Revolutionizing e-commerce: The trends shaping the future of shopping
With AI-driven personalization, social commerce, and mobile shopping taking center stage, the way people shop is becoming faster, easier, and more tailored than ever. Consumers now expect brands to know their preferences, offer seamless shopping experiences, and make purchasing as effortless as a tap on their phone.
And, these trends aren’t just shifting consumer habits. They’re raising the bar for retail businesses. The brands that lean into AI, optimize for mobile, and embrace social commerce will be the ones leading the pack.
So, how can your e-commerce business tap into these trends to stay relevant and drive growth?
Agentic AI for seamless shopping experience
We all know that AI has been shaping e-commerce for years. Think product recommendations on your favorite shopping sites that have been used for quite some time now.
But, with agentic AI, things are moving much faster.
Imagine an online assistant that handles everything – from providing personalized recommendations and understanding your habits to a smoother checkout and seamless order tracking.
That’s exactly what Salesforce had in mind with Agents for Commerce.
Salesforce's Agentforce is an AI-driven platform designed to enhance e-commerce experiences by deploying autonomous agents across various business functions. As part of Agentforce 2.0, there are different agents that serve different purposes.
For example, merchant agents focus on key business goals like boosting customer satisfaction or optimizing cart value. Buyer agents, on the other hand, improve post-purchase interactions, while personal shopper agents take chatbot conversations to the next level, making shopping more intuitive.
Using innovative solutions like these, businesses improve customer retention, higher lifetime value, and a more efficient digital storefront. And, the numbers say the same. A McKinsey study found that AI-powered recommendations can increase conversion rates by 30% and boost order value by 20%.
Personalized, AI-powered shopping
AI-driven personalization goes beyond product recommendations – it extends across multiple channels, shaping abandoned cart journeys, promotional campaigns, and more. But none of this works without customer data. The ability to collect, analyze, and act on that data is what makes personalization truly effective.
Within the Salesforce ecosystem, businesses have several ways to capture both real-time and offline customer data from different platforms. Marketing Cloud provides powerful tools for data collection, personalized content management, and third-party integrations. But when dealing with large-scale data and complex integrations, Salesforce Data Cloud and MuleSoft offer even more advanced solutions.
However, AI-driven personalization becomes more sophisticated, so are concerns about data privacy and ethics. Businesses must prioritize transparency, consent, and compliance with regulations like GDPR and CCPA. Finding the right balance between personalization and privacy isn’t just about legal requirements. It’s essential for maintaining customer trust in the long run.
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Read moreComposable commerce provides greater flexibility without the risk
E-commerce is always evolving, but frequent UI/UX redesigns, vendor changes, or full replatforming can be risky, time-consuming, and costly. That's where composable commerce comes in – an approach that’s modular by design, allowing businesses to make incremental changes without overhauling their entire system.
The big benefit? It decouples the user experience from the backend services. This enables brands to roll out new features faster, experiment with designs, and update individual parts of their site without needing a full redesign. For instance, a retailer could introduce a modern checkout flow or integrate a new recommendation engine while leaving everything else intact. This flexibility reduces both the risk and cost that come with frequent platform updates.
Salesforce Headless Commerce makes this even easier. It gives businesses the freedom to create their own storefronts while still utilizing the power of Commerce Cloud APIs. Developers can work with their chosen frontend framework or leverage the Headless Solution Kit, which includes standard B2C features like product catalog management, customer profiles, and checkout processes. This flexibility lets businesses focus on delivering tailored experiences without worrying about infrastructure constraints.
But composable commerce isn't just for B2C companies. Many B2B organizations are also seeing the potential of headless commerce to create seamless, personalized experiences for their customers. For example, a B2B retailer can integrate custom pricing, bulk ordering, or multi-channel sales within a highly flexible and scalable storefront while maintaining a consistent backend. This modular approach also makes it easier to support evolving business needs, adapt to new technologies, or integrate with third-party systems, all without disrupting the core operations.
