Omnisend Ecommerce Study: U.S. Orders Jumped 147% in 2025; Top 5% of Brands Drove Majority of Growth

• Ecommerce orders across all channels in the United States grew 147% year over year in 2025, but that growth was uneven. The top 5% of brands generated 54% of total order growth, showing that gains were concentrated among a relatively small group of high-performing businesses.
• One reason was a shift in shopper behavior. Americans interacted with marketing less often, but when they did, they showed higher buying intent — shoppers who clicked on promotions were 51% more likely to buy than the year before, and they spent 22% more per order.
• With fewer chances to reach customers, brands that could respond to buying intent in real time captured more demand. As a result, behavior-based automated emails generated 25% of total email revenue from just 1.7% of sends, consistently outperforming scheduled campaigns.

CHARLESTON, S.C., Jan. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Ecommerce order volume across all channels in the United States grew 147% year over year in 2025, according to Omnisend's eighth annual ecommerce marketing study. Analysis of tens of thousands of U.S.-based SMB ecommerce brands' sales activities across channels¹ shows that growth was uneven across the market. The top 5% of brands accounted for 54% of total order growth, indicating that demand concentrated among a relatively small share of brands during the year.

Omnisend's marketing data of emails, SMS messages and push notifications helps explain this shift. American shoppers clicked on marketing messages less often, but when they did, they were 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 25% of total email revenue from just 1.7% of sends.

"What we saw in 2025 reflects the broader U.S. 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 for U.S. brands. 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 rose from $149 to $182, a 22% increase
• Average revenue per email increased by 17%, from $0.08 to $0.10
• Email click-to-conversion increased by 51%, rising from 5.0% to 7.69%
• At the same time, email click rates declined by 33%

"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 fastest-growing U.S. brands 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 25% of total email revenue while representing just 1.7% of email sends
• Revenue per automated email send: $2.01
• Revenue per scheduled email send: $0.10
• Automated messages delivered higher conversion efficiency across channels:
  • Email click-to-conversion: automated 27.05%; scheduled 7.69%
  • SMS click-to-conversion: automated 3.61%; scheduled 0.89%
  • Push click-to-conversion: automated 17.88%; scheduled 3.22%

"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."

Methodology
¹This report analyzes ecommerce performance across 150,000 brands, based on 27 billion emails, 321 million SMS messages, and 458 million push notifications sent globally using Omnisend in 2025. Overall ecommerce growth was measured using total order volume across all sales channels, while email, SMS, and push performance was based on messages sent through Omnisend. Automated and scheduled messages were analyzed separately to reflect their different roles in the customer journey. Year-over-year comparisons measure 2025 performance against the same periods in 2024, and brands were included in growth calculations only when comparable data was available. Growth concentration analysis shows how much total growth was driven by the fastest-growing brands.

More: https://www.omnisend.com/2026-ecommerce-marketing-report/

About Omnisend
Omnisend is an email & SMS marketing platform with a suite of features made specifically to help ecommerce stores grow their online businesses faster. One-click integration with major ecommerce platforms, pre-made automation & email templates, and award-winning 24/7/365 live customer support make it easy for brands of any size to sell more – all without the exaggerated cost.

Email & SMS marketing shouldn't require a PhD. That's why 150,000 customers trust Omnisend's powerful, easy-to-use platform.

For further information, please contact:

Matas Duda, Senior PR Specialist, [email protected]

SOURCE Omnisend