The eCommerce landscape is on the cusp of its next evolution. With consumer expectations for seamless, personalised, and engaging experiences reaching an all-time high, brands face a new challenge: capturing fleeting attention and converting it into loyalty and sales.
As 2025 unfolds, the industry will be driven by four transformative trends that promise to redefine how we shop: hyper-personalisation, omnichannel social-first experiences, video-driven product discovery, and the authenticity generated by user-generated content (UGC).
Key Trends Shaping 2025 eCommerce
- AI Shopping Agents: Hyper-personalisation and conversational AI transform how customers discover and buy products¹.
- Social Commerce: The blend of content, community and commerce becomes the driving force behind seamless omni-channel shopping experiences³.
- Video Commerce’s Boom: From short-form clips to live selling, video revolutionises discovery and purchases⁵.
- Gen Z and UGC: Building trust and authenticity to shape purchase decisions⁷.
📈 AI SHOPPING AGENTS: PERSONALISATION WITH PRECISION
Artificial intelligence has become the cornerstone of meaningful customer interactions, allowing retailers to create tailored and dynamic shopping experiences.
- A Personalised Future: AI is expected to drive nearly 80% of eCommerce sales by 2025, highlighting its critical role in shaping shopping experiences⁷. AI-powered personalisation can deliver tailored product recommendations and custom offers, increasing satisfaction and conversion rates¹⁰.
- Shopping Conversations That Convert: Conversational AI is on the rise, with the global chatbot market projected to reach $10.5 billion by 2026, up from $2.9 billion in 2022¹². By 2027, around one-fourth of organisations are expected to rely on chatbots as their primary customer service channel. Chatbots are also set to handle 70–90% of customer queries by 2024, significantly reducing support costs while providing real-time assistance and increasing conversion rates by up to 30%⁸.
AI is reshaping how brands interact with their customers, turning personalisation into a strategic advantage that enhances loyalty and drives growth. The integration of conversational commerce solutions alongside hyper-personalisation ensures that customer experiences are not only meaningful but efficient.
🛍️ SOCIAL COMMERCE: THE LINK BETWEEN DISCOVERY AND PURCHASE
Social commerce is becoming a central pillar of modern eCommerce, creating a seamless journey that begins with product discovery and often ends with purchase—all within the same platform or ecosystem.
- Fueling Growth: Social commerce is projected to account for 17% of global eCommerce transactions by 2025, contributing $2 trillion in revenue³.
- Driving Omnichannel Success: 71% of consumers who find products on social media prefer to complete their purchases on brand websites⁴.
- Consumer Expectations: With 44% of British consumers planning to split shopping between online and offline channels, integrating social commerce into an omnichannel strategy ensures a consistent and unified customer experience⁴.
Social commerce is transforming the eCommerce landscape by blending inspiration, interaction, and convenience. Its role in omnichannel strategies is critical, enabling brands to connect with consumers in the places where they spend their time.
🎥 VIDEO COMMERCE: THE FUTURE OF ENGAGING SHOPPING
Video is reshaping eCommerce with its ability to combine storytelling and direct purchasing. From live streams to short-form video, this medium is setting a new benchmark for engagement.
- Explosive Revenue: Live streaming eCommerce generated $180 billion in China in 2022 (RMB 1.2 trillion) and is expected to account for 20% of global eCommerce sales by 2025⁵.
- Higher Conversions: Live commerce events deliver up to 10 times higher conversion rates than traditional eCommerce, with some achieving rates as high as 30%⁶.
- Purchasing Likelihood: 73% of consumers say they are more likely to buy a product after watching a live shopping event⁶.
- Short-Form Dominance: Platforms like TikTok, with 1.5 billion users, have become essential for discovery, with 63% of users finding fashion products through the app⁵.
By blending entertainment and shopping, video commerce is revolutionising how brands connect with consumers and drive action. Retailers that invest in this strategy will be better positioned to capture attention and increase sales.
🛒 GEN Z AND UGC: THE POWER OF AUTHENTICITY
For Gen Z, authenticity and trust are paramount. This generation has redefined how brands must engage, placing significant value on UGC and social-driven experiences.
- Trust in UGC: 86% of Gen Z trust UGC as an indicator of brand quality⁷. Approximately 40% of Gen Z shoppers find product photos taken by other customers useful when making a purchase⁷.
- Shaping Decisions Through Visuals: Gen Z’s preference for visual content and storytelling influences their purchasing behaviour. Brands that use rich visual imagery are far more likely to capture this audience’s attention⁷.
- TikTok’s Influence: TikTok’s 1.5 billion users are driving new purchasing habits. In 2024, the platform shaped numerous micro-trends, with 63% of users discovering fashion products through TikTok⁵. The rise of haul videos, such as #backtoschoolhaul, has seen a 47% increase in engagement, demonstrating the power of video-first platforms to impact shopping decisions⁵.
- Driving Engagement and Conversions: UGC increases brand engagement by 28% and boosts web conversions by 29%⁷.
- Cost-Effective Marketing: Ads using UGC see a 50% reduction in cost-per-click compared to traditional campaigns⁷.
Gen Z seamlessly blends digital convenience with in-store experiences, expecting authenticity at every step. This generation’s habits make UGC a crucial element for brands seeking to create trust and build loyalty.
A Blueprint for eCommerce Success in 2025
The evolution of eCommerce in 2025 is defined by four transformative trends—AI shopping agents, social commerce, video commerce, and UGC. These advancements are reshaping how brands connect with and engage their customers.
AI powers hyper-personalisation, tailoring every interaction to create meaningful and memorable shopping experiences, with expectations that it will drive 80% of eCommerce sales by 2025¹. Social commerce bridges the gap between discovery and purchase, contributing $2 trillion in revenue and integrating seamlessly into omnichannel strategies to meet the growing demand for consistent experiences³.
Video commerce revolutionises the way consumers shop, with live streaming generating $180 billion in China and predicted to account for 20% of global eCommerce sales within two years⁵. Short-form content on platforms like TikTok continues to dominate discovery, driving higher engagement and purchase conversions by up to 73%⁶.
Finally, UGC remains the cornerstone of trust and authenticity, with 86% of Gen Z trusting customer-generated content over branded campaigns⁷. From increasing engagement by 28% to reducing ad costs by 50%, UGC strengthens credibility and builds enduring relationships⁷.
To thrive in this competitive landscape, brands must embrace these trends with intention and creativity. By combining hyper-personalisation, social commerce, engaging video strategies, and trust-building UGC, businesses can translate fleeting attention into loyalty and long-term growth.
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References
- Amaka – Insights on hyper-personalisation. Available here.
- TechRound – The evolution of conversational commerce. Available here.
- Burst Commerce – Social commerce growth projections. Available here.
- Holiday Retail Research – Social commerce’s role in the omnichannel journey. Available here.
- Vogue Business – Live streaming’s impact on eCommerce. Available here.
- McKinsey & Company – Video commerce’s role in driving conversions. Available here.
- Econsultancy – UGC’s role in trust and engagement. Available here.
- Digital Radium – Conversational AI’s role in driving conversions. Available here.
- DivideBuy – AI-driven personalisation insights. Available here.
- Chat360 – Conversational AI market trends. Available here.
