Best of ecommerce ops trends in 2025: what resonated most with retailers

In 2025, retailers weren’t asking for more theory. They wanted straightforward answers to tough operational questions. Where should you expand next? How do you keep orders moving without more headcount? What does it take to stay profitable with rising fees, returns and stricter delivery promises?

Looking across our blogs, guides, reports and webinars this year, one pattern was clear: our most valued content addressed these operational questions head on. Retailers growing across marketplaces, direct-to-consumer and B2B channels wanted more than inspiring growth stories. They were looking for practical guidance on marketplace expansion, automation, cross-border shipping, AI in everyday operations and how to manage SKU-level profitability.

This post highlights the best Linnworks content that resonated most with retailers in 2025 and what it suggests for the future of ecommerce operations in 2026.

You’ll find answers to

• Which marketplace and expansion guides retailers used most
• How operational readiness overtook “just add more channels”
• Where AI evolved from buzzword to an essential tool
• Why industry-specific and cross-border playbooks stood out
• How profitability and unified data became essential

By the end, you’ll see which themes mattered and how they can inform your 2026 operational roadmap.

Most popular Linnworks content in 2025

Before diving into themes, let’s look at what ecommerce leaders were most interested in this year. When reviewing our leading blogs, ebooks, reports and webinars by engagement, three groups emerged: content that helped you decide where to sell next, keep operations under control and use AI and data without unnecessary complexity.

Content that stood out fell into three areas

• Marketplace and expansion playbooks
• Operational and fulfillment readiness resources
• Deep dives on AI, profitability and inventory control

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Leading blogs of 2025

Blogs that stood out this year focused on practical, channel- and region-specific guidance

• Top UK marketplaces 2025 — where UK brands are expanding and what to consider before listing
• Wayfair marketplace: ultimate seller’s guide — especially relevant for home, furniture and décor retailers
• Best Canadian marketplaces 2025
• Top EU marketplaces 2025
• Top US online marketplaces 2025
• Sell on Walmart marketplace — used by brands making Walmart a key channel
• Guide to selling on multiple ecommerce platforms — how to manage Amazon, other marketplaces and DTC without losing stock control
• Essential partners for fashion & apparel ecommerce — technology and services apparel brands rely on
• Winning in AI ecommerce — how AI supports listings, forecasting, pricing and operations
• Selling on eBay: opportunities in 2025 — eBay’s evolving role in refurbished and niche categories

Two patterns are clear

1. Marketplace expansion is the anchor
   Most blogs were marketplace-first: regional “where to sell” guides and seller playbooks. This mirrors how mid-market retailers are growing—starting with Amazon, adding a mix of regional marketplaces and exploring emerging channels like TikTok Shop, Temu and SHEIN.
2. Stable operations are the thread
   Even with a “where to sell” headline, readers engaged most with content covering listing requirements, inventory sync, shipping, SLAs and returns workflows. This supports Linnworks’ expand, automate and control approach.

View all marketplace guides

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Webinars, reports and guides that stood out

Our best attended and most viewed sessions and resources helped retailers reduce risk around new channels, AI and margin control.

Top webinars in 2025

• AI must-implement strategies for retailers — specific use cases for AI in today’s retail tech stack
• TikTok Shop success — best practices for fast-moving marketplace compliance and operations
• Temu: the next big selling opportunity — practical steps for brands entering Temu
• Build your brand on SHEIN marketplace — how to differentiate in a crowded ecosystem
• Maximizing profit with Conjura — targeting real margin leaks at the SKU level
• How to master inventory management — accuracy, buffer strategies and multi-location control

Guides and reports that engaged growing retailers included

• Shipping & fulfillment report 2025 — benchmarks and tactics for improving delivery, carrier strategy and cost control
• International ecommerce & cross-border selling — an actionable playbook for expanding without straining your operations
• Top 25 marketplaces to watch — platforms gaining traction by region and industry
• Top consumer & refurbished electronics marketplaces 2025 — where pre-owned goods are growing
• Peak season red flags — how to prepare ahead of volume spikes

These findings confirm

• Retailers accept the need for multichannel but are wary of the operational risk
• AI is most valued when embedded in real workflows—forecasting, pricing, quality control—not as standalone strategy
• Profitability and inventory control content is essential, reflecting a focus on sustainable growth

Customer stories that defined ecommerce operations trends in 2025

The clearest view of the top ecommerce operations trends of 2025 comes from the brands that actually did the work. Our 2025 Linnworks customer stories highlight the points above: once you fix operations, growth follows.

