By the end of 2024, the US will be the only country other than China to see online sales hit the trillions, with a projected total of $1.14 trillion. While online sales account for only 15.6% of total retail sales in the US, that figure is steadily increasing.
So how do you make sure your ecommerce brand stand out in an increasingly competitive online shopping environment?
Brands need a solid understanding of their target consumer’s shopping preferences and habits. Then they can tap into current trends and find what works for their customer base.
Here we examine the online shopping statistics, trends, and predictions shaping the first few months of 2025 and beyond.
Before 2025 kicks off, it’s worth evaluating the state of online retail in 2024 to review what’s worked, what’s going to continue working, and what should go on the “drop” list.
Online sales continue to play an increasingly important role in retail. In 2025, forecasts suggest that retail ecommerce sales will account for nearly 21% of all global retail sales. The same forecasts project that 2027 online sales will make up a quarter of worldwide retail sales.
The ecommerce landscape continues to evolve rapidly, with Shopify emerging as a major player in digital commerce. Today, more than 10% of all US ecommerce flows through Shopify merchants, with millions of businesses across 175 countries trusting the platform to power their operations.
This global impact is reflected in the platform’s impressive scale: Shopify merchants have generated over $1 trillion in global commerce since the company’s inception, with over 675 million unique shoppers making purchases through Shopify in 2023 alone. The platform’s robust infrastructure easily handles massive scale, processing 40,000 checkouts per minute while maintaining 99.9% uptime across 300 points of presence in over 30 countries.
However, online retailers should aim to reach more than just the US ecommerce markets. As consumer behavior shifts, new emerging markets provide fresh grounds for opportunity.
Digital uptake has soared around the world in 2024, generating unprecedented ecommerce growth in countries like Turkey (11.58%), Brazil (11.56%), India (11.45%), and Mexico (11.26%).
According to Salsify’s 2024 Consumer Research report, shoppers are becoming more aware of their emotions when shopping online, in response to economic headwinds. Some 39% of shoppers now prioritize budget-friendly options, 26% buy more cautiously, and 22% postpone purchases.
What does that mean for retailers?
Instead of promoting fast consumerism, emphasize quality and longevity. You can offer warranties and repair services, or show how investing in a higher-quality item is more sustainable.
As a sustainable fashion retailer, Neem London encourages customers to “repair over replace.” The brand partnered with Clothes Doctor to make the repair process simple.
Customers just have to send some pictures to Clothes Doctor, wait for a quote, and then send their clothes in. Ten days later, they receive the products back at their door.
Salsify’s report also found another interesting statistic: Almost half of consumers (49%) desire the perfect mix of online and in-store shopping.
More consumers are exploring the middle ground by embracing omnichannel shopping, so much so that nearly 25% of respondents say they’ve completed an online purchase while in a retail store aisle. That’s why creating an omnichannel commerce experience is important for shoppers.
Global fashion startup Allbirds experienced challenges managing retail spaces while increasing their omnichannel capabilities. To improve inventory decisions and in-store conversions, they needed an integrated point-of-sale (POS) system.
Allbirds integrated Shopify POS across their brick-and-mortar stores, allowing them to increase conversion rates through buy-in-store, ship-to-customer technology, which simplified checkout processes and improved customer satisfaction.
👉 Read how Allbirds increased conversions by improving omnichannel operations
This isn’t the first or last time you’ll hear it: Your product pages sell, even more so as we move into 2025. A 2023 survey found that 70% of online shoppers say product-page content can make or break a sale.
But, what does an action-packed product page mean? Whatever gives shoppers a holistic view of your products, including:
Make it so shoppers feel like the product is in their hands. Otherwise, you’ll have a high return rate, as 36% of shoppers return items because they don’t match what they saw online.
Customers still care about sustainability and green practices, and they are proving it with their wallets. A joint study from McKinsey and NielsenIQ examined sales growth for environmentally and socially responsible products, and found some intriguing insights.
