How to stay relevant as a webshop in 2026

For brands and retailers, e‑commerce in 2026 is about staying relevant in a landscape where technology, consumer expectations and economic pressure are evolving every day. AI is reshaping how people discover and buy products, social platforms are turning into storefronts, and customers are more cautious with their spending yet less patient with any friction in the buying process. For e‑commerce businesses, this means that growth comes from doing things smarter, more connected, and more personal.

Staying relevant in 2026 requires understanding how these shifts influence what customers expect from their online shopping experiences.

1. Your customers will use AI to shop, optimise your shop to prepare

How consumers use AI to shop for them 

More and more customers are shifting from using Google to using AI chatbots and agents. Consumers are using artificial intelligence across the entire purchase cycle. In a McKinsey study, 73% of respondents said they used AI to learn more about brands and products, 61% used it to compare products and services, and 57% used it to get personal recommendations. 

Instead of searching, filtering and comparing manually, shoppers will increasingly rely on AI to guide them and even execute decisions in the future. This accelerates the rise of agentic commerce where AI agents act like personal shoppers and focus on intent rather than keywords, which challenges Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and traffic-driven models in the way we knew them. Products are now discovered inside AI chats and recommendation environments, meaning brands must focus on structured data, clear product information, and authentic content that AI systems can comprehend and present to the customer. 

Creating a strategy for Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) requires a new approach that distinguishes your brand from the competition. It goes a step further than SEO: you optimize content so AI systems (like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity) can summarize, repurpose, and quote you in their responses. According to a Forbes article, the main differences between SEO and GEO can be explained by how large language models (LLMs) interact with your web content. In GEO, mentions and content are more important for your authority than the number of links. Additionally, LLMs look for the answer that is phrased best to fit the question or prompt, sometimes focusing more on the language used than its complex meaning.

How retailers can use AI to run better e‑commerce

AI’s role in fashion retail has moved beyond chatbots or basic product recommendations. In 2026, AI increasingly functions as infrastructure behind the scenes, helping retailers analyse store data, predict demand, personalise storefronts and automate workflows. 

Platforms like Shopify are embedding AI into daily operations, enabling merchants to for example build collections, bundles and campaigns, automate SEO and imagery, and simulate shopper behaviour through AI agents. This supports retailers in improving conversion rates, reducing returns, and adapting to customer behaviour faster.

Offer a tailored shopping experience

One area where this shift becomes tangible is fit, sizing and styling. Solutions powered by AI like Contour Lab focus on reducing one of fashion e‑commerce’s biggest pain points: uncertainty about fit, by helping shoppers understand how a garment will fit their body and style rather than an abstract size chart. 

Fit technology removes a major psychological barrier to purchase and lowers return rates at the same time. Webshops that integrated Contour Lab see an average return rate decline of 17%. In a market where consumers are more cautious with online purchases, tools like these are key for a trustworthy shopping experience.

Contour Lab enables a hyperpersonalised digital shopping experience that bases its advice to customers on physical characteristics like body type, eye colour and skin tone as well as psychological signals like browsing and shopping activity. 

The algorithm Contour Lab developed uses the reasoning of a human stylist by asking the right questions and applying product knowledge. Founder of Contour Lab, Christina Hadinoto: ​“With our Fashion Passport, we enable an online shopping experience that includes personal contact and advice. Product discovery can be very challenging for online customers since there are so many pages and products to browse in a webshop. Thanks to the matchmaking between our Fashion Passports and product inventory, customers can easily find what they’re looking for among the filtered and sorted results.”

Furthermore, Contour Lab allows retailers to truly understand, analyse and predict the identity, preferences, needs and behaviour of their customers. Christina explains: ​“Contour Lab allows you to gather consumer data and use it to improve your services. In the short term, our partners see increased conversion rates, order value, customer satisfaction and loyalty. In the long term, the data can be used as a tool by the design and buying team to predict trends and behavioural patterns, as well as by the customer service team and store assistants to understand their client better and tailor the service to individuals.” 

