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2025 eCommerce Predictions: 25 Things to Expect → Kunle Campbell



About the guests

Kunle Campbell

Kunle Campbell

Kunle Campbell is the host of the 2X eCommerce Podcast and a leading eCommerce strategist with over a decade of experience helping brands scale profitably. Known for his data-driven approach, Kunle specializes in guiding operators through challenges like scaling operations, improving margins, and achieving profitability.



In this forward-looking episode of the 2X eCommerce Podcast, Kunle Campbell unveils his top 15 predictions for 2025, providing eCommerce operators with actionable insights to navigate the year ahead. Kunle highlights the key trends shaping the industry, including the dominance of AI across platforms, the rise of social commerce on TikTok and Meta, and shifting consumer expectations. From TikTok SEO to Google’s Gemini AI and Amazon’s evolving marketplace tools, Kunle breaks down how these changes will impact online retail.

Listeners will learn how to leverage AI for ads, diversify channels, and improve creative quality to stay competitive. For an even deeper dive, Kunle invites listeners to explore the full list of 25 predictions in his Conscious Commerce Newsletter, offering additional insights to future-proof their eCommerce strategies.

 

Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction and Overview
Kunle previews his 15 key predictions for 2025, noting broader themes like AI, social commerce, and changing consumer expectations.

01:00 – TikTok Predictions for 2025

  • TikTok SEO Agencies on the Rise: How search behavior is shifting to TikTok and the need to optimize captions, hashtags, and trending sounds.
  • Live Shopping Studios Dominate: TikTok Shop is projected to double its GMV in the US and UK, driven by high-quality live shopping events.
  • TikTok Isn’t Going Anywhere: Despite security debates, TikTok remains a must-have platform for Gen Z, Millennials, and even Gen X.

03:00 – Meta’s AI Advertising Revolution

  • AI-Generated Ads at Scale: Meta’s Advantage+ campaigns rely on high-quality creative inputs for success.
  • WhatsApp Commerce Growth: WhatsApp is expected to become a powerhouse for personalized shopping in global markets.
  • Ad Scrutiny Tightens: AI will enforce stricter compliance guidelines, especially for health and wellness brands.

08:00 – Google’s AI-Powered Search

  • Gemini AI Optimization: Google’s new conversational AI results are changing SEO strategies.
  • Demand Gen Campaigns: Video-driven ads, similar to Meta’s, gain traction as a bridge for eCommerce advertisers.
  • Video Ads Dominate: Platforms like YouTube Shorts and Google Ads will focus heavily on thumb-stopping video content.

13:00 – Amazon and Marketplaces in 2025

  • Price Wars Intensify: Amazon doubles down on competitive pricing to fend off TikTok Shop and Shein.
  • AI Tools for Sellers: Enhanced A+ listings and AI-driven product pages help smaller sellers stand out.
  • Social Features on Amazon: Expect creative, community-driven product recommendations to attract Gen Z and Millennials.

15:00 – Key Takeaways for 2025
Kunle summarizes the year’s overarching themes: AI, platform competition, and evolving consumer expectations.

16:00 – How to Prepare for 2025

  • Leverage AI tools like TikTok SEO, Meta Advantage+, and Amazon’s seller tools.
  • Diversify channels, including TikTok Shop, WhatsApp, and Google Demand Gen.
  • Prioritize high-quality, authentic content to stand out in crowded markets.

17:00 – Conclusion and Call to Action
Kunle wraps up by encouraging listeners to explore the full list of 25 predictions in the Conscious Commerce Newsletter and to subscribe for deeper insights.

Takeaways

  • AI is the key enabler for 2025: From ad creation to search results, AI tools will save time and scale operations smarter.
  • Diversify sales channels: Platforms like TikTok Shop, WhatsApp, and Google Demand Gen are gaining momentum—don’t rely solely on one channel.
  • Creative quality is king: Winning brands will prioritize authentic, engaging content across platforms.
  • Prepare for platform-specific strategies: From TikTok SEO to Meta’s compliance and Google AI search, businesses must tailor their approach to each platform’s evolution.
  • Amazon fights back: Sellers should expect intensified price wars and leverage Amazon’s new AI tools to remain competitive.

