![[visual] Whether you're starting an ecommerce business or want to increase your online sales, this comprehensive ecommerce guide will set you up for success.](http://images.ctfassets.net/gwbpo1m641r7/2oBR41ta2zGySqne7QEG0t/9e2a6804af71c5da0fe8f51e71f36e93/ecommerce.jpg?w=3840&q=100&fit=fill&fm=avif)
Whether you're updating your existing ecommerce offering or launching a new online store, your business needs a comprehensive blueprint to follow on your path to resonating success.
From generating demand to optimizing conversions, this guide tells you everything you need to know to start planning your ecommerce strategy for 2025. Use these tips, tricks, case studies, and lessons learned to create a plan for your ecommerce store to attract, engage, and delight more customers.
What is ecommerce?
Ecommerce refers to all activities that involve buying or selling goods and services online. This can cover everything from products like gadgets or sports equipment to software solutions and other digital services.
As opposed to a classic brick-and-mortar store, every ecommerce transaction and interaction happens through the Internet. This has revolutionized retail by meeting the changing needs of modern-day consumers and making shopping easier.
3 types of ecommerce businesses
Business to consumer (B2C)
Sales happen between the business and the consumer. For example, if a customer buys a laptop via Amazon, they’ve just made a B2C ecommerce purchase.
Business to business (B2B)
Goods and services are sold from one company to another. For example, Contentsquare provides a software product to companies that need to understand their users.
Consumer to consumer (C2C)
An individual person selling a product or service to another individual through the internet. Platforms and marketplaces like eBay, Etsy, or Craigslist are examples of C2C ecommerce.
Ecommerce benefits for businesses and consumers
Retail ecommerce sales worldwide are only expected to grow further over the next few years, reaching 8 trillion dollars by 2027. But if you’re still on the fence about ecommerce, there are benefits to indicate that this way of doing business isn’t just rapidly growing, it’s here to stay.
Here are some of the most significant advantages ecommerce brings to customers:
A wide range of goods to choose from
A shopping experience with added simplicity and comfort
Quicker and easier transactions
More informed purchasing decisions
Easier price and product comparisons
From less financial investment to worldwide selling possibilities, ecommerce is a huge deal in the world of business. Here are the most significant benefits that online retail brings to business owners and their companies:
Lower overhead costs
More access to customer data insights
The ability to sell goods worldwide and around the clock
More control over the selling and tracking process
Greater visibility to potential customers via SEO
3 ecommerce trends for retail businesses in 2025
With advances in technology and changes in consumer behavior, you need to keep an eye out for industry-altering trends. Elevate your ecommerce store by taking advantage of these ecommerce trends:
1. Growth in volume and value for ecommerce shopping
Next year, consumers will really lean into online shopping. Ecommerce sales have been rising constantly, with a 7.8% growth projection year over year. This increase in online shopping can be attributed to many factors, including:
A growing volume of voice search: more and more people are relying on smart speakers and voice assistants for their purchases. As more homes adopt the technology, more consumers will utilize voice search to shop online, order food, and organize their lives, with voice commerce sales expected to exceed $164 billion by 2025. This creates an opportunity for ecommerce businesses in terms of keywords and content.
Mobile shopping accelerates: global mobile ecommerce on websites and apps is expected to reach $2.74 trillion in revenue and account for nearly 60% of global retail ecommerce sales by 2026. These stellar figures show that improving the ecommerce experience for mobile customers is a huge opportunity for businesses to tap into.
2. Personalization: using insights to create individualized experiences
Personalization is the future of ecommerce. Both B2C and B2B shoppers are looking for personalized, custom shopping experiences online, with 57% of consumers saying they’ll spend more on a brand that personalizes the shopping experience.
Whether you use it in your marketing, or take it further and include it on your ecommerce site, personalized shopping experiences help you generate more sales. Here are a few examples of how you can offer personalization and boost customer loyalty:
Use personalized customer communications for email marketing, chatbot, and other types of messaging
Leverage user feedback to offer customized deals based on your customers' preferences
Create targeted content to share with your customers via video
3. A rise in AI in online shopping
Applying artificial intelligence (AI) to an ecommerce business is becoming an essential part of effective CRO strategies. From inventory management to customer service, there are many ways in which AI can serve online stores in 2025:
AI helps businesses learn about consumers: by collecting data on how a user shops, when they buy, and what they're looking for in a product or service, AI and machine learning help ecommerce brands provide existing and potential customers with automated, personalized shopping experiences.
Chatbots provide better customer service: these virtual assistants help fill the service gap by providing 24/7 assistance to your customer base. The more you use this type of ecommerce software, the better the bot becomes at answering questions, and helping users on their way to a successful purchase.
Targeted marketing and advertising for the ideal customer: with the right customer data, AI can even generate tailor-made content and ads to address specific user needs and target audiences. It can also predict shopping behavior based on a user’s online activity, helping optimize future ecommerce marketing campaigns.
Adapting websites to real-time customer behavior: beyond operations, AI is revolutionizing the user experience by allowing ecommerce businesses to dynamically adjust interfaces and website design to deliver an intuitive, engaging experience tailored to each customer.
How to build an ecommerce business: a step-by-step guide
Choose the right ecommerce platform for your business
Compare and contrast the different ecommerce platforms available out there—Shopify, Bigcommerce, WooCommerce, Wix, Squarespace, and more—to make the best choice for your online store.
Design a great ecommerce website
Ecommerce web design is all about delighting customers every time they interact with your website. The goal is to build a website that customers can enjoy and benefit from to reduce bounce rates and boost your brand reputation and revenue.
Create the best user experience for your customers
The essential features that your ecommerce website must have. Find out the key ecommerce UX design elements, principles, and best practices that will help you create a great shopping experience for your customers.
📖 Check out our ecommerce UX guide
Strategies for ecommerce businesses to boost conversions
A strong conversion rate optimization (CRO) strategy is the best way to meet your customers’ needs, deliver a solid user experience, and boost your sales long-term.
📖 Check out our ecommerce CRO guide
Apply the jobs-to-be-done framework to your ecommerce business
Increase online sales by using the jobs-to-be-done (JTBD) framework: discover insights and spot opportunities, validate ideas and prioritize changes, get buy-in and align with your team, and spot issues and prioritize fixes.
Use Contentsquare tools to boost your ecommerce sales
Contentsquare’s products, tools, and features for ecommerce businesses are designed to analyze your website from the customers’ perspective. Learn how to use Contentsquare to better serve your customers and exceed their expectations. 📖 Visit our Contentsquare for ecommerce and retail page
Use the right tools to run a successful online business
If you're serious about scaling your business into a brand, you’ll need the right ecommerce analytics tools to assess your customers' behavior. This section of our ecommerce guide covers the essential analytics tools that empower data-driven decisions and sustainable growth, along with where to start and how to choose the best options for your business.