2. Show your human side

Authenticity and human connection are becoming increasingly valuable to make your e‑commerce business stand out in the digital world. 

Short-form video, livestreams and explanatory content play a key role in making a consistent reliable impression and cultivating a connection with your customer, especially in fashion, where fit, feel and context matter.

Share your expertise authentically

Chloé Matthieu, founder of the cosmetics shop Clothilde consistently shares videos highlighting product knowledge, tips and personal insights on Instagram and TikTok. ​“I started posting reels 2 years ago. First I tried using trending sounds but I noticed this didn’t resonate with me and my audience. That’s why I switched to creating more informative get-ready-with-me videos and sharing in-depth product knowledge.” 

With her content, she mainly targets regular customers: ​“Videos are a great, accessible and easy medium to encourage people to visit the store. Many people come in saying they’re looking for a product from my video, proving that my approach is effective.” 

Chloé encourages other entrepreneurs to start making videos too: ​“Don’t overthink it, just do it. In the beginning, you’ll probably tend to strive for perfection, but it’s important to be authentic so your followers can relate to you and to tell the story you want to communicate as an entrepreneur.”

Build trust through experience

Ophelia Lingerie frequently posts behind-the-scenes content such as window display makeovers and personal experiences on Instagram. Founder of Ophelia Lingerie, Ophelia Debisschop shares: ​“It’s important people realise that when they buy a product from a smaller brand, it represents a lot of effort and craftsmanship. Video is an easy way for me to express this, while it’s also an accessible medium to consume. I really enjoy sharing this type of content to emphasize the value of creativity, the importance of taking the time for your body, and convey the story behind the product.” 

By sharing this type of content, you can establish a relationship with people before they visit your shop for the first time, increasing their willingness to buy. Ophelia: ​“My online shop mainly serves as an extension of social media. For many of my customers, Instagram is the first point of contact.”

In August 2025, Ophelia launched her own podcast called ​“Onder de Huid” (Under the Skin) about the relationship women have with their bodies. Ophelia explains: ​“It’s valuable to talk to people that have different perspectives and give them a platform to share their experiences. It’s a great way to go into more depth. It’s less about the lingerie brand and more about all the themes related to lingerie.” 

3. Sell more by creating an effortless shopping flow

AI generators pick up information from COSH! and either link to us or directly to your shops. From that point on it’s important to have a seamless customer journey to convert the client’s interest to spend. Turn browsing prospects into valuable clients by capturing their contact information and retargeting them with email automations, like with an abandoned cart flow.

As consumers compare instantly, delegate decisions to AI and shop across various channels, the stores that perform best are those that actively remove doubt and friction at every step while unifying commerce over web, social media, and physical points of contact.

This includes clear UX and mobile-first design, transparent shipping and return policies, visible trust signals like client reviews, and rich product experiences that help customers understand what they are buying before it arrives at their doorstep. 

An engaging customer journey

Shopify expert Dries Van haver specializes in optimising the customer experience and simplifying administrative processes. As the partner of Line Vanden Bogaerde he’s also closely involved with the development of her jewellery webshop.

“Line Vanden Bogaerde sells a product that is worn very close to the body; it doesn’t get any more personal than that. This makes fitting (in-store) crucial, and we need multiple touchpoints and repetitions to get the client to this moment.”

Dries stresses the importance of retargeting customers through Shopify and Meta Suite. ​“On average, someone needs seven touchpoints with your brand before they feel confident enough to make a purchase. If your average product price is above the ​‘Big Ticket’ threshold (roughly €250), they are usually not impulse buys but decisions that involve doubt.” 

Dries and Line make space for this doubt in the customer journey and focus on three levels of involvement: engagement with the aim of building a connection between brand and person, awareness with the aim of increasing brand awareness and encouraging visits to the store and conversion supported by relevant campaigns and ongoing win-back automations. ​“This offers us opportunities to showcase what the brand stands for to a growing audience. Ultimately, we believe unified commerce is the way forward, where every customer experience is fully aligned with your brand, regardless of the channel.”

