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We explore our 2024 e-commerce predictions to reveal what worked, what didn’t, and how brands can leverage these insights to stay ahead in 2025.
Rachel Horner serves as a Content Marketing Writer for Feedvisor. She has extensive experience in writing for diverse B2B brands, particularly in the tech industry, and is dedicated to fostering meaningful brand-audience connections.
Before 2025 gets too far underway, it’s time to reflect on our 2024 predictions. With inflation still squeezing wallets, the rise of new e-marketplaces, and social commerce continuing its growth, the stakes have never been higher.
As we move into the new year, these shifts will only intensify. For brands to stay competitive in 2025, they’ll need to adapt and embrace these changes. Let’s take a closer look at how 2024 set the stage for the year ahead.
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Inflation was the defining topic of 2024, shaping consumer behavior as shoppers focused on value and affordability. This trend held steady throughout the year; even with a rise in confidence well into November, concerns about inflation and financial stability remain heading into 2025. Across demographics, households continue to prioritize lower costs, save more, and pay down debt—underscoring inflation’s continued impact.
We forecasted that inflationary pressures would drive consumers to trade down, and this held true throughout 2024. Reports indicated that 79% of shoppers adopted cost-saving strategies, such as purchasing different quantities or pack sizes, choosing lower-priced retailers, or switching to budget-friendly brands. Despite these adjustments, purchasing frequency remained steady, reflecting consumers’ ability to adapt to economic challenges by trading down, as we had forecasted.
While we expected this trend to drive a sustained shift toward private labels and generic brands, the real winners were emerging players like Temu and Shein. Nearly a quarter (23%) of U.S. shoppers reported purchasing from international apps like these, and 19% planned to use them for holiday shopping. These e-marketplaces have become go-to destinations for consumers looking to shop affordably without compromising their habits.
With social media emerging as the top brand opportunity in 2024, as reported in our research, it’s clear that social commerce—powered by mobile—is no longer overlooked. Our forecast proved accurate, with major industry leaders taking notice of this growing channel over the past year.
For instance, Amazon launched vertical video ads in Sponsored Brands Video campaigns to better engage the surge in mobile-first shoppers who prefer platforms like TikTok and Instagram. With vertical videos now an option for advertisers, brands can ensure their campaigns are optimized for smartphones and tablets, helping them keep pace with the shift to mobile shopping.
Meta also embraced social commerce, partnering with Amazon to introduce in-app purchases. This integration allows users to link their Facebook and Instagram accounts to Amazon profiles for direct purchases, streamlining the process for social-first customers.
A conversation about social commerce wouldn’t be complete without mentioning TikTok, which has become a major player in this space. By launching TikTok Shop, inspired by the success of its parent company ByteDance in China, TikTok has transformed its massive user base into a powerful sales engine. Yet, while the future of social commerce looks promising, TikTok’s uncertain future could shake up the landscape.
From “Wicked” to “Brat Summer,” trendjacking became a go-to strategy for brands looking to stay culturally relevant. As we predicted, when paired with influencer marketing, trendjacking proved to be a game changer, with influencers amplifying these moments to their engaged audiences. A standout example was the Skims x Charli XCX collaboration. This partnership blended fashion and music seamlessly, with Kim Kardashian’s bodywear brand teaming up with the pop star to release a limited-edition collection.
We also predicted that aligning closely with a brand’s audience would be critical, driving a shift toward long-term influencer collaborations over one-off campaigns. This trend is still unfolding—Puma appointed Rosé of BLACKPINK as a brand ambassador, leveraging her global influence, while Samsung continued its long-standing partnership with filmmaker and YouTuber Casey Neistat to connect with tech-savvy consumers.
However, shorter campaigns remain a vital part of the influencer strategy. For example, Sabrina Carpenter has teamed up with brands like Dunkin’ Donuts and Redken for impactful, targeted collaborations.