Social commerce – shopping where it happens
TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram have turned into shopping hubs, shaping how people discover and buy products. Social commerce lets customers purchase directly from their feeds, using shoppable posts, integrated storefronts, and seamless checkouts. This gives brands instant access to their audience, boosting visibility and sales without adding extra steps to the buying process.
Retailers are leveraging social commerce in different ways. For example, TikTok Shop allows businesses to sell directly within the app, integrating product links into videos and live streams. Instagram’s Shopping feature enables brands to create a digital storefront, letting users explore and buy products without leaving the platform. Facebook Marketplace connects buyers and sellers, making peer-to-peer and business transactions seamless. Even Pinterest has jumped in with "Shop the Look" pins, helping users turn inspiration into purchases instantly.
While social purchases are growing worldwide, China is leading the way with livestream shopping. Platforms like Taobao Live and Douyin (China’s version of TikTok) have revolutionized eCommerce, with influencers hosting live events where viewers can ask questions, see products in action, and purchase instantly.
Western brands are starting to catch on – Amazon Live, YouTube Shopping, and TikTok’s live commerce features are gaining traction, with major retailers experimenting with real-time product demos.
Beyond traditional retail, industries like beauty, fashion, and home decor thrive on social commerce due to their visual appeal. Skincare brands host Q&A sessions with dermatologists, fashion retailers stream behind-the-scenes runway events, and furniture brands showcase room makeovers in real time.
Even automotive brands are using social commerce, with Tesla allowing users to place deposits for vehicles through WeChat in China.
With customers relying more on trusted communities than traditional ads, social commerce will keep expanding in 2025. In 2024, sales through social networks accounted for an estimated 17% of total online sales. Brands that embrace this shift now will stay ahead of the curve as shopping becomes more interactive, social, and seamless.
Unified B2C and B2B experience – and more
For years, Commerce Cloud felt like an outsider in the Salesforce ecosystem. Businesses could sync data using cartridges or MuleSoft, but so could any other eCommerce platform. Instead of a fully native Salesforce product, Commerce Cloud often seemed like just another third-party tool.
Salesforce is changing that with Unified Commerce, a platform that consolidates every key aspect of eCommerce. It covers B2C, B2B, and DTC, along with Order Management and Payments, all in one seamless system.
This integration isn’t just about convenience. By unifying commerce with marketing, customer service, and other core Salesforce products, businesses can deliver smoother customer journeys and a more efficient merchant experience.
Even more importantly, it eliminates data silos, giving Salesforce Agents deeper insights and enabling smarter, data-driven decisions. Instead of juggling disconnected tools, businesses get a single, connected ecosystem – one that works better for both customers and merchants.
What’s Next?
The trends we've discussed clearly demonstrate one thing: user experience is at the forefront, and only brands that prioritize it will succeed in the fiercely competitive retail landscape.
This shift inevitably drives changes in business operations and the adoption of new business models.
Given the research studies mentioned above, it is obvious that the shift to social commerce is inevitable for those wanting to stay on top of the e-commerce landscape. With the social commerce market projected to reach $8.5 trillion by 2030, platforms like Instagram and TikTok will be the strong foundation for livestream shopping, influencer marketing, and in-app purchases are driving conversions like never before.
Additionally, I predict that more and more companies will focus on the direct-to-customer (DTC) model, which enables them to sell directly to customers, bypassing wholesale and third-party retail channels. Increased convenience leads to increased customer engagement and loyalty.
Finally, these trends in e-commerce will significantly impact customers’ expectations of physical stores. More and more brands will evolve into experience hubs, blending entertainment, technology, and customer engagement. All with the goal of creating immersive, memorable experiences.
How Vega IT can support your business
We have a solid foundation in technical expertise across various e-commerce platforms like Magento, Shopify, and Salesforce Commerce Cloud, helping businesses implement solutions that fit their unique requirements.
With experience in both B2C and B2B sectors, we assist clients through all stages of product development, offering valuable insights into specific challenges each business model faces.
Our expertise spans all critical areas of e-commerce, including integrations, marketing, and customer support solutions. This allows us to help businesses create comprehensive systems that streamline their operations and support growth.
