Last week’s Ecommerce Expo was a whirlwind – dozens of speakers, hundreds of ideas, and a clear picture of where online retail is headed. We had our team spread themselves across all tracks to cover all bases! We’ve now cut through the noise to share the 7 major themes that all of the successful ecommerce brands on stage we’re talking about this year:
1. Get over your fear of failure - experiment in order to grow
One of the strongest themes of the Expo was the value of testing over guessing.
Virgin Media O2’s eCommerce experimentation team has shifted from chasing “test velocity” to focusing on one problem area per quarter. Treating neutral and negative results as valuable learning, not wasted effort, has delivered a 250% uplift in conversion rates.
Grace Miller from Diary of a CEO reinforced the same ethos – “it’s not an experiment if you know it’s going to work.” Her Flight Story Studio team has grown the Diary of a CEO YouTube channel from 100,000 to 12.5 million subscribers by testing relentlessly, embracing curiosity and seeing failure as a route to innovation.
What it means: Be less afraid of failure, especially in your marketing. Testing and retesting will allow you to know what is and isn’t working without making assumptions and missing potential opportunities for sales and growth.
2. AI Is Reshaping Everything – From Shopping Assistants to Dynamic Pricing to SEO
If one topic dominated the Expo, it was AI. The data was eye-opening:
Retail traffic from AI assistants is up 1,200% in H1 2025.
These shoppers spend 23% more time onsite and convert at double the rate of earlier this year.
AI shopping assistants are suggesting outfits based on hyper-local weather data.
Brands like Sweaty Betty are mining chatbot questions (“morning jog clothing?”) to shape new campaigns.
Dynamic pricing and generative AI are slashing campaign creation timelines from weeks to days.
At the same time, several sessions (including Optimizely’s packed talk) warned of the biggest shift since Google’s rise: AI search replacing traditional search. Already, 75% of searches now end without a single click – AI overviews surface answers directly, skipping websites. If ChatGPT or AI assistants don’t “see” your content, your site is essentially invisible. Unified data, clean schema, and long-form, helpful content are becoming non-negotiable.
What it means: AI isn’t just a back-end tool anymore – it’s fast becoming the interface between consumers and brands and the new front door of discovery. To keep pace, brands must:
Build keyword-rich category pages supported by buying guides, FAQs, and reviews.
Optimise product and category content for AI crawlers (structured data, topical authority).
Ask ChatGPT “how can my website show up more on you?” to see how it’s interpreting your site.
Treat AI platforms as a new search engine and start planning how to “rank” in AI-generated responses now.
3. Unified data and personalisation are no longer ‘nice to haves’
Talk after talk stressed the same challenge: personalisation is only as good as your data.
Andrew Xavi from Nobody’s Child shared how re-platforming to Shopify and refining processes enabled them to scale from a manufacturer’s side-hustle to over one million Shopify orders.
Halfords explained how it’s using seasonality and order history to dynamically tailor its product offerings (“van life” accessories, winter health checks).
The EU’s upcoming Digital Product Passport laws were cited by several speakers as a driver for brands to improve data transparency and traceability.
Our own client, Tom Graham from Alex Monroe, spoke about how consolidating onsite search and personalised recommendations using Nosto’s platform are now delivering more consistent experiences at different stages of the customer journey. One of these stages include a new customer interactive product recommendation quiz that profiles new customers and guides them to pieces of jewellery they will most likely love.
What it means: Brands seeing success with conversion rates and repeat orders are consolidating their data and acting on it across every channel and customer lifecycle stage.
4. Paid ads are being reinvented
Luiza Grinberg from Dr. Martens gave a masterclass in how paid content has evolved for the famous British footwear brand:
User-generated content and platform-native creators are outperforming traditional ads.
Dr. Martens avoids “fast fashion” influencers and builds long-term relationships with authentic creators.
Wild, the new and revolutionary natural deodorant brand which has taken the market by storm also had some interesting insights on social media and email marketing, after using Klaviyo’s CRM and new AI tools to better segment customer data for more targeted marketing:
Augmented reality filters on Snapchat, Pinterest campaigns driven by users, and ASMR-style videos for Wild are driving new levels of engagement across their younger demographic of consumers.
Wild’s segmentation via Klaviyo AI data allows tailored replenishment emails and special offers that are targeted towards their 3 main types of consumers.
What it means: Paid ads are moving from glossy, one-size-fits-all campaigns to authentic, platform-specific content backed by data. Brands that treat creators as partners, not transactions, are seeing the strongest ROI.
5. The customer and user experience of an ecommerce store is now more about reducing frictions
The customer and user experience of an ecommerce store is no longer just about sleek design - it’s about systematically reducing friction at every stage of the journey. At the Ecommerce Awards on Wednesday evening, we were proud to take home the award for Best B2C UX in Ecommerce for our work with Rab, so we know this challenge and the solution to it well!
Our approach with Rab was built around one clear principle: eliminate the blockers that cause hesitation. We created a bespoke product comparison tool that gave customers the ability to line up items side by side, making complex decisions simpler. Combined with a reimagined navigation system, the experience was tailored to different types of shoppers - whether they needed deep technical specs or a quick overview.
This aligns with broader industry insights shared at the event, where several talks underscored how even small UX improvements can drive outsized returns:
£18bn in revenue is lost annually through cart abandonment.
15% of this abandonment is driven by poor or unclear returns policies.
The average checkout has 11 fields; best-in-class experiences cut that to 8 or fewer.
Asking for too much, too soon - like phone numbers or marketing consent - turns customers away. Capture only what you need.
What it means: Go and use your own ecommerce store, what annoys you and makes you less likely to purchase are probably the same things as what’s putting your customers off! Better still, get an unbiased opinion and ask the team here at Unified to conduct a site audit
Final Thoughts
Last week’s Ecommerce Expo was a whirlwind of insights, innovation, and practical takeaways. From embracing experimentation as a growth engine, to preparing for AI-driven search, to rethinking how paid media and personalisation are delivered - one thing became clear: the brands pulling ahead are those that aren’t afraid to adapt quickly and put the customer experience at the centre of every decision.
For us at Unified, these key themes resonated deeply. Winning Best B2C UX in Ecommerce at the Ecommerce Awards for our work with Rab was a proud moment - but also a validation of what we’ve long believed. Reducing friction, tailoring experiences to different customer needs, and communicating trust early aren’t “nice to haves” anymore; they’re critical levers for growth.The Expo proved that ecommerce is entering a new phase where data, AI, and UX all converge. Success will belong to the brands that act boldly: testing relentlessly, building intelligently on clean data foundations, and designing experiences that meet customers where they are - whether that’s in an AI assistant, a social feed, or a checkout flow.
Our advice? Don’t wait until your competitors force you to play catch-up. Take an honest look at your own ecommerce experience. Where are you customers finding you? Where are your customers hesitating? Where is friction costing you sales? Sometimes the biggest wins come from solving the smallest frustrations. And if you’re ready to go deeper, we’d love to help. A site audit with Unified could be the first step to unlocking the performance gains you’ve been leaving on the table. Contact us to find out more!
I look after Unified's overarching marketing strategy and keep our marketing engine running with fresh content, speaking opportunities, award submissions and great partnerships.
