"Jackson: I've been saying since around 2019 that we've reached the ideal website. We've optimized ecommerce experiences to death, and what's left is efficiency and boredom. We do a lot of consumer and executive research at Future Commerce. In one study published around 2022, we analyzed about 15 of the world's highest-traffic ecommerce sites, excluding Amazon. Think brands like Bath & Body Works and Bed Bath & Beyond."
"The company surveyed U.S. shoppers during the 2025 holiday season. He says one insight stood out: when AI recommends a product, 77% of respondents leave the platform to buy on the brand's site."
"That level of optimization is powerful, but it has a downside: it's unmemorable. These sites are designed for conversion, not for recall or cultural impact. They're slippery. You buy, you leave, and nothin"
Future Commerce studies commerce culture through newsletters, podcasts, research, and events. Research finds ecommerce sites have become highly uniform, optimized for conversion rather than differentiation. A 2022 analysis of top non-Amazon ecommerce pages showed consumers often cannot tell one site from another. That optimization improves efficiency but reduces memorability and cultural impact. A 2025 holiday survey of U.S. shoppers revealed that when AI recommends a product, 77% leave the recommending platform to buy on the brand's site. Trends include diminishing website distinctiveness, persistent focus on efficiency, and growth of autonomous shopping agents.
Read at Practical Ecommerce
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