sales and stay ahead of the competition. Effective personalization, versatile payment processing systems, enhancing online presence across multiple channels, flexible delivery slots, and on-time deliveries are the must-follow trends to manage the holiday season crowd. Embracing evolving technologies will help customers make quick decisions and place orders precisely.
Zoho Commerce, with its flexible and user-friendly features, is one of the best choices for being present online and making shopping a pleasurable experience for your customers. Check out the ecommerce trends elucidated here and make your online store a universal choice for shoppers. Grow profits and attain more success this holiday season, and let 2025 be a prosperous one.