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Whatever product or service you sell, you must stay on top of consumers’ shopping behaviors.
Many of today’s retail options are online only or have an online component. Entrepreneurs in both the e-commerce and brick-and-mortar spaces must understand how this shift affects consumer expectations and loyalty so they can target and serve customers effectively.
Understanding how customers discover products, compare offers and complete purchases can help you decide where to invest. These nine online purchasing trends explain what shoppers expect and how your business can respond.
Online shopping continues to increase. For example, Adobe reported that U.S. consumers spent $257.8 billion online during the November and December 2025 holiday season, up 6.8 percent from the same period in 2024. While the number represents continued growth, it’s still essential for online retailers to maximize consumer interests and tendencies to accommodate their needs and boost sales.
Here are nine vital online purchasing habits and trends online sellers must consider.
Consumers expect companies to know their preferences and understand their behavior — and they want sellers to keep that information in mind when communicating with them.
It’s crucial to send your subscribers relevant, personalized offers to boost sales. According to Wunderkind’s 2025 Consumer Insights Report, personalized communications significantly impact purchase decisions — with 83 percent of the survey’s respondents saying that they were more likely to buy something after receiving messages about recently viewed products. Women tend to favor such personalization appeals (13 percent) over men (9 percent).
To boost personalization efforts, consider the following:
Market segmentation can help you break larger customer segments into smaller targeted groups and further personalize your communications.
Amid stiff competition and high expectations, customers have more power than ever. Online retailers must do everything possible to earn and keep consumers’ business. Consider the following ways customers are in control:
Online retailers must earn an excellent reputation through customer satisfaction. To do this, take the following actions:
To improve customer service on your e-commerce site, ask for feedback about what you could do better and follow up with customers after solving a problem or resolving an issue.
Personalization depends on trust. In Deloitte’s 2025 Connected Consumer survey, 70 percent of U.S. respondents said they worried about data privacy and security when using digital services. So, as much as the online environment provides opportunities to collect data and information on customers’ preferences, likes and dislikes — and to enable customization and personalized experiences — taking customers’ privacy concerns seriously is critical.
It is good practice to gather only the consumer data you need, explain the purpose for data collection to your customers and limit access to employees and vendors who need it. Review the information your marketing apps and AI tools receive, too. A clear privacy notice is useful only if your actual practices match it. Never sell customer email addresses, and don’t spam them.
To address privacy concerns, a company should:
E-commerce website security best practices include using HTTPS, protecting administrator accounts with multifactor authentication and keeping software and connected apps up to date.
Online shoppers want a quick and easy checkout process. Here are a few ways to accomplish this.
One-click purchasing, introduced by Amazon, has become a standard web shopping convenience.
Today’s online customers are more aware of the effects of their purchasing decisions on the earth’s resources. According to GlobeScan’s research, nearly half of Americans (49 percent) report purchasing an environmentally friendly product in the last month, up from 43 percent in August 2024. Over one-third (36 percent) wanted to buy sustainable products but were stopped by factors such as price, limited awareness and lack of availability.
Implementing low-waste business practices, non-polluting manufacturing and biodegradable packaging shows customers you care about sustainability. Telling customers about your sustainable practices (green marketing) may help drive targeted audiences to your site and increase customer loyalty. For instance, consider letting customers know you use eco-friendly packaging and sustainable items in product manufacturing. In many instances, green business practices, such as solar power, can save you money.
To build trust with e-commerce customers, ensure your products and services live up to their expectations, and create a streamlined, stress-free online checkout process.
Social platforms are both discovery channels and places to buy. DHL’s E-Commerce Trends Report found that 45 percent of surveyed global shoppers bought through social commerce channels. That does not mean every business needs a storefront on every platform; focus on where your customers already research and purchase products.
Use social content to answer the questions shoppers ask before ordering. Product demonstrations, sizing guidance and customer experiences can help people evaluate an item whether they buy within a platform or continue to your website.
You can capitalize on this trend with the following strategies:
Every month more than one billion voice searches are conducted, with 56.1 percent of U.S. consumers using voice search, according to CapitalOne Shopping. Fifty-eight percent of shoppers are using voice assistants to locate information about local businesses, with 32 percent actually making a purchase through them.
Retailers should ensure product information on digital platforms is clear enough to answer spoken questions. Include dimensions, compatibility, care instructions and delivery details in all text. Use the product-data tools supported by your platform so assistants can interpret the same information customers see. A voice inquiry may help someone research an item without leading to an immediate purchase.
Shoppers often use multiple methods to research purchases, including browsing in-store, visiting company websites, using social media and examining third-party marketplaces like Amazon. Brands should connect the channels their customers actually use so shoppers can move between them without encountering conflicting information.
Start with inventory, pricing and order status. If an item sells out in-store, your website should reflect that change. If you offer pickup or cross-channel returns, make sure employees can locate the order and honor the terms shown to the customer. Test a complete purchase and return across your connected systems before promoting the service.
AI is already part of the shopping journey, with consumers using it for discovery. Salesforce reported in July 2026 that the use of AI chats and assistants as the first step in shopping grew 200 percent year over year. Some e-commerce companies also use AI chatbots to answer shoppers’ questions and make recommendations.
AI is also used behind the scenes, helping retailers write product descriptions, generate e-commerce pages, analyze data, discover buying trends and create highly personalized communications. It is good practice to keep product descriptions, prices, availability and return policies accurate and accessible. Explain practical differences between your products so an assistant can answer questions. If you add a shopping chatbot, test its recommendations against your catalog, give customers a route to a person and review how the tool handles customer data.
>>Our guide to AI answer engine visibility explains how to make useful information easier to find.
When setting up an online store, look for product management, checkout, payments, shipping and marketing tools that fit how your customers buy. The platforms below offer different approaches. Compare the required plan, processing costs and integrations rather than assuming every feature is included.
