10 Ecommerce Trends Influencing Online Shopping in 2025

We’ve all seen the dramatic shift from brick-and-mortar stores to online commerce with our own eyes. And while some may miss the more traditional ways of shopping for goods, there’s no doubt that ecommerce has permanently transformed the way we spend our money. It’s now an integral part of global commerce, trade, and retail.

In Australia alone, revenue in the ecommerce market is expected to reach over $40 billion USD, with an annual growth rate of just over 8%, and the competition is fierce.

To stay ahead of the competition, businesses with online stores and platforms need to understand customer preferences and keep up with online shopping trends, such as mobile shopping and social shopping.

That’s where Salesforce can help. We surveyed over 16,000 consumers for insights on buyer expectations and how AI is impacting them. We’ve compiled the research in our State of the AI Connected Customer report, and we’ve used those ecommerce insights to develop this 2025 list of the top 10 ecommerce trends to watch.

We’ve identified 10 major ecommerce trends and issues in 2025. These are the headlines:

1. Hyper-personalisation scales up
2. Conversational commerce goes multimodal
3. Omnichannel commerce becomes agentic
4. Ethical commerce moves to centre stage
5. Sustainable packaging embraces circular models
6. On-demand manufacturing reshapes fulfilment
7. Digital payments expand into identity services
8. Value shopping rises amid inflation
9. Ethical AI drives explainable algorithms
10. Supply chains adapt for flexibility and resilience

Let’s take a look at each of these in more detail.

Businesses can’t simply market their products and services to all of their customers using the same method anymore. Modern ecommerce stores are increasingly taking a more personalised approach to enhance the customer experience and meet consumer expectations. And it isn’t limited to the point of purchase; buyers now expect businesses to deliver a highly relevant and data-driven customer experience from the start of their purchasing journey.

Loyalty programs are a great way for businesses to deliver a more personalised experience. They provide clear proof for buyers that every purchase will help them earn perks and discounts that are tailored to them.

Many businesses have gotten the message, as 73% of customers say that brands treat them as individuals rather than a number (up from 39% in 2023).

At Salesforce, we’ve helped companies such as Expert Wealth transform their customer interactions, making them more personalised during the onboarding and acquisition stage. Thanks to a combination of our Agentforce and Data Cloud software, they are now able to track personalised client portfolios and proactively advise clients on milestones and opportunities.

Marketing Transformed: The Role of AI Agents in Personalisation at Scale

Remember when chatbot experiences felt robotic and awkward? Those days are long gone, thanks to conversational commerce and AI-driven live chat.

Chatbots can now elevate online shopping with conversational AI and first-party data, mirroring the best in-store interactions across all digital channels, whether they’re through chat, voice or visual recommendations. This new method of interaction can simplify product searches, provide personalised responses, and streamline purchasing for a smooth experience across all channels.

But that doesn’t mean we’ve reached a point where consumers are completely comfortable with ecommerce businesses shifting to AI conversation completely. Online shoppers still want some element of human interaction, and 71% say they want to know if they’re talking to AI. For the optimal solution, businesses should blend agentic AI with their human agents for seamless, transparent support.

Salesforce’s Agentforce software delivers powerful AI multimodal integration and agentic AI features. We give businesses the ability to deploy digital agents for tasks throughout the organisation, including those related to customer interactions, to create a truly connected business ecosystem.

Agentic AI is an essential tool for businesses not only looking to create a personalised customer journey but also a connected omnichannel system for their ecommerce operations.

It’s almost impossible now to have a successful business simply by setting up a website. Now you have to be fully engaged across multiple platforms, social media channels and marketplaces, and it helps to keep on top of emerging virtual experiences that are being developed with AI.

With agentic AI, businesses can proactively manage inventory and deliver recommendations using various mediums (audio, video, text, etc.) across all platforms using automation.

It’s clear this trend is gaining momentum, but it’s important to be cautious about relying too much on agentic AI. Many customers aren’t sure they can trust AI, and 64% of customers think that companies are reckless with customer data. That has contributed to a sharp decline in overall brand trust.

While ecommerce businesses will likely increase their use of agentic AI, they must be committed to building trust and maintaining transparency during implementation and beyond.

According to our research, only 42% of customers trust businesses to use AI ethically (down from 58% in 2023). Additionally, 37% of respondents are concerned about unethical AI use in general. Statistics like these underscore the importance of ethical AI

Customers have high expectations of the businesses they engage with. They want to see brands articulate their values and back them up with data to prove they’re upholding them. For example, if a brand says it’s committed to environmentally friendly practices, customers will want to see real evidence of it.

