Online retailers confronted shifts in tariff policies, consumer behavior and more in 2025 as new ecommerce trends emerged and set the stage for 2026.
From conversion rates and social channels to agentic commerce and artificial intelligence (AI) use for research and discovery, some of the biggest names in ecommerce looked for bigger and better solutions. And how retailers used AI in 2025 revealed where generative AI and large language models (LLMs) are delivering the most impactful results so far.
These 10 examples showcase what will matter in the new year as ecommerce platforms adapt and online merchants take a hard look at what they need to do to grow.
1. Agentic commerce capabilities continuing to advance
2025 was a breakout year for the use of agentic commerce. Use cases went beyond limited prompt-and-response interfaces with AI assistants to task AI agents with carrying out tasks autonomously for shoppers. So far, the levels of agentic commerce being offered encompass checkout, curated shopping lists and research tasks. However, 2026 may be the year when we start to see services progress into higher tiers of performance, extending beyond their own experiences to interact more with third-party agents and platforms.
2. Retailers choosing AI tools that shoppers want to use
The best technology on an ecommerce site does not make a difference if shoppers do not want to use it. Survey data in 2025 showed that customers are using AI tools more often than they were a year earlier. However, they have clear objectives in mind. Those include simple priorities, such as saving time and money. In turn, those preferences mean some AI tools deliver more value than others.
3. Ecommerce sites preparing for Google Zero
Online shoppers, particularly those who belong to young cohorts, are not searching and discovering products in the same ways as their older peers. They’re looking to social platforms and LLMs for inspiration. As they do, organic search is not the reliable, growing channel that it once was for retailers. And the idea of an ecommerce Google Zero event, where one day click-throughs from organic search vanish almost entirely, has merchants planning ahead.
4. Young shoppers opening up to virtual shopping assistants
Gen Z includes shoppers aged 18 to 28. In 2025, this group showed an outsized interest among other age groups in using AI shopping assistants. As they become more savvy in how they interact with those assistants, online retailers are also learning which ecommerce hurdles are unique among older shoppers.
5. Stabilizing ecommerce conversion rates
Following a steeper decline in ecommerce conversion rates a year earlier, results seem to stabilize as merchants addressed customer satisfaction and abandoned carts with AI, personalization and other solutions. In 2026, increased reliance on AI will be put to the test to see if 2025’s site upgrades are boosting efficiency over time.
6. Ripple effects from Prime Day ecommerce trends
Prime Day sales are no longer just about Amazon. The annual summer event and Amazon’s other promotions throughout the year have become tentpoles for other online retailers to move product as well. In the meantime, Prime Day has become a day to watch as online shopping behavior offers insight into what consumers are doing. For example, web traffic from AI sources on Amazon Prime Day in 2025 was up 3,300% year over year, according to Adobe Analytics. That preceded a year-over-year increase on Cyber Monday as well.
7. Addressing the value consumers place on free shipping
Just as online shoppers are drawn to saving time and money with AI tools, one fulfillment option stands out when they decide to buy. Retailers who offer free shipping have a distinct advantage over others, though online merchants leveraged its appeal in a variety of ways in 2025.
8. Cyber 5 trends echoing into the new year
During the Cyber 5, which includes Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the days in between, online holiday shopping experienced key shifts in 2025. Those shifts were not just about AI. They also highlighted changes in spending and the use of buy now, pay later (BNPL).
9. More AI tools for marketplace sellers and buyers
Online marketplaces joined retailers in 2025, adding their own AI features to tools for buyers and sellers alike. Two of the best examples could be seen in eBay and Etsy. New use cases for agentic AI were just one dimension of how eBay was using AI this year.
10. AI tools getting better at conversion
Online shoppers will be more likely to use AI tools if they see better results that reflect what they want. As web traffic from AI sources climbed year over year, adoption still has plenty of room to grow, as evidenced by recent Cyber 5 survey results published by Digital Commerce 360 and Bizrate Insights. Ultimately, ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity — just like retailers — will be tasked with learning from what worked during the 2025 holiday season and figuring out how to influence how often shoppers use AI for research and purchasing in 2026.
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