—-

🔔 Book Announcement:

📈 ‘E-Commerce Growth Strategy’ by Kunle Campbell

 

Exciting news for our listeners! Kunle Campbell, your host and e-commerce expert, has just released his new book: ‘E-Commercer Growth Strategy.’ This essential guide is packed with strategies for attracting shoppers, building community, and retaining customers in the e-comerce space. Drawing on insights from the 2X eCommerce podcast and Kunle’s extensive experience, this book is a must-read for anyone in the e-commerce industry.


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Transcript

2025 Predictions

[00:00:00]

Introduction and Overview

So welcome back to the 2X eCommerce podcast today. Where looking ahead. That is 2025 this year. Because it’s shaping to be a game changer for eCommerce with AI, social commerce, and shift in 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.2xecommerce.com that way you’d stay ahead with eCommerce. 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 [00:01:00] eCommerce and. An online retail. I’m going to break it down into parts and each parts will, will essentially focus on a platform.

TikTok Predictions for 2025

So lets kickoff with TikTok, which continues to redefine how we discover and shop on nine. Here are three big predictions for TikTok in 2025. Prediction one is TikTok, SEO agencies, arising 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 trend in sounds and even content, you could be missing out a lot. And tire agencies are now specializing in TikTok, SEO, much like what happened with YouTube a decade ago?

Next is live shopping studios, which are taken over TikTok shop is projected to hits between four to 5 billion GMV in the us and UK by my estimates this year in 2025, just for some context, it hit [00:02:00] 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 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 or the channels

so keep an eye on knots and see how you can take action. Which brings me to my third prediction of TikTok, which is it isn’t going anywhere. So desk bites, ongoing debates about security. The platform is likely to stay in the United States. So just brace yourself about TikTok is stain. So if your audience is gen Z or gen [00:03:00] Z’s or millennials, you want to explore TikTok shop in 2025. Even gen Xs, even gen Xs. Hung out on TikTok.

So remember. Explore TikTok shop for 2025. I also puts out a full article or issue on the Conscious 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, not take doc. I think it’s four issues that go. Part two.

Meta’s AI Advertising Revolution

Is Meta. Which is essentially AI advertising on steroids, in my opinion. So Meta, which is Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. AI is the not so secret weapon for 2025, and it’s going to have massive implications for advertisers.

So [00:04:00] 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. Is critical. It’s going to differentiate, your performance is going to diff differentiate smaller players from bigger players or even the efficiency of your markets in spend. So there’s going to be a focus more on creative and I believe [00:05:00] Meta’s AI tools. We’ll then enable you to test hooks at scale. So they’re going to start to offer supports with creative testing. And that’s will be a game changer. If you’re hooks, if you have within the video, like the ability to change those hooks within the Meta OD 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 the AI can test that scale. With advantage plus.

My second prediction is WhatsApp.

Commerce will explode. What’s up. Commerce may not explode in the United States. May also may, I’m not sure about adoption rates, but it will explode. In many, many other markets that [00:06:00] use WhatsApp as the primary way of communicating. I primarily use WhatsApp as the, we, I communicates with. 95% of my friends.

Right. So, and having commerce integrated, I’ve already started to connect with eCommerce operators who have a WhatsApp commerce channel. So I expect deeper Shopify integration. Because what’s up is, 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 full cost community. And then within that community in WhatsApp, you could subscribe to, to the products that I have on offer. My third point is add scrutiny will tighten. So AI will also be used to flag ads that don’t Mitt Metters, stricter [00:07:00] guidelines.

Remember. Very late last year health and wellness brands in particular. , had this new compliance or policy. And I think that Meta would be policing. Compliance , and it’s 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 for the health and wellness space, are, running , as required.

And just check the compliance really. You can’t make. Wild claims, overstretch claims anymore. And even if you don’t make claims, you still need to be on the alerts because, obviously matter is keeping a close eye now. And I don’t think real humans are doing it’s AI.

