There is no holiday for ecommerce leaders. Once January rolls around and the holidays have come to an end, the work begins for 2026 and it is time to determine ways to make it even more successful than 2025. One way to do that is with a new platform, but not everyone is going to have the budget for that, or need it if their platform is already supporting them well.
What this doesn’t mean is that ecommerce leaders are just standing still. That’s because as technology becomes more commoditized, the amount of work and pieces it takes to get the most out of the technology increases.
A quick and seamless customer experience on the surface requires a massive amount of legwork and integrated parts. And as consumers find more and more channels and platforms in which to engage, that seamless experience becomes even more cumbersome behind the scenes.
So if you’re not looking for a new platform home in 2026, here’s what you likely will and should be doing instead.
Broaden the Scope into New Channels
An ecommerce leader’s job is more difficult today than it was 10 years ago in part because the ecosystem of tools to account for has skyrocketed. A decade ago, the focus was on driving traffic to your site through search and then converting.
Now, brand leaders need to show up and have products for sale on TikTok Shop, every large language model (LLM), and even livestream shopping. That’s in addition to meeting the heightened expectations for their own ecommerce experiences.
It doesn’t leave much time in the day, but those channels are still worth exploring. Your brand has to be where the consumers are, or else you’ll be out of sight and out of mind. And consumers are increasingly going to generative AIs, social platforms, and video.
Recommendation: Prioritization is key. You can’t be everywhere at once, no matter how hard you try. This is where understanding your customers and having the right data should guide your way. Dig into your target consumers’ behaviors and interests and identify which channels and activations will make the greatest impact.
Focus on Speed and Optimization
As I mentioned above, speed and a simplified customer journey are top of mind, but require a lot of work. Heading into 2026 will largely be about trying to get the most out of the tools already at your disposal.
How can you increase page load speeds or enhance your product description pages? Are there ways to make the checkout experience easier? Once you get a consumer on your site, make it extremely difficult for them to bounce or abandon their cart.
Recommendation: Accessibility and visibility are key. Consumers don’t want surprises. Making sure photography is of high quality, descriptions and specs are well defined, and product and location availability is clear and easy to find. And if you haven’t yet, rethink your site’s journey in the new way consumers shop. Have you factored in those who come from an AI or social platform vs search and how those needs are different?
Clean Up Your Back of House
We’ve heard companies say that they don't have budget for a new ecommerce site but can afford a new order management system (OMS) or enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. And if that’s the case, that should be a priority.
For all of the reasons I’ve documented so far in this post, the weight of your success in those areas falls on the ability of your tech stack to work together seamlessly. A visually appealing site is great, but if you can’t easily and quickly showcase availability or handle shipping logistics, consumers will go to a brand that can. If you want to keep customers happy without overhauling your experience, this is the place to start.
Recommendation: If you’re ranking platforms to modernize, I would put the top focus on those that directly influence the quality and use of customer data (like a CDP) and order management or fulfillment. Then look at your digital asset management (DAM), email service provider (ESP), and other tools that will improve the quality and speed of marketing.
For more 2026 tips and strategies, download our 2026 Ecommerce Planning Guide.