I Love Fancy Dress – from passion project to global brand

I Love Fancy Dress grew from a small idea into a £20M global business, powered by Linnworks automation and marketplace expansion. Their story highlights how a lean team can sell across borders, stay compliant on multiple marketplaces and still keep control of stock and fulfilment.

Read how I Love Fancy Dress became a £20M global business with Linnworks.

Sol Retail – scaling from £10M to £25M with better ops

Sol Retail’s case study is a blueprint for brands outgrowing their original tech stack. They scaled from £10M to £25M in revenue by making deliberate operational pivots, consolidating systems into Linnworks and using automation to handle rising order volume and marketplace complexity.

See how Sol Retail scaled from £10M to £25M with Linnworks.

Snowdon Timber – proving ops transformation works in niche verticals

Snowdon Timber shows that operational transformation isn’t just for fashion or electronics. In a niche category, they used Linnworks integrations and automation to manage multichannel listings, streamline fulfilment and reduce manual stock reconciliation, proving that a connected CommerceOps layer matters even in specialist markets.

Read how Snowdon Timber streamlined ecommerce operations with Linnworks.

Other stand-out stories: Sock Snob, Choc on Choc, Elk & Bloom, Easyr

Across other 2025 case studies, we see the same pattern repeat:

• Sock Snob – focused on profitability and scalability gains through better inventory accuracy and channel control.
  
• Choc on Choc – improved seasonal capacity and on-time delivery during peak periods.
  
• Elk & Bloom – gained design-to-delivery transparency that unlocked more confident growth decisions.
  
• EasyR – used Linnworks to consolidate fragmented tools into a single platform, reducing failure points and simplifying training.
  

Together, these stories reinforce the same themes:

• Automation is the most repeatable source of ROI.
  
• Marketplace expansion only works long term when inventory, orders and fulfilment are under control.
  

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Trend 1: Marketplace expansion remained the strongest magnet

Marketplace-focused content led engagement all year. Guides for UK, EU, US and Canadian marketplaces, as well as deep dives on Wayfair, Walmart, eBay, Temu and SHEIN, outperformed all others. This shows that growing retailers already believe in multichannel and seek confidence about where to expand and what operational standards are required.

For many brands, this meant pairing Linnworks with marketplace-focused partners and tools for listing optimisation and performance, such as Optiseller and Tradebox, to reduce the manual work of managing multiple channels.

Sellers are seeking clarity

Retailers valued actionable content that answered

• Which marketplaces matter most for your region and vertical
• How fees, returns, shipping expectations and SLAs compare
• Minimum operational standards for listing

Regional rankings and platform-specific guides proved more popular broad roundups. Demand for fast, credible comparisons is especially strong in home and garden, fashion and apparel, consumer electronics and refurbished goods.

Marketplace playbooks are the blueprint for growth

Marketplace guides didn’t just highlight opportunity—they outlined operational readiness

• Listing and catalog requirements
• Inventory sync across channels
• Shipping, delivery times and promises
• Returns workflows with platform policies
• Trusted partners for shipping, compliance and analytics

Our Marketplace playbooks help you match the right opportunity with the operational steps to succeed.

Looking ahead to 2026

Marketplace-related questions are evolving

• Less “should we be on marketplaces?”
• More “which two or three marketplaces make sense, and how do we do it without overwhelming our teams?”

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Trend 2: Operational readiness overtook “add more channels”

While marketplace content attracted interest, guides focused on operational readiness built the trust. The content that kept people engaged addressed what it takes to keep orders moving, promises accurate and costs controlled after launching new channels.

On the fulfillment side, retailers increasingly combined Linnworks with shipping and logistics partners like Shippo and 3PL providers to centralize labels, services and carrier choices inside one workflow.

Going beyond the basics

Engagement data showed that readers focused on:

• Reliable inventory synchronization across marketplaces, webstores and proprietary channels
• Meeting channel SLAs without building a unique process for each one
• Managing returns and reverse logistics without reducing warehouse efficiency
• Protecting margins from shipping, fee and high-return SKU challenges

Retailers aren’t simply seeking new demand—they want ways to scale without breaking the operation.

Automation and control became essentials

High-performing content on shipping, fulfillment and inventory control answered a common question: If we add channels and promise faster delivery, how do we keep it sustainable?

This content showed how to

• Centralize orders in a single view
• Use rules-based automation for order routing and carrier selection
• Maintain inventory accuracy across multiple locations
• Set buffer stock for peak seasons and promotions

A connected platform like Linnworks supports this with rules automation, partner integrations and unified inventory control—reducing manual load.

