1. Daydreaming E-Comm: Ultra-Intuitive Visual Search

Set to revolutionise search and alleviate damaging digital fatigue – 49% of Americans say they suffer from it (Haiilo, 2024) – is  ‘daydreaming’ tech, driven by cutting-edge AI. It will kickstart a digi-commerce revolution during 2025/26 thanks to chat-to-visualise tools serving imagined items back to shoppers, incorporating brands’ inventories.

2. Mundanity-Minimisers Expedite Search & Planning

Pitching themselves as practical yet empathetic sources of support, brands and platforms will create planning tools minimising the monotony of endless searching and filtering and frequent functional purchases. 2025/26 will bring a concierge-esque corralling of information via AI product summaries and multi-search results, while end-to-end grocery apps (literally) deliver the weekly shop, from inspiration to as-you-cook instructions.

3. Supercharged Squad Shopping

Upgrading previous years’ directions (see Digital Commerce: 9 Trends & Opportunities, 2022/23), via video-browsing AI planning and ultra-socialised digital wardrobing, squad shopping will be galvanised over 2025/26, meeting the shopper desire for e-commerce to be a communal experience.

4. Synth Guides Distil Brand Expertise

Forward-thinking brands and tech partners across alcohol, DIY, finance and wellness are marshalling the power of personalised concierges to cut through digital noise. While chatbots (this tech’s baseline) will matchmake brands’ inventories and specialist knowledge to solve consumers’ problems, 2025/26 will bring the rise of (sometimes wearable) synthetic agents, capable of developing bonds via natural language processing (NLP) and long-term memory.

5. Underconsumption & the Optimal Life

Reflecting the rise of underconsumption (not necessarily spending less, but cutting unsatisfactory and impulsive consumerism – see our Retail & Brand Comms Look Ahead 2025), in 2025/26, consumers will spend more strategically. Fashion, finance and food brands/platforms are cleverly framing digital wardrobing apps, supermarket loyalty schemes and financial coaches as ‘life optimisers’– i.e. tools that allow people to enhance their lives (buying better, wasting less).

6. Shoppable TV Scales via Simplified Tech

Smart brands are returning to the opportunities within shoppable TV as second-screening becomes universal (86% of global consumers use an additional device such as a smartphone while watching TV – Arena, 2024), and ultra-easy-to-use tech – the humble QR code – unlocks this lucrative format. During 2025/26, sporting and music events provide key opportunities; alongside merch, tangential purchases (including food delivery) have major mileage.

7. Resale’s Livestreamed Frontier

Livestreaming is global Gen Z’s preferred way to buy pre-loved fashion online (ThredUp, 2024), heralding a key brand opportunity for 25/26 to craft fresh consumer connections while bringing booming second-hand sales (see Key Stats) back under brand control. A host of marketplaces are moving here already.

8. Dialling Up ‘Derm Diagnostics’

AI-powered diagnostic tech – from tools delivering diagnoses via consumers’ smartphone cameras to dermatologist-mimicking AI suggesting super-personalised skincare solutions – is winning with smart beauty brands but has applications across health and wellness. 2025/26 will see visualisation tech embedded into e-commerce sites, spurring purchases by validating efficacy claims.