How to convince your customer

The reputable women’s shoe brand Atelier Content also sees value in the connection between contact points. Dageraad Huysmans, co-founder of Atelier Content: ​“We see our webshop as a big window display where customers can browse and seek inspiration until they decide to make a purchase. They can do so online, in our store, or at one of our retailers. On the webshop, we consciously point out visiting the store as an option. Customers can check the live store inventory and confirm that they can pick up their online order in the store. If their size is not available, they can visit one of the retailers listed on each product page.”

Atelier Content connected its webshop with the COSH! Digital Wardrobe app, allowing customers to check how the shoes fit their wardrobe when they add them to their cart and log the wears they get out of them and calculate the cost per wear after purchasing. Dageraad says: ​“We are convinced that the ​‘cost per wear’ is an important selling point for our audience.”

High-quality videos and imagery are an important factor in e‑commerce, as they help the customer set realistic expectations of the product and allow them to picture themselves wearing it. Dageraad explains: ​“Designer Nele Content is closely involved in determining the style of the campaigns and the stores’ interior design. We feature our campaign images both in our webshop, in our stores, and on our social media channels. Throughout the season, we create additional content for social media and online advertising.” 

To build trust, Atelier Content chooses to display customer reviews on its website. Dageraad: ​“We gather them through Klaviyo, the tool we also use to send newsletters and centralise all our customer data. Customers can leave reviews at the product level. In addition to a score, we also ask customers how comfortable they find the product and how their purchasing experience was, whether online or in one of our stores.”

From one-off purchases to ongoing relationships

The product’s lifecycle doesn’t stop at checkout. In 2026, strong e‑commerce brands think beyond single transactions and invest in long-term customer relationships. 

With COSH!’s Digital Wardrobe integration, the items from your webshop instantly appear in the digital wardrobe of your customer after sale. 

This opens the door to better care instructions, styling inspiration, repair options and circular services, reinforcing trust while extending product life and customer lifetime value. Help customers use, understand and value what they purchase.

Together, these evolutions show that e‑commerce in 2026 is not about adding every available touchpoint or letting AI overtake, but about the bridge between them and making each interaction more reassuring, more relevant and more human.

Sources:

• https://​www​.shopify​.com/​b​l​o​g​/​e​c​o​m​m​e​r​c​e​-​t​r​e​n​d​s​-​p​r​e​d​i​c​tions
• https://​www​.mollie​.com/​g​r​o​w​t​h​/​b​i​g​g​e​s​t​-​e​c​o​m​m​e​r​c​e​-​t​rends
• https://​www​.forbes​.com/​c​o​u​n​c​i​l​s​/​f​o​r​b​e​s​a​g​e​n​c​y​c​o​u​n​c​i​l​/​2​0​2​5​/​0​1​/​3​1​/​g​e​o​-​i​s​-​t​h​e​-​n​e​x​t​-​s​e​o​-​a​n​d​-​w​h​y​-​y​o​u​-​c​a​n​t​-​i​g​n​o​r​e-it/
• https://​www​.scayle​.com/​l​i​b​r​a​r​y​/​b​l​o​g​/​f​a​s​h​i​o​n​-​i​n​d​u​s​t​r​y​-​t​r​ends/
• https://​www​.soledis​.com/​e​n​/​b​l​o​g​/​t​h​e​-​5​-​m​a​j​o​r​-​e​-​c​o​m​m​e​r​c​e​-​t​r​e​n​d​s​-​2​0​2​6​-​w​h​a​t​-​b​r​a​n​d​s​-​a​n​d​-​s​e​l​l​e​r​s​-​n​e​e​d​-​t​o​-​a​n​t​i​c​i​p​a​t​e​-now/