So just be careful. Check , your subtitles and, it’s essentially your script to make sure that your scripts, a tight air tight. It’s going to be more difficult if you lean on UGC. , content a lot. So you need to serve, puts in. SOP. So standard operating [00:08:00] procedures to, to check. Your UGCs , or give your creators, sculpt, just much more Clara scopes as to what not to see and what they can see. So the final notes, I think Meta is on track to surpass traditional TV ad revenue by the end of 2025 on, and that’s a big signal as to where you are. Dollars should go.

Mhm.

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Mhm.

Google’s AI-Powered Search

So part three is Google in my opinion, search, its gets in spots out with AI. So AI is. Recurring theme throughout 2025, it was in. In 20, 24, 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, Google’s new Gemini AI powered search results with conversational answers at the very top of search engine results pages, making it harder to rank with just keywords. So you will need a fresh strategy to stay visible. [00:12:00] In this AI driven ecosystem and I’m seeing SEO agencies offer. Gemini AI optimization options. One thing you need to think about.

The second is demand gen campaigns, a gaining steam. So Google’s demand. Gen 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 demand gen ads work is very similar to Facebook ads.

It’s video-driven video first. And centrally. , it rewards. High click through rates, obviously , from the, , from your thumbnail and your hook. , retention and, , 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 there.

They’re going [00:13:00] to push further on the throttle there. And do you want to, really take advantage of it?

Now video ads. , going to dominate,, again, within Google, as platforms like YouTube and, On 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. So there’s new. Excuse. Not to give it a shot on what I mean here is. With Google AI, democratising search, , generally search whether it’s Google shopping or, or text-based search, there is going to be a lots of. There’s a little competition per se, in, the text based search space. So you want to focus a lot on. On video. And with demand gen 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, to Google [00:14:00] or developing, YouTube and YouTube short native ads, yourself, but I’m definitely worth checking demand, gen and video ads on Google.

Amazon and Marketplaces in 2025

Part four is Amazon and marketplaces. Just competing in a crowded space. My thoughts is that, Amazon may be the eCommerce Huguenots, but even. They’re feeling the pressure from competitors.

Like Shan and take top shop. So here’s what you want to expect. You want to expect more price wars amazon is doubling down on competitive price into, to fend off these rivals. So if you are a seller. It could mean lower margins, but also more incentives to help you stay competitive.

Another prediction is AI tools for sellers. Amazon could be running out to new, new AI, features like enhance A+ listings. Which will help smaller brands, get out higher quality product pages and ads that would perform better. My other prediction is Amazon we’ll be bringing in [00:15:00] more social features just to attract the millennial and gen Z audience. I know Amazon toyed around to experimenting with social commerce elements in the past, but I think they’re going to try again in 2025.

So, you could be seen creative driven recommendations on products, on product pages on PDPs. Just to make the platform more engaging.

Key Takeaways and Conclusion

And part five, , is really, um, 20, 25 really?

Is this just general is going to be. Defined by three key things. In my opinion, AI. Part from competition and evolve in costume expectations on, and here’s how you can prepare. For me, you have to in this in 2025, leverage AI tools, whether it’s TikTok, SEO, Metters advantage plus, or Amazon’s new seller tools. Use AI to save time on scale smarter. My second point is diversify your channels, right?

Part firms like TikTok, shop [00:16:00] WhatsApp and Google demand. Gen campaigns are on the rise. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Although points is focus on creative quality across every platform to brands.

Are we standing out? Who’ll 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 of the curve. And I think that is. What, how are rap operative? The day’s top 15 prediction shaping. eCommerce in 2025.

Again, don’t forget that, that 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. Which has a treasure trove of exclusive insights. As always thank you for tuning [00:17:00] in, and don’t forget, subscribe to this podcast, leave us a review.

If you found this helpful and share this episode to, to any body, you think it will be a value or relevance to let’s all make 2025. Our best here. Yet. Best of luck guys.

About the host:

Kunle Campbell

An ecommerce advisor to ambitious, agile online retailers and funded ecommerce startups seeking exponentially sales growth through scalable customer acquisition, retention, conversion optimisation, product/market fit optimisation and customer referrals.

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