Products that make ESG-related claims averaged 28% cumulative growth rate over the past five years, versus only 20% for products that do not. Terms like “vegan,” “eco-friendly,” and “biodegradable” can help lift sales numbers when used honestly.
However, this advantage depends heavily on pricing strategy. While consumers express preference for sustainable products, research shows they often opt for less expensive alternatives if they perceive the premium for sustainable options as too high.
You can show your environmental initiatives by using Planet, a Shopify app that donates profits to organizations committed to future-proofing the planet. The badge will indicate your commitment to sustainability and carbon-neutral shipping options on your product page.
Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have become increasingly popular places for consumers to discover, research, and purchase new products.
Social commerce makes shopping a more convenient and interactive experience, which helps explain why eMarketer projects over $100 billion in social commerce sales in 2025, a 22.4% growth from year prior.
Core functionality features like in-app checkout, Buy buttons, and instant messaging tools make social media intuitive to buy through.
Right now, these four social media apps have built-in native social commerce features:
Looking ahead, this trend is unlikely to slow down. By 2025, the number of social commerce buyers in the United States is forecast to reach over 114 million.
When you consider that 5.17 billion people currently use social media, social commerce is a no-brainer for getting your brand in front of a larger global audience.
China currently leads the global social commerce stage. In 2022, around 84% of Chinese consumers had shopped on social media platforms, compared to about one-third in the US.
Besides the potential boost to online sales, social commerce can help brands offer a more frictionless online shopping experience, gather more data on their audience, and tap into social proof. As social commerce becomes more popular, ecommerce platforms like Shopify are making it easier for retailers to integrate both.
For example, Shopify’s integration with Facebook and Instagram automatically syncs your Shopify product catalog to both social media platforms so you can create ads and shoppable posts. It’s also easy to bring the look and feel of your Shopify store to Facebook and Instagram Shops by grouping items together to help customers discover products.
Voice assistants like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa were once associated with asking location directions, weather-related questions, or calling someone. But the way people use voice search is changing, and voice assistants are now becoming a core component of online shopping.
Estimates show that the worldwide transaction value of purchases made through voice assistants is expected to grow from $22 billion in 2020 to $164 billion in 2025, a 630% growth in five years.
To make your site more voice search friendly in 2025, consider optimizing product detail pages for consumers’ voice search commands. For instance, during the research phase, shoppers may ask their voice assistant questions like, “Where can I buy the latest pair of Nike sneakers?”
The chatbot market is expected to grow to $8.97 billion in 2025, up from $7.57 billion in 2024. Chatbots are gaining ground as the go-to option for providing customer support in a fast-paced world.
A study from Tidio found that 88% of customers had at least one conversation with a chatbot within the past year. On the business side, about 3 in 4 companies that introduced chatbots reported being satisfied with the results.
While there’s room for improvement in meeting consumer expectations, it’s clear customers appreciate the fast response times and out-of-office-hours support.
Beauty brand NuFace uses the term “love” to refer to customers through their chatbot.
Beauty brand NuFace shows how brands are humanizing automated interactions. Despite the digital interface, this warm, personalized language helps create an intimate customer experience.
Affectionate terminology and conversational touches turn routine chatbot exchanges into meaningful connections, making customers feel valued during automated interactions. NuFace’s approach reflects a growing trend of companies carefully crafting their chatbots’ voice to bridge the gap between technological efficiency and personal connection.
Mobile commerce is fast becoming consumers’ preferred shopping channel. As mobile browsing overtakes desktop––almost 64% of global web traffic came from mobile devices in August 2024––increasing numbers of shoppers are tapping “buy” on their devices.
In 2023, retail m-commerce sales hit $2.2 trillion, and now make up 60% of all ecommerce sales around the world. By 2027, analysts expect that number to reach $3.4 trillion.
If these figures are anything to go by, ecommerce brands that prioritize the development of user-friendly mobile sites and apps will be best positioned to convert more mobile shoppers.
