Five key trends reshaping eCommerce marketing for 2025 revealed
Taboola has identified five major trends shaping eCommerce marketing in 2025, drawing on recent research as the sector reports global retail sales exceeding USD $4.3 trillion and engaging over 2.7 billion online shoppers in the previous year.
New findings suggest that eCommerce marketing continues to evolve rapidly, with technology and consumer demands influencing both how businesses reach customers and what shoppers now expect when making purchases online. The following outlines the key areas of change as highlighted by Taboola.
Personalisation and customer experience
Personalisation remains central to eCommerce strategies, underpinned by the use of big data, analytics, and artificial intelligence to tailor customer interactions. Businesses are increasingly able to segment audiences and build specific buyer journeys based on customer behaviour, demographics, and purchase history.
The research highlights that predictive analytics and AI-driven recommendations allow companies to automate personalised product suggestions and unique website content in real time. In challenging economic times, attention to pricing is critical. The research found that 60% of consumers switched brands last year due to cost factors, underscoring the importance of pricing strategies alongside personalisation.
Taboola's report states, "Conversion rates can increase by 17% for every one second faster that a site loads. USD $260 billion of lost eCommerce orders can be recovered by creating a better checkout design. Also of note: 48% of users abandoned their cart during checkout because extra costs were too high. Personalised content can increase revenue more than 25% and improve a customer's chances of spending more than planned by more than 40%."
Mobile commerce and shoppable content
Mobile commerce leads desktop shopping, and businesses are encouraged to adopt mobile-first strategies that account for both online and offline experiences. Buyer journeys now often blend in-store and online actions, demanding consistency and convenience across every platform.
Live-stream shopping is identified as a rising trend, with real-time product demonstrations and influencer partnerships attracting larger audiences. The integration of technology, such as dedicated apps and augmented reality, also allows for closely managed customer relationships and more immersive shopping experiences.
According to the research, "Nearly 80% of all retail website visits were on smartphones worldwide in 2025. 75% of consumers will carry out a purchase from start to finish on their mobile phone. 40% of consumers would pay more for a product they could customise in augmented reality."
Social commerce and influencer marketing
Social media continues to transform eCommerce, providing platforms for direct sales and new channels for engaging customers. Features such as direct-sale shops on platforms including Instagram and TikTok are now widely used, supported by shoppable advertisements and live selling options.
Influencer marketing also features strongly, with the credibility and reach of the right influencer partnerships key to attracting new customers and increasing conversions. Accurate measurement of influencer and social ROI is achieved by tracking specific metrics such as reach, engagement, and sales conversions.
Taboola's research notes, "50% of eCommerce brands use social media personnel to influence their store's conversions. The top social media app for eCommerce purchases is Facebook. 33% of consumers trust an influencer's opinion when shopping online."
Data analytics and automation
The shift away from third-party cookies has required eCommerce businesses to focus on first-party customer data, which enables deeper relationships and more accurate insights into customer behaviour and campaign effectiveness. Analysis extends to a wide range of operational and marketing metrics, from order values to product performance and channel traffic.
Alongside data analytics, the adoption of marketing automation has accelerated, allowing brands of all sizes to efficiently manage communications and customer journeys at scale. Automation tools, powered increasingly by AI, streamline customer interactions through features such as live chat and personalised messaging.
Here's what else to know: 51% of shoppers prefer eCommerce businesses with live chat support. Email marketing provides the highest ROI for eCommerce companies, earning an average of $36 for every $1 spent.
SEO and content marketing
Search engine optimisation (SEO), including answer engine optimisation (AEO) for AI search tools, remains a cornerstone for customer acquisition in eCommerce. Best practices now incorporate technical enhancements to product pages, targeted keyword use, and the creation of informative content that spans all stages of the purchasing funnel.
The research indicates that the role of voice search is growing as consumers become more accustomed to hands-free shopping via voice assistants and smart speakers. Optimising for natural language and long-tail keywords is highlighted as an important area for investment.
Key statistics from the research include: "32% of consumers globally are using voice assistants weekly, and voice assistant users are 33% more likely to have made an online purchase in the past week. 18% of local searches will lead to a sale within 24 hours. Product pages that used the exact keyword in the meta description ranked better than those that didn't. 57% of users don't buy from a business online if it has less than a four-star rating."
According to Taboola, "Ecommerce marketing has already started to popularise live and social shopping, and offers a testing ground for emerging technology like AR and voice search. Ecommerce marketing trends in 2025 include the use of sophisticated data analytics, incorporation of AI, automation wherever possible, and personalisation."
