2X eCommerce Podcast

Subscribe to our Newsletter → https://subscribe.2xecommerce.com/

---
In this episode of the 2X eCommerce Podcast, we dive into 15 key predictions shaping the future of eCommerce in 2025. From the rise of TikTok as a discovery and shopping engine to the increasing role of AI in Meta’s advertising ecosystem, host Kunle Campbell provides actionable insights for brands to stay competitive. Emerging trends like WhatsApp commerce and Google’s Gemini AI are also discussed, highlighting shifts in consumer behavior, creative strategy, and platform innovations.

  • (00:00) - Introduction and Overview
  • (01:08) - TikTok Predictions for 2025
  • (03:37) - Meta's AI Advertising Revolution
  • (11:17) - Google's AI-Powered Search
  • (14:08) - Amazon and Marketplaces in 2025
  • (15:22) - Key Takeaways and Conclusion


Connect with 2X eCommerce:
  • Website: 2X eCommerce Website → https://2xecommerce.com/podcast/
  • Instagram: 2X eCommerce Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/2xecommerce/
  • Twitter: 2X eCommerce Twitter → https://twitter.com/2XeCommerce
  • YouTube: 2X eCommerce YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@2XeCommerce/

Get a Copy of Kunle’s Book
Elevate your e-commerce game with Kunle Campbell's book, "E-Commerce Growth Strategy: A Brand-Driven Approach to Attract Shoppers, Build Community and Retain Customers." Discover practical strategies and insights to boost your e-commerce growth.
  • Buy on Amazon → https://amzn.to/3ybY6WS
  • Buy on Walmart → https://bit.ly/3swOuDe
  • Buy on Kogan Page → https://bit.ly/44DylLn
  • Buy on Barnes & Noble → https://bit.ly/3Pgd4B4
  • Buy on WHSmith → https://bit.ly/4bfr9r3


Sponsors:
This episode is proudly brought to you by:

1️⃣ REVIEWS.io
↳ Drive Sales & Reduce Marketing Spending with REVIEWS.io

REVIEWS.io offers an affordable, all-in-one platform for collecting and displaying customer reviews. It’s easy for you to set up and simple for your customers to leave reviews, helping you boost both trust and conversions from anyone discovering your brand on Google.

With REVIEWS.io, you can increase your Google conversions by up to 26%, improve click-through rates, and lower your ad costs—all with a platform built for busy eCommerce operators like you.

To find out more, head over to Reviews.io
Get 10% off your first year—use the could ‘2x’ when you sign up or click here.
New customers only. Terms and conditions apply.

Creators & Guests

Host
Kunle Campbell
Host of the 2X eCommerce Podcast and Co-Founder at OCTILLION

What is 2X eCommerce Podcast?

Hosted by Kunle Campbell, who is an operator of a portfolio of consumer brands, 2X eCommerce is a weekly podcast for ecommerce operators by ecommerce operators. We interview remarkable ecommerce founders and leading enablers of ecommerce growth, with every episode promising to give you at least one growth hypothesis or idea you can test.

Our focus is growing your ecommerce revenues from a cross-functional perspective, be it marketing, your tech stack, operations, finance, or customer experience. We believe that by bringing together insights from a variety of experts, we can help you double the throughput of key ecommerce functions.

2X your eCommerce growth with insights from Kunle and handpicked experts.

Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram: @2XeCommerce

2X eCommerce (00:00.462)
So welcome back to the 2x Ecommerce podcast. Today we're looking ahead. That is 2025 this year, because it's shaping to be a game changer for e-commerce with AI, social commerce, and shifting consumer behavior and expectations leading the way. So in this episode, I'm going to cover broadly about 15 key predictions I'm making for 2025 that you can act on right now.

But here's the thing, I've actually outlined 25 predictions in detail in my latest issue of the conscious commerce newsletter. So if you want a full breakdown, you can read it by subscribing to subscribe.2x e-commerce.com that way you'd stay ahead with e-commerce, especially if you're in the health and wellness space. Now let's jump right into the 15 of the biggest trends that will be shaping the future.

of e-commerce and online retail. I'm going to break it down into parts and each part will essentially focus on a platform. So let's kick off with TikTok which continues to redefine how we discover and shop online. Here are three big predictions for TikTok in 2025. Prediction one is TikTok SEO agencies are rising. TikTok has become a primary search engine for Gen Z or Gen Zed if you're in the UK.

