Ecommerce 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.

When planning for the year ahead, here’s what to consider:

• What’s shaping ecommerce growth in 2027 and how to prepare
• Why the health industry is especially well positioned to benefit
• How to choose where to focus your growth efforts
• How to align operations and customer experience with your goals
• How to track progress and adjust your plan throughout the year

What Ecommerce Brands Should Consider as They Plan for 2027

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 ecommerce. 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.

Reviewing 2026 and Setting 2027 Growth Priorities

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.

Why Wellness Is a Key Growth Area for Ecommerce in 2027 

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:

• The market is large and growing. The global health supplement industry is estimated at around $200 billion, with continued growth expected.
•  Consumer interest spans more categories. Alongside familiar products, shoppers are exploring areas such as nootropics, collagen peptides, and products marketed for GLP-1 support. These emerging trends create opportunities for brands to serve more specific needs.
• Regulatory requirements are evolving. New and changing requirements make compliance and substantiated product information important considerations for brands.

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.

Choose Products, Channels, or Markets to Grow

Once you’ve identified your goals, decide where to focus. Growth can come from several areas:

• Expanding product lines or distribution can help you reach new customers, but it can also add pressure to inventory, production, and transportation. Forecast demand and consider whether you can maintain product availability without tying up too much capital in stock.
• Expanding across channels can give customers more ways to discover and buy your products. Marketplaces, social commerce, physical retail, and your own channels work best when they feel connected. Map the customer journey across channels and identify where coordination can keep product information and the brand experience consistent.
• Entering new countries or regions can open access to new customer segments, but market selection should be based on evidence. Assess demand, competition, local preferences, purchasing power, and the total cost of serving each market. Shipping, taxes, product requirements, and delivery expectations all affect the economics of international growth.
• Optimizing existing sales channels can be a practical way to improve results. Treat optimization as an ongoing effort: track performance, identify opportunities, and make changes that strengthen the channels you already use.

Real Example: Ozlo Expanded Into Four Markets, Growing International Sales by 19%

Ozlo’s international growth shows how market expansion can work alongside a more localized customer experience. The company expanded into four international markets and positioned inventory closer to customers in Canada and Australia, where conversion increased 40%.

Ozlo also saw international orders grow 18% and its international returning customer rate increase 148%. Together, those gains contributed to 19% growth in international gross sales.

Read Ozlo’s full success story here.

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.

Preparing Operations and the Customer Experience

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.

Build Operations Around the Customer Experience

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 ecommerce 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 and Customer Trust

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 (.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.

Customer Conversion, Retention, and Loyalty

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: 

• Transparency – Data transparency and security are top concerns for internet users globally. Ecommerce brands should be clear about why they collect data and how it’s used. Most businesses are required to disclose this in legal jargon, but plain communication goes a long way. These trust signals become particularly important when shoppers encounter a brand through a new platform or unfamiliar sales channel. In turn, behavioral tracking can offer an ethical source of on-site data to improve your store and the customer experience. 

• Sustainability – Recyclable packaging, ethical sourcing, and environmental claims can influence perception and shopping decisions. Keep claims specific and supportable, and consider how product information relates to traceability and relevant regulations.

• Follow-through – The customer experience continues after checkout. Delivery updates, product guides, accessible support, and thoughtful packaging all shape how customers feel about a purchase. Customer stories, creator partnerships, and user-generated content can provide social proof before and after the sale. Asking for feedback after delivery can help you understand what’s working and where the experience could improve.

Real Example: Promix Increased International Conversion by 200% Through Localization

Promix shows how a more localized shopping experience can help turn international demand into first time and repeat purchases. After localizing checkout, showing duties and taxes upfront, and improving delivery reliability, Promix increased its international conversion rate by 200% and grew its international repeat customer rate by 40%.

Read Promix’s full success story here.

Track Progress and Adjust Your Plan Throughout the Year

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.

Key Takeaways for Ecommerce Growth in 2027

Ecommerce growth will look different for every business, but a few principles can help brands plan for the year ahead:

• Start with evidence – Review 2026 performance, using projections where final results aren’t available. Identify what’s working and where investment is paying off.
• Set clear priorities – Turn your growth goals into specific, measurable targets that guide decisions throughout the year.
• Choose where to grow – Weigh product expansion, new sales channels, and market entry against customer demand, costs, and your team’s ability to support them.
• Prepare for changing discovery habits – Keep product information accurate and easy for search engines and AI tools to understand, while building brand recognition with shoppers.
• Connect operations to the customer experience – Align inventory, sales platforms, fulfillment, and delivery expectations to make buying easier for customers.
• Track results and adapt – Review a focused set of metrics regularly, then adjust your approach when the evidence points to a better path.

The brands best prepared for 2027 will be the ones that keep learning, make deliberate choices, and adapt as the market changes.

Want to grow like Promix and Ozlo? Passport helps brands make international selling easier with localized checkout, clear duties and taxes, and reliable delivery. Build an experience that converts more customers.
Request a demo here →

Authored by Casey Bright

VP of Marketing | Passport

Casey Bright, an accomplished marketing leader with 15+ years of experience, specializes in brand and demand building for B2B and B2C global companies. Proficient in go-to-market, inbound, and demand generation strategy, she collaborates with sales, product, and RevOps teams to fuel revenue growth. Previously at Flock Freight, Casey achieved over 3x acquisition growth. Her diverse experience includes roles at Coyote Logistics, USG, and agency work for global brands like John Deere.