Hello, community! We live in a time when—even despite the war—people constantly buy things. Including items later used on the front. But there is also time and opportunity to buy a collectible figure abroad and easily receive it in Ukraine! Yes, with tax. Yes, the delivery takes longer than local purchases. But buying it is still absolutely possible despite all wartime challenges.
Why are we mentioning this? Because even under such difficult conditions, E-commerce continues to work actively and generate profit. This is so inspiring that we decided to tell you about the five main E-commerce trends of 2025—trends that will very likely continue into the next year as well. So let’s dive in!
Before we begin, we remind you that we previously published a detailed overview of the E-commerce niche. Recommended reading!
First trend — people buy from smartphones
The smartphone is replacing all other devices. It simultaneously serves as a communication tool, a business tool, entertainment device, and of course—a shopping device.
Back in 2023, Statista published an impressive analytical study showing that over 60% of all E-commerce sales came from mobile devices. They also predicted that this number would continue to increase over the next few years.
What does this mean for us? The trend clearly signals the need to properly adapt ad campaigns for mobile users. Because mobile traffic accounts for more than half of all potential sales. So even minor flaws in your affiliate setup can negatively impact your ROI.
For example, some respondents highlight that buying from a smartphone can be difficult due to tiny icons on certain sites. Since they’re too small to tap, users get annoyed and go to a physical store. It may sound trivial, but ignoring such UI flaws can cost you profit that was practically guaranteed.
Moreover, modern technologies allow you to optimize any offer for smartphones very effectively. There are PWA applications that are relatively cheap to create, interactive showcases, and much more. So this direction is absolutely worth focusing on in 2026.
Second trend — personalized ads sell best
All you need to do is think about a product, and Instagram starts bombarding you with ads for it. Everyone has experienced this. And it’s no longer surprising because today’s personalized ads are generated by AI, which can detect signals a human marketer might overlook.
Personalized ads were the strongest sales driver throughout 2025 — unsurprisingly. Product recommendations generated using user preferences simply cannot fail to convert. And while manually creating ads for each user is impossible, AI accomplishes this effortlessly.
Many brands already integrate these algorithms directly into their interfaces. This allows their stores to recommend products tailored to each customer’s profile. For example, Shein analyses gender, size, color preferences, and dozens of details. All this is handled by neural networks that generate automatically optimized product feeds.
There is no doubt that this trend will be just as strong in 2026 as it was this year.
Third trend — social media becomes the primary traffic source
If you’re already working with traffic from TikTok, next year will be easy for you. Social media currently generates immense sales volumes, especially among younger audiences aged 16–23.
This trend isn’t new. It began years ago when large marketplaces started integrating their tools into social media ad platforms. A good example is the Shopify × TikTok partnership.
We also see strong influencer-driven sales — bloggers are becoming full-fledged sales channels. This already works exceptionally well and will remain highly profitable for affiliates in 2026.
Fourth trend — focus on omnichannel, not just multichannel
The entire internet is gradually turning into something like a metaverse — everything interconnected. While recent EU laws forced META to separate some of its services, the general trend toward interlinked digital ecosystems remains.
For affiliates, the goal isn’t just to drive traffic from multiple channels. The goal is to merge those channels into one seamless funnel — that’s the essence of omnichannel marketing.
From a marketing perspective, an omnichannel customer journey looks like this:
- The user sees an Instagram ad. Targeted ads display a dress they previously viewed (via cookies).
- They go to the website or app. The product page automatically shows relevant sizes and stock availability in nearby stores.
- The user adds the item to their cart but doesn’t buy. The system sends an email + push notification with a reminder or a personal discount.
- The user visits a physical store. The salesperson can see what the customer viewed online and offers similar items.
- The purchase happens in-store, but with home delivery. The data syncs instantly with the user’s online profile.
- Post-purchase: the customer receives a receipt, delivery tracking, and personalized recommendations via email or messenger.
Such funnel structures also work extremely well in affiliate marketing. But they are expensive and complex to implement. We expect omnichannel to remain popular in 2026 — and we hope technology will make it more accessible not only to big teams but also to skilled solo affiliates.
Fifth trend — visuals sell
Nothing sells a product better than strong visual presentation. And online, visuals matter even more.
Today it’s easy to generate high-quality product images. You don’t always need a designer (though we encourage hiring professionals for serious campaigns). Many neural networks generate images so realistic that it’s nearly impossible to distinguish them from real photos. Just look at the difference between two versions of Nano Banana:
And technology is moving even further. You can now use 3D visuals to showcase a product — and this can convince even the most hesitant customers to buy.
Never underestimate the visual component of an ad campaign. It has always sold well, still sells well, and will continue to sell well. Most likely not only next year, but far into the future.
Conclusion
These were the core E-commerce trends of 2025. And we are confident that the next year will follow the same trajectory — unless a groundbreaking new technology emerges that reshapes the industry entirely. Considering recent years, this is actually quite possible.
Do you prefer buying online, or do you trust market vendors more? Share your E-commerce experience in our Telegram community, where conversations with fellow affiliates are always fun and insightful!
With respect, your Geek!