And if you're not optimizing your captions, hashtags, or trending sounds and even content, you could be missing out a lot. Entire agencies are now specializing in TikTok SEO, much like what happened with YouTube a decade ago. Next is life shopping studios, which are taking over. TikTok shop is projected to hit between 45 billion GMV in the U S and UK.

by my estimates this year in 2025, just for some context, it hits just over 1 billion GMV in the United States and in the UK was just shy of the 1 billion. I think they're going to easily double those numbers if you're to combine both markets together. And with that, a major driver is live shopping, which is becoming mainstream. Brands are hosting studio quality sales events on their live shopping platform and

2X eCommerce (02:22.218)
If you've already identified your hero product or products, like we talked about in the product innovation episode I recorded last year, TikTok could be a golden ticket or an entirely fresh channel that could rival other channels. So keep an eye on that and see how you can take action. Which brings me to my third prediction of TikTok, which is it isn't going anywhere. despite ongoing debates about security,

platform is likely to stay in the United States. So just brace yourself that TikTok is staying. So if your audience is Gen Zed or Gen Zs or millennials you want to explore TikTok shop in 2025. Even Gen Xs, even Gen Xs hang out on TikTok. So remember explore TikTok shop for 2025. I also put out a full

article or issue on the Contrast Commerce letter that covers even more TikTok trends late last year. I believe it is issue number 33. So check that out again. Just go to subscribe.2xecommerce.com and once you put in your email, you'd find that TikTok. I think it's four issues ago. Part two is Meta, which is essentially AI advertising on steroids in my opinion. So

Meta which is Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. AI is their not so secret weapon for 2025 and it's going to have massive implications for advertisers. So here are three things you need to know for 2025. AI generated ads are everywhere. Meta's Advantage Plus campaigns are designed to let AI do the heavy lifting as you've seen in 2024.

But the secret to success here is still high quality creative inputs which will be the difference between an ad that performs well and one that flops. Remember we had Ron Shah from Obvi and he was like his company churn out hundreds of creatives every month. And in order for you to stay on top of AI, your ability to generate creatives at scale

2X eCommerce (04:44.666)
is critical. It's going to differentiate your performance. It's going to differentiate smaller players from bigger players or even the efficiency of your marketing spend. So there's going to be a focus more on creatives and I believe Meta's AI tools will then enable you to test hooks at scale. So they're going to start to offer support with creative testing.

And that will be a game changer. If your hooks, if you have within the video, like the ability to change those hooks within the meta ad platform, it's going to be a game changer. But where you should focus your energies now is how are we developing a creative content machine that would just continue testing and pushing into meta ads so that their AI can test that skill with Advantage Plus.

My second prediction is WhatsApp commerce will explode. WhatsApp commerce may not explode in the United States, may not or may. I'm not sure about adoption rates, but it will explode in many, many other markets that use WhatsApp as the primary way of communicating. I primarily use WhatsApp as the way I communicate with 95 % of my friends. Right. So

And having commerce integrated, I've already started to connect with e-commerce operators who have a WhatsApp commerce channel. So I expect deeper Shopify integration because WhatsApp is just a powerhouse for personalized shopping and communication and communities. Imagine extending a community, right? Built on WhatsApp to commerce. Say I've been building a health focused community and then

Within that community and WhatsApp, you could subscribe, you know, to, to the products that I have an offer. My third point is ad scrutiny will tighten. So AI will also be used to flag ads that don't meet Metta's stricter guidelines. Remember very late last year, health and wellness brands in particular had this new compliance or policy. And I think that Metta would be policing.

2X eCommerce (07:12.738)
compliance and its health and wellness policies just through AI at scale. So you want to be very careful when you have to be very alert that your ads, particularly if you're in the health and wellness space, are running as required and just check the compliance really. You can't make wild claims, overstretched claims anymore. And even if you don't make claims, you still need to be on the alert because obviously Meta is keeping a close eye now and

I don't think real humans are doing it. It's AI. So just be careful. Check your subtitles and essentially your script and make sure that your scripts are tight, airtight. It's going to be more difficult if you lean on UGC content a lot. So you need to sort of put in SOPs or standard operating procedures to check your UGCs or give your creators a scope, just much more clearer scopes as to what not to see and what they can see.

So the final notes, think meta is on track to surpass traditional TV ad revenue by the end of 2025. And that's a big signal as to where your ad dollars should go.

So remember our chat in May earlier this season, episode 33 with Sam Pilliaro about scaling from $1 million to 10 million with Google ads. We talked about the power of maximizing your ad spend. Now imagine supercharging your Google search and shopping ads with reviews. As a Google partner, reviews.io enables you to seamlessly integrate products,

and company reviews into your ads, helping you build trust and increase click through rates. Adding verified reviews to your ads can be a game changer for standing out in any competitive space. One of my personal favorite ways to extend the reach of reviews is through their reputation management feature. This tool helps you distribute reviews to third party platforms like TrustPilot and Facebook or even Google itself.

