E-commerce is always evolving, but the pace of change has only accelerated in recent years.
As brands look toward 2027, AI-assisted product discovery and cross-border commerce are changing how shoppers find products and decide what to buy. Growth will depend on understanding those shifts and knowing where to focus, from marketing and loyalty to the operations that support a strong customer experience.
A thoughtful growth plan starts with a clear picture of what’s working today. By reviewing performance, setting priorities, and tracking progress throughout the year, businesses can adapt as customer habits and market conditions evolve.
Below, Passport shares what to consider when planning for the year ahead, including:
The new year gives businesses a natural moment to set priorities, but a strong plan takes shape well before the calendar changes. Reviewing the past year’s performance, identifying bottlenecks, and aligning with your team can help you make more informed decisions about where to focus next.
Planning ahead also gives businesses time to respond to changes already reshaping e-commerce. Rapid AI adoption, regulatory overhauls, and geopolitical instability can affect how brands reach customers and sell in different markets. At the same time, increasingly connected supply chains are making international commerce more accessible to businesses of all sizes.
Trade policy is another variable brands may need to plan around. Tariffs have affected costs and market decisions, and a change in party control could create the possibility of some tariffs ending, depending on the actions Congress and the administration take. Brands planning for 2027 should consider how different trade policy scenarios could affect their costs and keep their pricing and market plans flexible.
Shopping journeys now span search engines, social platforms, and chatbots, creating new ways for brands to reach customers and new demands on how they show up across each channel. For brands selling across borders, success means adapting to change while keeping the fundamentals in place: a clear customer experience, reliable operations, and a solid understanding of each market.
Strong goals start with a clear understanding of what’s working. Review your 2026 performance, using projections where final results aren’t available yet.
Look beyond revenue. Which products, channels, markets, and customer segments drove growth? Which required more investment than their returns justified?
It’s also worth asking whether your 2026 goals still reflect what you want to achieve. Reviewing the results can help your team identify sustainable strategies to expand and short-term gains that may not be worth repeating.
SMART objectives, which are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, can turn broad ambitions into clear targets. But the framework works only when you choose goals intentionally and revisit them as priorities change.
Clear goals that align with your brand’s positioning make it easier to prioritize resources, guide your team, and assess whether an initiative is actually delivering meaningful results.
The start of a new year often brings renewed interest in health and wellness. A global survey of 18,000 people across 17 markets found that 52% hoped to improve their physical health, with results ranging from 42% to 65% across regions. That interest can carry into new spending, too. Gyms typically see a January increase in new memberships, and subscription app data shows that New Year and January are strong periods for new health and fitness subscribers.
For wellness brands, this seasonal interest creates an opportunity to reach customers as they invest in new routines. But the case for growth goes beyond New Year’s resolutions.
Several broader trends could shape the wellness market in 2027:
Together, consumer interest, expanding product categories, and evolving requirements make 2027 a potentially pivotal year for the supplement industry. Experts are already looking ahead to the trends that could shape the market.
While wellness brands may be especially well-positioned to benefit, turning that demand into sustainable growth still takes the right choices about products, channels, and markets.
Once you’ve identified your goals, decide where to focus. Growth can come from several areas:
Whichever path you choose, two areas deserve attention:
1. Structured product data and AI-ready catalogs — Keep product information complete, consistent, and accurate across your sales channels. Clear pricing, descriptions, and availability can help search platforms and AI tools understand your products and match them to relevant searches.
2. Product traceability and lifecycle information — Digital product passports can make product lifecycle information accessible and may support regulatory requirements in some markets. Cross-border businesses should monitor applicable rules and assess what information they may need to collect, maintain, and share.
A growth strategy depends on having the operations and customer experience in place to support it. As your business grows, shipping, inventory, technology, and customer support all need to keep pace.
Keep the customer experience in mind as you plan for growth. Shipping costs and delivery times influence purchase decisions. Unexpected charges or slow delivery can lead shoppers to abandon their carts, even when they want the product. Keep pricing clear, provide realistic delivery estimates, and make sure your fulfillment capabilities can support the promises you make.
As you expand across channels or markets, connected inventory systems can help you stay organized and avoid stockouts. Visibility into inventory, orders, and customer information across touchpoints can reduce friction for both your team and your shoppers. Real-time inventory data also helps teams respond when demand shifts.
Technology choices matter, too. The platforms and services you use, from e-commerce marketplaces to headless commerce and third-party tools, affect how easily you can update your storefront and operations. Choose systems that meet your current needs and can support your plans for growth.
For brands selling internationally, the right partner can support several moving parts, from shipping and fulfillment to storefront localization and compliance, helping create a smoother experience for customers in every market.
Customer support should also grow alongside your business. AI-enabled tools can help shoppers find products and get answers more quickly, but they should complement human support. Customers may still need personalized guidance, help resolving an unusual issue, or reassurance from a person.
Product discovery is changing as shoppers use AI to research products and compare recommendations. Research suggests that AI tools are becoming part of the shopping journey. Voice search and conversational shopping tools also give brands new ways to appear in product research.
Traditional SEO and trust signals still matter (e.g., relevant content, accessible site structure, descriptive product pages, a clear brand identity, etc.), but making that foundation AI-readable should be on everyone's to-do list for 2027.
One report found that AI share of voice (how much a chatbot mentions a brand) was a moderately accurate predictor of user choice (a .57 average correlation). Notably, the correlation varied widely by industry, with supplements (.87) and groceries (.97) showing the strongest positive outcomes.
As you'd expect, suggestions that make the top of an AI shortlist are the most likely to win conversions. However, one factor can overcome a low shortlist rank: brand recognition. Research across several studies found that people were more likely to trust a recommendation if they recognized the brand before seeing it in a chat.
Together, these findings point to two priorities: Make your products easy to find and understand across search and AI tools, and build brand recognition that can shape how shoppers evaluate recommendations.
Attracting shoppers is only the first step. You also need to give them good reasons to buy, come back, and recommend your brand.
Personalized shopping experiences and mobile-friendly storefronts can make it easier for customers to find the right products. Quizzes and augmented reality try-on tools can help shoppers explore their options and decide what suits them.
Customers often compare several options before buying, so earning their trust matters too. A few areas to focus on include:
Start by choosing a few metrics that show whether your growth strategy is working. Depending on your priorities, these might include average order value, customer acquisition cost, repeat purchase rate, fulfillment performance, or contribution margin by market.
Review those metrics on a regular schedule and look for meaningful changes. The goal isn’t to react to every fluctuation, but to understand what the results are telling you and adjust your approach when the evidence points to a better path. That way, your plan can adapt throughout the year while staying focused on your priorities.
E-commerce growth will look different for every business, but a few principles can help brands plan for the year ahead:
The principles will help brands keep learning, make deliberate choices, and adapt as the market changes.
This story was produced by Passport and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
