The French e-commerce sector surpassed 196 billion euros in 2025, with a 7% increase year-on-year. Behind this figure lies a less visible shift: services are now driving growth much more than physical products, and the average basket size is declining. For an online business, these two signals change the hierarchy of priorities.
Declining average basket size and leading services: what e-commerce figures reveal
The average basket size has fallen to 62 euros in 2025, down 3% year-on-year. Shoppers are placing more orders but spending less with each transaction. For an online store selling products, this means that margins per transaction are tightening, especially if logistics costs remain fixed.
At the same time, services accounted for 120.3 billion euros compared to 76.1 billion for products. Services grew by 9%, while products grew by 4%. Training, subscriptions, bookings, support: these models avoid shipping costs and better support recurrence.
An entrepreneur launching an online business in 2026 should seriously compare the cost per order of a physical store with the net margin of a service offering before choosing their model. Competitors who list dropshipping or print-on-demand as primary options often overlook this structural data. To delve deeper into the analysis of different digital business models, you can visit the Informations Web site, which regularly covers these topics.
AI agents and declining organic traffic: a tangible risk for online stores
AI-generated summaries in search results are changing user behavior. When an AI summary appears at the top of the page, a traditional result is clicked only 8% of the time, compared to 15% without that summary.
An e-commerce site that relies on organic search to generate sales may see its organic traffic nearly halved on certain informational queries. Highly descriptive product pages (comparisons, technical specifications) are the most exposed, as AI extracts the answer directly from them.
Adapting content strategy in response to AI summaries
The solution is not to produce more content, but to create content that AI cannot summarize in three lines. Field feedback varies on this point: some e-commerce merchants bet on very long and technical buying guides, while others focus on video content or interactive formats (configurators, quizzes) that cannot be easily summarized in a text box.
Time is still needed to identify the most profitable strategy in the medium term. However, one point is unanimous: relying on a single acquisition channel has become a measurable risk. Diversifying across social media, email marketing, partnerships, and direct traffic is no longer generic advice; it is a response to a quantified threat.
Digital accessibility: a legal requirement since June 2025
Since June 28, 2025, e-commerce sites must comply with digital accessibility requirements. This obligation does not only concern large companies. It also affects small online stores as soon as they offer services to the public.
Accessibility covers concrete elements:
- Sufficient contrast between text and background, keyboard navigation possible without a mouse
- Alternative text on product images, subtitles for promotional video content
- Order forms compatible with screen readers used by visually impaired individuals
Integrating these constraints into the technical specifications from the creation of the site is much cheaper than retrofitting an existing site. Online store creation tools (Shopify, WooCommerce, Prestashop) offer compliant themes, but the configuration remains the responsibility of the merchant.
Online sales and social media: social commerce beyond the buzz
Shopping features integrated into social media (Instagram Shopping, TikTok Shop, Pinterest) are transforming these platforms into direct sales channels. The shopping experience is shortened: the customer discovers a product in their feed and completes the order without leaving the app.
Limits to know before investing
Social commerce generates impulsive purchases, often with low basket sizes. The return rate is generally higher than on a traditional e-commerce site because purchases are made with less consideration.
Three criteria should be checked before betting on this channel:
- The unit margin must absorb a return rate higher than the average of the main site
- The product must be shown in a few seconds of video (complex services convert poorly in these formats)
- The chosen platform must match the actual age range of customers, not the assumed one
Social commerce works better as a complement than as a unique channel. Companies that perform well use it to attract new customers, then redirect them to their own online store for repeat business.
Customer data and analysis tools: manage rather than guess
With the proliferation of sales channels (site, marketplaces, social media, email), collecting and utilizing customer data has become a direct competitive advantage. Analysis tools allow tracking of acquisition costs by channel, repurchase rates, and customer lifetime value.
A profitable online business monitors its KPIs by channel, not its overall revenue. A store that generates 60% of its sales through a high-commission marketplace may show growth while losing money.
Current trends push towards automating these analyses through artificial intelligence, but field feedback varies on the reliability of automatically generated recommendations. A simple dashboard, updated weekly, remains more useful than a poorly configured sophisticated tool.
The online business market in 2026 no longer rewards the early movers, but those who measure, adjust, and choose their battles. The growth of e-commerce masks deep disparities between business models, acquisition channels, products, and services. These trade-offs condition profitability from the first months of activity.