2X eCommerce (09:22.85)
Whether you want to all your reviews to one platform or have reviews.io automatically spread them where you need the most visibility. This feature ensures your reviews are working harder for your brand. With reviews.io you can manage both product and company reviews in one place which streamlines your efforts while amplifying your brand's presence. If you're already using reviews or feel like you're not getting enough

There's a faster way. With Reviews.io's Review Booster, you can collect reviews not only from new customers, but also from past customers, so you're not having to wait around for fresh orders to start building trust. Simply upload a list of customer details and Reviews.io will handle the rest automatically sending out review requests with customized email invitations. This means you can quickly boost your credibility

and start converting more shoppers. And if you're stuck in a long-term contract with your current reviews provider, reviews.io makes switching easy for listeners of the 2XE Commerce podcast. Through their contract buyout program, reviews.io will honor the time left on your contract so you can transition seamlessly without having to double pay for services. Once your buyout period ends, you'll enjoy their flexibility.

No commitment modally planned giving you freedom and results without being locked into something that doesn't work for your business. Ready to make your reviews work harder for your business? Use the code 2X to get 10 % off your first year with reviews.io. Just click the link in the episode description or ask the support team to apply the code for you. Applies to new customers only terms and conditions apply.

So part three is Google. In my opinion, search it's getting smarter with AI. So AI is a recurring theme throughout 2025. It was in 2024, but now in 2025, it's even going to be stronger. Google is stepping up its game too with AI transforming how search works. So if you've relied on traditional SEO in the past, here's how you need to adapt in 2025. So SEO for Gemini AI, for instance.

2X eCommerce (11:46.904)
Google's new Gemini AI powers search results with conversational answers at the very top of search engine results pages, making it harder to rank with just keywords. So you'll need a fresh strategy to stay visible in this AI driven ecosystem. And I'm seeing SU agencies offer Gemini AI optimization options. One thing you need to think about. The second is demand gen campaigns are gaining steam.

So Google's DemandGen campaigns are a bridge for if you're a meta advertiser to expand your reach. So if you're comfortable with Facebook or Instagram ads, you'll feel right at home with this new format because video ads are dominating and the way the DemandGen ads work is very similar to Facebook ads. It's video driven, video first, and essentially it rewards

high click through it obviously from the, from your thumbnail and your hook, retention and essentially clicks your landing pages. So if your landing pages is good and it's not necessarily chasing people out, you get better performance with this demand gen ads. So they're, they're, they're going to push further on the throttle there and you want to really take advantage of it. Now video ads gonna dominate again.

within Google as platforms like YouTube and, and shorts grow. You want thumb stop in video ads to grab attention. And I think Google's AI tools will be lowering the barrier to entry. there's no excuse not to give it a shot. And what I mean here is with Google AI democratizing search, generally search, whether it's Google shopping or, or text based search, there is going to be a lot of

There's a of competition per se in the text based search space. So you want to focus a lot on, on video and with DemandGen ads, there is an advantage. So definitely worth speaking to your Google agency to explore that and seeing how you could bring in creatives from Meta to Google or developing YouTube and YouTube short native ads yourself. But definitely worth checking DemandGen and video ads on Google.

2X eCommerce (14:08.514)
Part four is Amazon and marketplaces just competing in a crowded space. My thoughts is that Amazon may be the e-commerce juggernaut, but even they are feeling the pressure from competitors like Timo, Shen and TikTok Shop. So here's what you want to expect. You want to expect more price wars. Amazon is doubling down on competitive pricing to defend off these rivals.

So if you are a seller, could mean lower margins, but also more incentives to help you stay competitive. Another prediction is AI tools for sellers. Amazon could be rolling out new AI features like enhanced A plus listings, which will help smaller brands get out higher quality product pages and ads that would perform better. My other prediction is Amazon will be bringing in more social features just to

attract the millennial and Gen Z audience. know Amazon toured around with experimenting with social commerce elements in the past, but I think they're going to try again in 2025. So you could be seeing creator driven recommendations on products on product pages on PDPs, just to make the platform more engaging. And part five is really 2025 really is this just general is going to be defined by three

key things in my opinion, AI, platform competition and evolving customer expectations. And here's how you can prepare. For me, you have to in this in 2025, leverage AI tools, whether it's TikTok SEO, Metas Advantage Plus or Amazon's new seller tools, use AI to save time and skills smarter. My second point is diversify your channels, right? Platforms like TikTok shop, WhatsApp and

Google demand gen campaigns are on the rise. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Other point is focus on creative quality across every platform. The brands that we standing out will be the ones creating authentic, engaging content. So if you want to dive deeper into all 25 of these predictions, subscribe to the Conscious Commerce newsletter at subscribe.2xecommerce.com. It's packed with actionable insights to keep your business ahead.

2X eCommerce (16:30.862)
of the curve and I think that is what how I wrap up today's top 15 predictions shaping e-commerce in 2025. Again don't forget that there 10 more predictions waiting for you in the latest issue of the Conscious Commerce newsletter so head over to subscribe.2xecommerce.com to get access to this full list plot which has a treasure trove of exclusive insights.

As always, thank you for tuning in and don't forget to subscribe to this podcast. Leave us a review if you found this helpful and share this episode to to anybody you think it will be of value or relevance to. Let's all make 2025 our best year yet. Best of luck guys.