Did you know that nearly 1 in 6 retail purchases in the U.S. now happens online? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, eCommerce sales grew 5.1% in Q3 2025, making up 16.4% of total retail sales. That’s not just growth; it’s proof that online shopping is becoming the new normal.
As more people shop online, expectations are rising just as fast. Shoppers want more than quick delivery and low prices. They expect personalized recommendations, flexible payment options, and brands they can actually trust. For businesses, staying on top of the latest eCommerce trends is no longer optional.
Whether you’re running an online store or planning to launch one, understanding where the industry is heading will help you stay competitive. In this blog, we’ll walk through the 15 latest eCommerce trends to watch in 2026. Each trend highlights what’s changing, why it matters for your customers, and how your business can adapt to stay competitive.
So, let’s dive in.
Augmented Reality (AR) is revolutionizing online shopping by allowing customers to visualize products in their own environment before making a purchase. This technology enhances confidence in buying decisions and reduces the likelihood of returns.
AR is particularly beneficial in sectors like fashion and home décor. For instance, virtual try-on features enable customers to see how clothing fits or how furniture looks in their space, providing a more interactive and personalized shopping experience. Eyewear brands can offer a similar experience with solutions like Banuba Glasses Virtual Try-On to let shoppers preview frames in real time.
Recent data underscores the impact of AR on eCommerce:
Voice search is no longer just a convenience; it’s becoming a standard in online shopping. With the proliferation of smart speakers, smartphones, and voice assistants, consumers are increasingly turning to voice commands to shop, find products, and make purchases.
Over the years, people have become reliant on voice assistants like Amazon Echo, Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, etc., to carry out various tasks. Moreover, people are expected to use voice search to order food, shop online, and organize their lives.
Here are some statistics that determine the demand for voice search:
Hence, businesses need not neglect this eCommerce trend. It is time for you to integrate voice search into your online store, and partnering with an AI voice agent development agency can help implement it effectively.
AI and machine learning combined are great for providing a personalized experience to users. AI technology can track many things, like the process customer uses to shop, what they look for in a product or service, and when they shop.
In other words, AI collects the browsing and shopping history of the users and then predicts what customers will purchase next.
According to InsightAce Analytic, the AI-enabled eCommerce solutions market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16.5% from 2025 to 2034 and reach $31.42 billion by 2034.
As per the reports by NVIDIA, 89% of businesses in the retail and CPG sectors are either actively using or experimenting with AI tools.
Hence, businesses need not neglect this eCommerce trend. In fact, the role of artificial intelligence in eCommerce goes far beyond personalization.
Apart from personalization, Artificial Intelligence is used in backend operations and building inventory predictions.
Lastly, it is an eCommerce trend that you should consider for your online business store as soon as possible.
Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) is changing how people pay for online purchases. Instead of paying the full amount upfront, shoppers can split payments into affordable, interest-free installments. This makes larger purchases more accessible and reduces friction at checkout.
According to a report by Oberlo, the number of BNPL users in the US is expected to increase from 82.1 million in 2023 to 112.7 million by 2027. This represents a substantial growth rate and highlights the increasing popularity of BNPL services among American consumers.
Several well-known merchants offering BNPL include Klarna, Sezzle, PayPal, Skeps, and more. Out of all BNPL service providers, Klarna is the fastest growing, with around 43 million users in the United States. In the coming years, we will observe various other companies also providing BNPL.
Here are several reasons why you should integrate BNPL into your eCommerce store.
In short, BNPL is more than a payment option. It’s a strategy to boost sales, enhance customer satisfaction, and grow your eCommerce business in 2025.
Live streaming commerce is revolutionizing the way people shop online. By combining real-time video with interactive features, brands can showcase products, answer questions, and engage with viewers, all within a single session. This immersive experience mirrors the excitement of in-store shopping, but with the convenience of being at home.
Platforms like TikTok, Amazon Live, and Shopify’s YouTube integration are leading the charge, enabling businesses to reach audiences directly through live broadcasts. Influencers and brand representatives host sessions where viewers can watch product demonstrations, ask questions, and make purchases instantly via embedded links.
Moreover, if your store is on Shopify, you can take advantage of Shopify YouTube integration to integrate your store with YouTube and sell your products through YouTube livestream.
According to Statista, Livestream eCommerce sales in the United States are anticipated to reach $68 billion in 2026.
Therefore, you have an excellent opportunity to try and benefit from this trend for your eCommerce store.
Social commerce refers to the method of purchasing things directly from social media. It is one of the best future eCommerce trends. Many things are involved in social commerce, such as brand marketing, product discovery, customer service, and shoppable advertising.
Various eCommerce stores have already adopted this eCommerce trend by selling products and services on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and more. According to eMarketer, the social commerce sales in the USA will surpass $100 billion in 2026.
If you are using Shopify, it’s a great opportunity to sell products on Instagram and take advantage of this growing trend to advertise your product or service and grow your business effectively.
Personalization goes far beyond just addressing a customer by name. Today’s shoppers expect experiences tailored to their preferences, behaviors, and needs. From product recommendations to custom offers, a truly personalized approach can make customers feel understood and valued.
To provide a personalized experience to the users, you need to collect data from various points. These include purchase history, shopping cart, geographic location, and more. By remembering these things and offering a personalized shopping experience to customers, you can build a long-lasting relationship with them.
According to a study by McKinsey, 71% of consumers would love to connect & purchase from a brand that offers personalization.
Therefore, if you haven’t considered personalization, it is the best time to consider this trend for your eCommerce store.
Customers often have questions while shopping online, and waiting for an email or phone response can be frustrating. Interactive chatbots solve this problem by providing instant support, guiding shoppers, and answering queries in real time.