One way brands can attract more mobile shoppers is to build ultra-responsive, intuitive mobile sites. To stand out in a crowded marketplace, brands need to prioritize mobile-friendly designs that help customers find what they’re looking for.
Jewelry brand and Shopify merchant Missoma is a great example. After migrating to Shopify, their online store—which generates 97% of their orders—now meets mobile website design best practices, including:
Online privacy and security continue to be a growing concern for shoppers, and governments are making it easier for shoppers to browse in private without worrying about cookies being held on their devices. Companies that fail to comply may face hefty fines and penalties.
Tech giants are also embracing the reality of a cookieless world. Google Chrome, for instance, is blocking third-party cookies in 2024.
As third-party data falls by the wayside, ecommerce brands can work around this by gathering first-party data––information that customers give to brands willingly. Brands should aim to use multiple customer-data collection methods in order to establish a more thorough dataset of customer behavior and preferences.
It’s important to ensure that this data is unified from the get-go across all touchpoints in a single platform, creating a single 360-degree view of each customer. This helps retailers:
Mac Duggal, a luxury women’s apparel brand, partnered with digital agency Prospect Knight to implement Shopify Audiences to overcome digital advertising challenges caused by new privacy regulations and operating system changes.
After implementing Shopify Audiences, which leverages commerce insights from Shopify’s platform to generate custom audience lists for ad campaigns, Mac Duggal saw impressive results, including a 2.3 times larger retargeting audience size and a 3.6 times lower cost per purchase.
The move helped the brand target more effectively and efficiently, doubling Mac Duggal’s return on advertising spend (ROAS) while future-proofing ad campaigns in a changing digital ecosystem.
Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are becoming mainstream. Once a futuristic-sounding concept used only by gamers and young Snapchat users, AR is now the key to helping consumers visualize products they may not be able to see in person, making it easier for them to make a decision.
Due to its ease of use, augmented reality seems set to grow in popularity––according to Statista, in 2025, there will be an estimated 1.07 billion mobile AR users worldwide.
AR is especially effective in specific industries like fashion and home décor, in which customers can get a better feel for products without needing to see them in person.
For instance, accessories brand The Cambridge Satchel Company uses Shopify’s AR experience to let online shoppers virtually place a 3D image of a Cambridge Satchel bag onto a screenshot of the environment they’re currently in—essentially mimicking the trying-on process via smartphone.
“The fact that we can offer this kind of AR experience with our budget puts us on a level playing field with people who have much greater resources than we do,” says founder Julie Deane. “I’ve no doubt that if big luxury brands create this kind of AR experience [in-house], they would be paying 10 times what we are.”
Social media is also a key driver of AR usage. People often first experience AR when they try a filter or lens on Snapchat, Instagram, or TikTok. These filters allow people to try on makeup or clothing before they buy online.
Virtual try-on tech in particular is playing an increasingly important role in fashion, bringing the fitting room into the digital space by letting customers use augmented reality to try on clothes virtually at home.
As retailers look for new ways to bring products alive outside of physical stores, ecommerce businesses are tapping into 3D tech.
Instead of relying on static product photos or videos, 3D imagery shows items in a new light, helping customers make purchasing decisions.
In a bid to make the shopping experience more personalized, Google Shopping is bringing 3D elements into the purchasing journey.
Lilian Rincon, the senior director of product for Google Shopping, confirmed to eMarketer that 3D listings see more engagement than their traditional static listings.
“Earlier this year, we rolled out 3D in home goods and saw that people engaged 50% more with 3D images than they did the static ones,” she said. “We are now launching in our next category, shoes, enabling consumers to see 3D models of sneakers.”
Shopify merchant and fashion brand Rebecca Minkoff uses 3D imagery to create a more interactive shopping experience for customers.
Sarah Sheldon, Rebecca Minkoff’s senior director of global ecommerce and digital, explains how 3D tech helps bring products to life in a way that builds customer confidence.