Implications for 2026

• Ops teams want clear plans for automation and visibility before adding channels
• Leadership will focus on on-time dispatch, reduced errors, efficient returns and true profitability per SKU
• Retailers want to become experts on how to link channel decisions, fulfillment choices and inventory controls in one system

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Trend 3: AI moved from ‘interesting’ to everyday operations

In previous years, AI content was “nice to know.” In 2025, our most used AI content showed practical ways to embed AI into daily retail operations.

AI for operations, not just marketing

Content that stood out

• Walked through specific AI use cases
• Addressed operations, merchandising and leadership concerns—not just marketing
• Focused on improving decisions and reducing manual checks

Retailers responded best to AI content that shows how to gain timely insights that drive actions.

How retailers used AI in 2025

Most used AI developed around

• Forecasting and demand planning: spotting shifts, tightening buy plans and reducing excess or stockouts
• Listing and catalog enrichment: improving product data, optimizing search results and catching issues before listings go live
• Exception and anomaly detection: identifying return spikes, drops in carrier performance or margin risks early
• Profitability and performance analytics: drilling down to SKU, channel and campaign level to guide promotions, delisting or repricing

Across all of this, Linnworks and AI partners help turn raw data into actionable insights for inventory, fulfillment and channel managers.

AI expectations for 2026

Retailers increasingly expect AI to work within current workflows—no extra effort or new systems required. AI must help answer, “Where are we leaking profit? Where are the risks?” without adding complexity.

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Trend 4: Vertical and cross-border playbooks stood out

Retailers want content that matches their specific challenges. Generic advice isn’t enough—industry and cross-region guides were popular.

Fashion and apparel leads by example

Our highest traction content in this vertical addressed

• High returns and exchanges
• Complex inventory management for size, fit and variants
• Seasonal inventory risks
• The importance of imagery and data consistency

Content that showed how these brands manage inventory, fulfillment and returns across channels drove the most engagement.

Cross-border selling became standard

Cross-border trade is now normal for scaling retailers. Some of the common themes of what resonated most with retailers this year

• Pinpointed regions and marketplaces by product type
• Set clear expectations for duties, taxes and landed costs
• Covered shipping, delivery and return standards for cross-border buyers
• Showed how to use marketplaces and 3PL partners to test new regions

Leaders weren’t just asking “should we expand?” but “how do we make it work without breaking existing operations?”

Planning cross-border expansion? Download our cross-border ecommerce guide and prepare your operations before launching in new regions.

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Trend 5: Profitability and unified data are now essential

Retailers are prioritizing results. The content that stood out in 2025 helped teams answer, “Are we actually making money on this?”

SKU-level profitability is now table stakes

Webinars and guides focusing on profitability analytics performed best when they highlighted

• Profit by SKU—not only by channel
• Impact of fees, returns, shipping and promotions on margin
• Marketplace mix and carrier decisions over time

Retailers want to know which SKUs to promote, deprioritize, adjust or remove to maximize profit and efficiency.

Linnworks and its analytics partners combine order, inventory, cost and performance data—helping you move beyond dashboards to real decisions.

Unified data matters more than more dashboards

Retailers want integrated visibility

• Orders, inventory, shipping and returns in one place
• Reporting that combines ecommerce, marketplace, wholesale and cross-border performance
• Focused on a few agreed metrics: on-time dispatch, cancellation rates, returns, contribution margin and profit per SKU or order

Want a better view of your margins? Watch our profitability and analytics session to see how retailers use unified data for better decisions.

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Turning 2025 signals into your 2026 strategy

The retailers making the most progress are focused—making fewer, more strategic moves and supporting them with operational strength. For your 2026 plans, start by testing your roadmap against these key areas

• Marketplace expansion: pick the two or three marketplaces that work for your region and industry. Plan operational requirements for each before committing.
• Operational readiness: every growth initiative changes workflows. What can you automate or optimize with rules—from routing and labeling to returns?
• AI in operations: identify the highest-impact areas for prediction or anomaly detection. Start your AI investments there.
• Profitability and visibility: agree on your essential metrics. Make sure everyone is working from a shared, reliable set of data and insights.

As you’re planning your 2026 roadmap, this Best of 2025 overview offers a clear checkpoint: are your operational investments keeping pace with your growth goals?

Recommended next steps

• Take the State of your commerce quiz to see where your operations stand heading into 2026
• Download the Shipping & Fulfillment Report 2025 to benchmark and optimize your operations before adding channels
• Explore our marketplace and cross-border guides to identify your best next moves