2026: Investing in a tight economic context.

The current economic context reminds us of a simple truth that is sometimes forgotten in the excitement of digital: every euro spent must have a measurable impact. Between persistent inflation, tightening budgets, and increasing competition, we see many e-commerce companies finding themselves at a strategic crossroads. Should they continue investing to avoid falling behind, or slow down to preserve cash flow? The right answer is probably somewhere in between.
Many continue to pile on tools, subscriptions, and miracle solutions without really questioning the overall coherence. A new personalization tool here, a recommendation solution there, a more powerful CRM, a next-generation marketing automation platform. And in the end, you end up with a technical stack that looks like a stack of layers, each added to meet a one-off need without a global vision.
So how can you continue to innovate, invest in the right levers, while keeping a vigilant eye on your finances? That is exactly what we want to talk about today.
Rethinking omnichannel to stop burning budget
We have been hearing about omnichannel for years. But frankly, how many companies actually do intelligent omnichannel rather than just accumulating channels? Because there is a huge difference between being present everywhere and creating a true continuity of experience.
Omnichannel is not about installing tablets in stores or offering click and collect just because everyone does. It’s about delivering the right message at the right moment in the customer journey, regardless of the touchpoint. It’s about recognizing your customer wherever they are and offering a coherent experience. A customer who just bought a specific piece of sports equipment in-store should not receive a generic email the next day promoting unrelated products.
The real problem with perfect omnichannel is that it is extremely expensive. It requires a unified customer vision, unified stock, a perfectly synchronized catalog across all channels. These projects are long, complex, and require significant technical and human resources. Few companies have McDonald’s-level means to deploy full omnichannel across all fronts.
So what should you do? We advise our clients to make strategic choices. Identify the customer journeys that truly matter to your business, those that create the most value, those that genuinely differentiate you from competitors. And focus your investments on these journeys rather than trying to be everywhere in a mediocre way.
Take a concrete example we observed. A company specialized in a technical sector understood that its real competitive advantage lay in its ability to guide the customer end-to-end on a complex journey. Where pure players could not provide physical advice, and networks of independent stores struggled to offer a smooth digital experience, this company created a perfect bridge between in-store advice and online purchase.
The customer books an appointment online for personalized in-store advice. The advisor uses a tablet to precisely configure the product according to the customer’s needs. This configuration can be finalized immediately in-store or sent to the customer’s cart for a later online purchase. In the latter case, the customer finds exactly the configuration defined with the advisor, without risk of error. Complex, configured products are sold online, where competitors remain stuck with standard products.
This type of approach requires targeted technical investments, but the ROI is clear because it addresses a real customer need and creates a genuine competitive advantage. This is how we see intelligent omnichannel in 2025. Strategic and differentiating presence.
Technical complexity is a hidden cost
Let’s now talk about something that is too rarely discussed: the hidden cost of technical complexity. Everyone looks at software license costs. It’s easy to calculate, it’s a line in the budget. But what really impacts the finances of many companies is the complexity that accumulates over the years.
This complexity often comes from good intentions. You have a specific business need, you adapt a solution to meet it. Then another need arises, you develop a custom solution. Then another. Gradually, you end up with an architecture so specific, so convoluted, that even minor changes become a monumental project. Every update requires days of development. Every new feature requires checking that it won’t break three other things. And your teams spend more time maintaining the existing system than innovating.
We regularly see companies trapped in this vicious circle. They have invested so much in customizations over the years that they cannot go back without breaking everything. Meanwhile, competitors who made simpler choices advance much faster.
So how to avoid this trap? The question to ask systematically is: does this technical adaptation really create a significant competitive advantage, or can we do it differently?
We assisted a brand that had locked itself into an extremely heavy technical architecture, the result of several years of successive adaptations. Their site was indeed highly customized, but each evolution took months. They made the courageous choice to start over on a much simpler platform, accepting the loss of some specificities. The interface now has essential features perfectly executed, optimized data flows, and above all, regained scalability. Their sales increased not despite this simplification, but because of it.
Conversely, some market-leading companies absolutely need this technical complexity because it is at the core of their business model. For them, technology is not a cost but a strategic investment that generates additional revenue and reinforces their dominant position. A giant marketplace obviously cannot rely on a standard solution without compromising operational efficiency.
