Omnisend Study: Ecommerce Orders Doubled in 2025, With the Top 5% of Brands Driving Over Half of Growth

Ecommerce order volume grew 98% year over year in 2025, across all channels, according to a new report from Omnisend. Analysis of 150,000 ecommerce brands found that growth was uneven across the market. The top 5% of brands generated 57% of total order growth, showing that demand was concentrated among a relatively small group of brands during the year.

Omnisend’s marketing data helps explain this shift. Shoppers clicked on marketing messages less often, but when they did, they were much more likely to buy and spend more. With fewer chances to reach shoppers, timing became more important, and brands that could react quickly to customer behavior captured more sales. As a result, behavior-based automated emails generated 30% of email revenue from just 2% of sends.

“What we saw in 2025 reflects the broader economy – growth came back, but it didn’t reach everyone,” says Marty Bauer, Ecommerce Expert at Omnisend. “After years of inflation and uncertainty, people were still willing to spend, but they were much more intentional about where they spent their money. Brands that were able to react quickly to customer behavior had a clear advantage, while others found it harder to keep up.”

Shoppers engaged with marketing less often, but bought more when they did

Marketing performance data from Omnisend shows that quality mattered more than quantity. While it became harder to earn clicks, each interaction was more valuable. Brands generated more revenue from fewer engagements, reflecting a shift toward more intentional shopping behavior.

Year over year:

• Average order value from email rose from $123 to $276
• Average revenue per email increased by 80%, from $0.10 in 2024 to $0.18 in 2025
• Email click-to-conversion increased by 53%, rising from 5.9% to 9.0%
• At the same time, click rates declined across Email by 39%

“Clicks became harder to get in 2025, but they also became more valuable,” says Marty Bauer. “Shoppers were more selective, but when they did engage, they were ready to spend more. That’s why fewer interactions still produced more revenue — each click carried more intent than it did before. That shift rewarded brands that focused on efficiency and relevance, rather than volume.”

Behavior-based marketing captured a disproportionate share of revenue

The data shows that many of the brands that grew the fastest used automation to respond to customer behavior in real time. As shoppers became more selective, brands that reached customers when they were already close to buying saw better results.

Key automation findings:

• Automated emails generated 30% of total email generated revenue while representing just 2% of email sends
• Automated emails earned $2.87 per send, compared to $0.18 per send for scheduled campaigns
• Automated messages delivered higher conversion efficiency across all channels:
  • Email click-to-conversion rate: automated – 31.2% ; scheduled – 9.0% 
  • SMS click-to-conversion rate:  automated – 3.8% ; scheduled – 0.9%
  • Push click-to-conversion rate: automated – 28.9% ; scheduled – 4.5%

“Brands that relied on automation weren’t trying to convince people to buy – they were responding when customers had already shown intent,” says Marty Bauer. “In a year when attention was limited and shoppers had more options than ever, that approach worked better. Automated messages performed well because they fit naturally into how people shop today, rather than interrupting them.”