As consumer expectations evolved toward instant engagement and personalized experiences, we predicted the traditional sales funnel would give way to on-demand information and interactive buying processes. Voice and text commands would become commonplace for brand interactions, requiring businesses to adopt efficient chatbots and voice-enabled customer service to stay competitive.
Throughout 2024, we saw this trend unfold as AI-powered chatbots reshaped the retail landscape—led by Amazon’s Rufus. This generative AI chatbot exemplified the transformation of the customer journey, driven by evolving consumer demands. Shoppers no longer want to sift through endless options; they expect a curated selection of products tailored to their needs.
This trend extended into the holiday season, driving over $14 billion in global online sales on Black Friday alone. The evolution of product discovery and the purchase journey became clear as consumers turned to AI-powered chatbots for tailored recommendations.
Google and Meta captured $619 million in political ad spend from January 2023 to August 2024. This surge disrupted the media landscape, driving up costs and forcing commercial advertisers to navigate sensitive content and inflated prices.
We predicted that the flood of political ads would inflate media costs, making it challenging for non-political advertisers to secure premium placements affordably. This prediction held true—ad spending from the 2024 U.S. election drove up CPMs (cost per 1,000 impressions) on channels like TV, prompting many advertisers to explore alternative platforms to sidestep soaring prices and maintain visibility.
We also expected marketplaces to benefit most as brands shifted budgets away from crowded, costly channels in search of more effective and affordable alternatives amid election noise. This proved accurate—during the 2024 U.S. election season, political ads dominated traditional platforms, escalating competition and costs. In response, many brands turned to alternative channels like retail media networks, with Amazon emerging as a preferred choice for maintaining visibility without breaking the bank.
We forecasted that inflation would push consumers to focus on price sensitivity, yet tighter inventory and slimmer margins would force brands and merchants to raise prices despite this heightened sensitivity.
This proved true, as supply chain disruptions persisted in 2024. From missile attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea to port strikes on the east coast, global supply chains remained unstable. Additionally, proposed tariffs under the new presidency have created uncertainty around imported goods, leaving consumers concerned about higher costs.
Companies grappling with higher costs for raw materials, transportation, and labor—exacerbated by supply chain disruptions—were forced to raise prices to protect profit margins. This strategy was particularly common among small and medium-sized businesses, which are more vulnerable to price volatility.
As a result, consumers faced higher prices across various products. A report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows a 2.9% increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December 2024, marking the third consecutive month of rising inflation. Heading into 2025, this trend is likely to persist as inflation continues to be a thorn in both brands’ and consumers’ sides.
Ahead of 2024, we anticipated that the growth of e-marketplaces, combined with the adoption of BWP and increased consumer price sensitivity, would heighten the need for brands to adopt a holistic, multi-channel pricing strategy.
This trend began to take shape as emerging players entered the market, from Chinese e-marketplaces like Temu and Shein to Walmart and even TikTok Shop. For brands, it’s essential to embrace these channels and expand their presence where customers are shopping more frequently—but success hinges on adopting the right pricing strategy. In 2025, we expect more brands to move beyond simply observing these platforms and actively integrate them into their strategies.
As we predicted last year, the demand for holistic multi-channel pricing technology has become more urgent than ever. One of the biggest challenges brands face when adding new e-marketplaces to their strategy is maintaining price parity; mismanagement often results in Buy Box suppression, particularly when overseeing thousands of SKUs across multiple platforms. Multichannel pricing solutions address these complexities, ensuring price consistency while freeing brands to focus on growth.
Predicting the future of e-commerce is more than just speculation—it’s about understanding the dynamic forces shaping consumer behavior, technology, and market trends. From the continued pressure of inflation on spending habits to the rise of new e-marketplaces like Temu and Shein, as well as the growing dominance of social commerce, 2024 has tested our forecasts.
But we’re not stopping here. As we move into 2025, we’re gearing up for the next chapter. Stay tuned for our upcoming Trends and Predictions e-book, where we dive deeper into the evolving landscape and what brands need to do to stay ahead in the year ahead.