It’s encouraging to see ethical commerce getting a lot more attention. It shows that businesses and governments alike are responding to concerns and finding ways to address them effectively. The Australian government, which is in the process of introducing mandatory guidelines for AI in high-risk settings, including ecommerce, is a prime example.

At Salesforce, we’re already ahead of the curve, thanks to our Einstein Trust Layer, which is integrated across all our products and services. It protects your data and privacy and validates the accuracy of your AI results. This means that any generative-AI content that you offer your customers is legitimate, verified and safe.

Ethical practices aren’t the only thing customers want to see more of in 2025. They also want to see more sustainability, and organisations are responding. Sustainability is a hot topic across all industries and sectors, and it’s a primary area of focus in Environmental, Social & Governmental (ESG) scores.

Packaging has long been a sustainability concern, especially in the world of ecommerce. A recent study by Monash Business School’s Australian Consumer and Retail Studies Unit (ACRS) reveals that nearly half of their respondents take sustainability into consideration when making a purchase.

Unfortunately, businesses are often vague about their sustainability practices. It can be an expensive commitment to make, which is why some businesses are reluctant to do it. But this trend is likely to continue into 2026, making it a potential customer retention issue for businesses. Now is the best time for ecommerce companies to implement sustainable practices or look for ways to make improvements.

Salesforce can make that easier. Our Net Zero Cloud reporting tools and software give businesses the ability to track their ESG data across all aspects of their business and combine this information into detailed reporting, making it easier to monitor progress and determine next steps.

When you walk into a big retail store, you expect to see row upon row of products. It looks impressive, but it also puts a burden on the retailer to maintain such high stock levels.

This is a key area where online retailers can take a different approach. Rather than placing a bulk order for one of their products that may end up sitting in their warehouse for years, they’re taking an on-demand approach and having the manufacturer make a product when a customer orders it.

It’s another example of the kinds of sustainable, eco-friendly practices ecommerce stores need to adopt to attract new business and build customer loyalty. With an on-demand approach, there are no excess products, and when combined with micro-fulfilment centres, there’s the added benefit of supporting localised delivery services.

Many of our own customers are already adopting this approach with help from our Order Management software, which can be directly integrated into your customer relationship management (CRM) system. With this software, you can streamline and automate the entire process, simplify order routing, and cut fulfilment costs.

Digital payments aren’t a new thing. Millions of people now use their smartphones to purchase products and services online rather than using their physical credit cards. According to recent research by Juniper , the total global spend via digital wallets will exceed $10 trillion in 2025, a significant jump up from recent years.

These digital wallets give consumers convenient payment methods, making them indispensable for ecommerce stores. However, they’re now moving on from just being a payment method and becoming secure identity vaults that businesses can gather data from.

It sounds underhanded, but it links to some of our other findings related to ethics, transparency, and trust. Data sharing should only enhance the customer experience rather than create problems. Many consumers are using their digital wallets to store information such as loyalty cards, credentials and even car keys, so businesses must use this information responsibly.

The Australian government is responding to concerns about data sharing with its Digital Trade Strategy, which focuses on creating a secure digital trading environment.

Everything seems to be getting more expensive these days. Unfortunately, businesses often must raise their prices to make a profit, but that can impact customer retention.

It’s a significant source of concern, as 65% of consumers say they stopped buying from a brand with high prices, and 45% said they chose a new brand that offered better deals.

To better manage this problem, businesses are turning to AI to deliver curated deals or subscription models to their customers. Since loyalty is such a precious commodity, businesses are rewarding those who do stick with them.

Barbeques Galore has taken this value-driven approach and, with the help of our Marketing Cloud and Commerce Cloud software, is able to deliver a personalised customer journey with tailored offers and deeper engagement.

We’ve discussed how vital ethical AI practices are in a previous trend, but ethical AI is also leading to something known as explainable AI (XAI) , something modern ecommerce businesses should increasingly look to adopt as part of their operations.

With 61% of customers saying advancements in AI make it more important for companies to be trustworthy, XAI is likely to play an important role as we move forward. Customers have the right to know how their data is being used. In an ecommerce context, XAI can be used to explain things such as how and why a customer was recommended a certain product, satisfying the need for algorithmic transparency.

It also helps businesses comply with Australia’s AI Ethics Principles .

For on-demand fulfilment to become a reality, businesses must adapt the logistics behind their supply chains. The pandemic impacted businesses worldwide, with supply chains severely hampered at every stage. It was a wake-up call for many companies.

But AI has made significant advancements since then. Nearly half of the customers we surveyed believe that AI will match human cognitive capabilities within the next decade, which is critical for developing proactive supply chains.

Businesses are using agentic AI to streamline and fortify supply chain logistics. They’re emphasising contingency plans and adopting intelligent route navigation.