Checkout Experience Scorecard — Coming Soon
An interactive tracker assessing Europe's top e-commerce brands on checkout simplicity, payment options, cart recovery, and post-purchase experience.
Key E-Commerce Trends — 2026
⚡ Checkout
One-click checkout is no longer a luxury — it's an expectation
Brands that haven't simplified payment flows are losing 20–30% of carts at checkout. BNPL, digital wallets, and one-click options are now baseline expectations for shoppers under 45.
🏷️ DTC Strategy
DTC brands are doubling down on owned data as third-party signals disappear
With cookie deprecation accelerating, leading DTC brands are investing in zero-party data strategies — quizzes, loyalty programmes, preference centres — to rebuild the personalisation layer.
📱 Mobile Commerce
Mobile now drives 68% of e-commerce traffic — but conversion still lags desktop
The mobile traffic / mobile conversion gap persists. Brands closing this gap with app-first checkout and biometric authentication are seeing 18–35% lift in mobile conversion rates.
🤖 AI Personalisation
AI-driven product discovery is separating the top quartile from the rest
Retailers using AI for real-time product recommendations and dynamic search are seeing 2–4× higher basket sizes. The gap between adopters and laggards is widening fast in 2026.
↩️ Returns
Free returns are becoming a brand liability — and retailers are finally acting
With return rates hitting 25–40% in fashion e-commerce, brands are introducing returnless refunds, size guarantee tools, and paid return tiers to protect margins without losing loyalty.
Available for
Interim management & consulting services in retail, e-commerce, and business transformation across Europe.