“When people have the intent to shop without physically being able to touch and see a product, the more options you can give them to create that confidence is helpful,” she says.
Rebecca Minkoff’s Darren shoulder bag was one example that came to life with 3D modeling. A simple click-and-drag provides a full picture of every piece of the bag—texture, structure, and shape—in ways websites don’t typically offer. Customers clearly appreciated the ability to view the product, and the brand saw a solid uptick in conversions and engagement.
Shoppers who interacted with a 3D model were 44% more likely to add it to their cart than those who hadn’t. Of those visitors who interacted with a 3D model, they were 27% more likely to place an order than those who hadn’t. When customers viewed a product in AR, Rebecca Minkoff says, they became 65% more likely to make a purchase.
Live commerce uses social media platforms to merge livestreaming with commerce. Viewers tune into a Facebook Live (or similar) video, have real-time communication with a brand, and purchase items based on that interaction.
Brands are using livestream to promote products, answer questions, and close sales with customers.
Although still in early stages in the US, live shopping has been a hit in China. China’s livestream selling market grew from $3 billion to $171 billion in three years.
“If China’s experience is any guide, our analysis indicates that live-commerce-initiated sales could account for as much as 10 to 20 percent of all e-commerce by 2026,” says McKinsey & Company.
Current estimates suggest that the livestream market will be worth $35 billion in the US by 2024.
Shopify merchant POPFLEX, run by Cassey Ho of Blogilates, had its second-highest sales hour of the year thanks to a POPFLEX YouTube livestream in November 2022.
The secondhand market is also experiencing massive growth as consumers become more sustainability-conscious. Growing four times faster than traditional retail, the recommerce market is projected to reach $276 billion by 2028, nearly doubling fast fashion’s value. This surge is primarily driven by Gen Z and millennial consumers, with 52% of shoppers turning to secondhand apparel in 2023.
On average, consumers spent nearly half of their apparel budget on pre-owned items, with digital platforms leading the charge. Online resale grew by 23% in 2023 and is expected to account for half of all secondhand spending by 2025.
The movement extends beyond cost savings. Major retailers are embracing the trend, with 74% of retail executives who are not already offering resale planning to enter the market. Companies like Lululemon, Patagonia, and Vuori lead the resale rankings by offering sophisticated buyback and trade-in programs.
Recent research by Nosto, surveying 2,000 consumers across the UK and US in 2024, reveals compelling insights into cross-border shopping behaviors. The study found that 52% of shoppers made at least one international purchase in the past year, highlighting the growing mainstream acceptance of cross-border commerce.
Rising domestic prices drive 53% of consumers to seek international alternatives, with 29% of consumers even consider non-authentic items from abroad for cost savings.
Cross-border shoppers demonstrate clear category preferences:
Shopify’s Managed Markets makes cross-border commerce easier by providing an infrastructure that handles shipping, payments, taxes, and customs clearance while mitigating risks through fraud prevention and compliance management. It also offers businesses instant access to over 150 global markets with localized content, multi-currency support, and integrated payment methods that customers trust.
As cross-border shopping grows, companies leveraging Shopify’s Managed Markets can focus on brand building and growth. At the same time, the technology handles the complex operational challenges of international trade, turning global market access into a competitive advantage.
These online shopping trends show that the popularity of online purchasing is only set to grow in 2025 and beyond. As the number of online shoppers rises, the ecommerce industry will continue to tap into new tech and trends in a bid to attract and retain customers.
To stand out in an increasingly competitive online shopping landscape, brands need to tap into these ecommerce trends. Figure out how your audience prefers to shop online, and then build a strategy to meet them there.
Online shopping remains extremely popular, with 57% of global consumers preferring to shop online. The shift toward digital shopping has continued post-pandemic, with convenience and variety driving the trend.
According to ecommerce site search tool Doofinder, there are 30.7 million ecommerce websites worldwide as of 2024.
The global ecommerce market was valued at $4.12 billion as of 2024. It’s estimated to reach $6.47 billion by 2029.