The real question is therefore not whether to be for or against technical complexity, but to know precisely in which areas this complexity provides a real advantage. If you are behind the market and need to catch up on standard features, adopt proven solutions and focus resources elsewhere. If you are ahead and your differentiation relies on unique technical capabilities, then invest in custom solutions.
AI, yes, but not just anywhere
Artificial intelligence is on everyone’s lips, and we understand the enthusiasm. The possibilities are real and some applications are truly transformative. But we also see many companies diving headfirst into AI without really considering the concrete value it brings.
AI excels in very specific areas. It is excellent at processing large volumes of data, identifying patterns, optimizing repetitive processes, and personalizing at scale. It can analyze your inventory and predict restocking needs with remarkable accuracy. It can finely segment your customers and adapt messages according to their behavior. It can automate part of your customer service for simple, recurring questions.
But AI also has its limits, and it’s important to understand them. It does not create emotion. It does not really tell a story. It cannot replace human creativity when it comes to building a strong brand identity. We have all seen AI-generated ads that are technically impressive but completely soulless. They create no emotional connection with the viewer.
Another, more insidious limitation of AI is the loss of control it can cause if too much responsibility is delegated. If your entire architecture relies on AI decisions without real human oversight, how do you detect when it goes off course? How do you take back control if necessary? Imagine a customer service AI starts recommending irrelevant products for several weeks. How long before you notice? What impact on your customer relationship?
Our recommendation is to use AI where it truly excels, in operational and measurable areas, but to keep humans in charge for strategy, creativity, and brand experience. Use AI to optimize inventory management, extremely relevant. Use it to personalize product recommendations based on browsing behavior, excellent. But do not entrust it with creating your visual identity or defining your brand positioning.
And above all, do not fall into the trap of AI for AI’s sake. We see companies adding AI features everywhere just because it’s trendy, without really measuring impact. Before investing in an AI solution, simply ask: what concrete problem does this solve, and what measurable value does it bring to my customers or organization?
Building your 2025 strategy: The right questions to ask
So concretely, how do you build your e-commerce strategy for 2025 in this tight economic context? We advise our clients to start with a few simple but fundamental questions.
First question: what truly differentiates us from our competitors? Not what we would like to differentiate us, but what our customers actually perceive as our unique value. If your differentiation relies solely on price or fast delivery, you are at risk because you play on ground where others are structurally better equipped. But if you have real expertise, genuine customer support, a strong brand identity, a unique experience, then focus investments on strengthening these advantages.
Second question: do our technical tools allow us to execute our strategy, or do they hold us back? Be honest in your diagnosis. If each new feature requires months of development, if your teams spend their time providing support rather than innovating, if you cannot easily add a new sales channel, you probably have a technical architecture problem. And this problem will only worsen if not addressed.
Third question: what are the essential customer journeys where we must excel? You cannot be excellent everywhere with limited resources. Identify the three or four journeys with the most impact on your business, where your customers truly expect something from you, and which create the most value. Invest heavily in these journeys rather than sprinkling resources everywhere.
Fourth question: is our data an asset or a liability? Do you have a unified view of your customers? Can you easily analyze their behavior and personalize their experience? Is your data secure and compliant? If not, this is probably where you should prioritize investment, because without clean, well-governed data, all other investments will have limited impact.
Fifth question: where can AI bring us real measurable value? Do not succumb to the AI-everywhere trend. Identify concrete use cases where it can solve a real problem or create real value. Stock optimization, recommendation personalization, customer service automation for simple queries. These applications make sense. But keep humans in charge of strategy, creativity, and customer relationships.
We are convinced that you should not stop investing in e-commerce just because the economic context is difficult. On the contrary, it is often in these moments that gaps widen between those who continue to move forward intelligently and those who freeze..
In 2025, the major risk for many e-commerce companies is mediocrity. Doing what everyone else does, being everywhere without really shining anywhere, having the same tools as competitors configured the same way, offering the same standardized experience.
This mediocrity is insidious because it does not kill you overnight. You continue to exist, to sell, but gradually you become interchangeable. And in a world where customers have instant access to all alternatives, being interchangeable is an extremely fragile position.
We encourage our clients to aim for the opposite: to become remarkable on a few key dimensions. Remarkable through customer support. Remarkable through smooth omnichannel experience. Remarkable through expertise and guidance. Remarkable through a strong brand identity. Remarkable through exceptional after-sales service. You cannot be remarkable everywhere. But you can and must be on the aspects that truly matter to your customers and align with your strengths. This is where your priority investments should focus.
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