To offer the best customer support, you should consider an AI chatbot for your eCommerce store.
Beyond support, chatbots help customers find products, recommend items based on their preferences, and assist with checkout, improving the overall shopping experience.
According to a study by Kayako, 79% of businesses believe that live chat has helped them increase sales, revenue, and customer loyalty. Besides this, 38% of consumers would love to purchase from a company offering live chat support.
As per GrandViewResearch, the global chatbot market size is anticipated to reach $27.29 billion in 2030.
Hence, deploying chatbots will help you provide customers with a solution and also help you boost your eCommerce sales. You can use ChatGPT for your eCommerce stores for enhanced customer interactions. For that, you need to get access to the OpenAI API. Then you can implement the API into your online store.
Subscription-based models are gaining popularity as consumers seek convenience, flexibility, and consistent value. Instead of making one-time purchases, shoppers can subscribe to receive products regularly, creating a seamless and predictable shopping experience.
With a subscription-based model, eCommerce businesses can sell products that are just lying in the inventory for a long time. Moreover, by selling a subscription plan, customers will return to purchase from an eCommerce store again and again. For the same, you need to provide them with a personalized shopping experience.
According to IMARC Group, the global eCommerce subscription market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 41.38% between 2025 to 2033 and is expected to reach 6.36 billion by 2033.
From these statistics, it is expected that more and more eCommerce companies will provide monthly and yearly subscription plans to attract customers and increase their sales.
Building a brand that follows environmentally friendly practices is highly crucial. Here are some reasons why.
Here are several statistics from brands and shoppers worldwide about sustainability.
Now, you should consider this trend to fulfill the demand of your target audience and grow your business.
Headless commerce is reshaping how eCommerce stores are built and managed. In a traditional setup, the front end (what customers see) and the back end (where operations happen) are tightly connected. With headless commerce, these two parts are decoupled, giving businesses more freedom and flexibility to create unique shopping experiences.
This approach allows companies to deliver content and products seamlessly across different channels like websites, mobile apps, smart devices, or even wearables, all powered by the same backend. It also makes it easier to integrate APIs, run quick experiments, and scale faster.
The benefits of headless commerce include:
Mobile shopping continues to dominate eCommerce, as more consumers prefer the convenience of browsing and buying directly from their smartphones. Whether it’s ordering groceries, booking services, or purchasing fashion items, mobile devices have become the go-to choice for shoppers around the world.
As per Statista, retail m-commerce sales in the United States were $491 billion in 2023. It is expected that the number is going to reach $856 billion in 2027.
Therefore, you must optimize your website for mobile. A mobile-optimized website is the best to offer the next-gen experience to the users. Consider developing a mobile app for your store as well. A mobile app can provide a more personalized shopping experience, enhance customer engagement, and increase sales.
Here are some of the most effective ways to implement mobile shopping trends in your store.
As eCommerce grows more competitive, data has become one of the most valuable assets for businesses. Big data refers to analyzing massive amounts of information, from browsing history and clicks to purchase behavior, to uncover patterns and predict what customers will want next.
For example, when shoppers add items to their cart but don’t check out, data helps businesses identify the problem and send timely reminders or personalized offers. Likewise, product recommendations powered by big data make the shopping journey feel more relevant and personal. Amazon has set the benchmark here, using big data to suggest products that shoppers are highly likely to buy.
The impact is huge: according to Deloitte, companies using big data are twice as likely to exceed their business goals compared to those that don’t.
With big data, eCommerce stores can:
Consumers are worried about data. They want to know where their data is used. Although data is required to provide personalization, it is crucial to provide privacy to users.
In Europe and California, the government has made strict laws on the type of data online businesses can track and use. Hence, your eCommerce store needs to follow these rules.
The main thing is now to provide personalized information to users without storing their data. Surprisingly, you can achieve this with zero-party data.
In zero-party data, you ask consumers to share information voluntarily. It might be challenging to get information, but it will be accurate.
My Jewellery, a clothing & retail brand based in the Netherlands, also implemented this strategy. The brand created a quiz known as a style profile set in which they asked several questions to the consumers regarding the style of jewelry they love. After filling up the quiz, customers are asked to enter an email to get a personalized style profile.
You can also implement this strategy to understand what your audience wants and present things accordingly.
Elasticsearch is one of the leading search engines widely utilized in log analytics, full-text search, business intelligence, security issues, and operational intelligence.
Elasticsearch is an eCommerce site search tool used to query and examine structured & unstructured data. Compared to the other search engines, Elasticsearch follows inverted indexing and showcases results instantly with the help of its algorithm. Further, it enables a user to filter data without any hindrance.
Besides this, it helps users find items instead of browsing for a long time. It has inbuilt features that resolve typing errors, spelling errors, and autocomplete searches.
Over the years, it has become a growing trend and is responsible for quick searches. Hence, you can integrate Elasticsearch into your store to provide a top-notch experience to users and increase your sales.
We hope you have liked our list of eCommerce trends for 2025. Besides these, there are a vast number of future trends in eCommerce. Many businesses are quickly adopting these eCommerce trends to stay competitive in the market and provide a top-notch experience to users.
If you want to integrate any of the above eCommerce trends or any unique ones, don’t hesitate to contact us.
WebDesk Solution is a leading eCommerce development company. We have helped various small to big eCommerce stores to adapt to the recent eCommerce trends and reach new heights in the industry.
Some buzzwords for ecommerce in 2026 include omnichannel, personalized experiences, AI and automation, mobile commerce, and sustainability.
Global e-commerce sales are expected to reach $7.06 trillion in 2026.
Yes, eCommerce is still worth it in 2026. Increasing consumer confidence in online transactions and technological advances has made eCommerce a powerful tool for businesses to reach new audiences and increase revenue.
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