Almost two weeks on from Re:commerce 2025 and we’re still buzzing from the deep insights we gained from our expert speakers, as well as the engaging discussions we had with our wonderful attendees and sponsors.
We think 2025 was our best event yet and, judging from the feedback we’ve received so far from attendees, everyone who was at The Ham Yard Hotel agrees.
So, if you attended or even if you missed out, check out these five key takeaways from Re:commerce 2025.
AI is THE number one subject on people’s minds
It should’ve been no surprise, but the impact of artificial intelligence and large language models on ecommerce marketing dominated the conversation this year.
A lot of our speakers touched on AI and LLMs as part of their talks, but Crystal Carter, Head of SEO Communications at Wix, majored on this subject during her talk, specifically Generative Search visibility and how to optimise for this emerging channel.
For decades, SEOs have had to know which on-page and off-page factors will get their websites ranking in search results for the searches that matter most to them—now, they also need to know how to structure their content to give it the best chance of being referenced in LLM responses.
During her talk, Crystal pointed out that LLMs received a tiny fraction of global search traffic in Q1 2024, but that this increased by 1619% in just 12 months.
Of particular interest to ecommerce marketers was Crystal’s explanation of ChatGPT’s recently announced Shopping Results feature. When ChatGPT detects shopping intent in a query, it selects products to display based on a mix of factors:
- ‘Prompt intent analysis’ (user intent and context)
- What ChatGPT ‘remembers’ about the user
- Structured metadata including price, product description and reviews
These features are in the early stages, but it’s something you need to get on top of sooner rather than later, and you can now sign up to be notified when ChatGPT Product Feed submissions open.
Our first keynote speaker, journalist and author Andreas Ekström, also demonstrated some really interesting (and possibly a little scary, if you’re a musician) things AI can already do.
A big fan of Album-oriented Rock (think REO Speedwagon, Foreigner and Journey), Andreas treated us to a song he’d created in an app called Suno. It had all the trappings of a classic AOR track, including the vocal style and melodic guitar riffs.
Andreas then played our audience a video introducing himself in multiple languages, including Spanish, French and Japanese—except Andreas cannot speak fluently in any of them. They were AI-generated based on his likeness and a basic script, which could undoubtedly have numerous uses for multilingual teams.
The point Andreas was making here was to not focus on the technology behind a product, but the use case. ‘AI’ might be the latest buzzword in marketing, but brands still need to think critically about how to use it effectively and in a way that will resonate with their customers.
Andreas used the example of Google Glass as a cautionary tale. Launched in 2013, Google Glass was a massive commercial flop, but it was the product that was a failure—not the technology behind it. Today, that same augmented reality technology is being used in Google modern products that have proved to be a success.
A keynote at an SEO conference can make us emotional
Andreas also discussed an AI tool he hadn’t used—a software programme that could simulate his late-grandfather based on letters and photographs.
Andreas spoke with an incredible openness about his relationship with his grandfather that had the entire Re:commerce audience transfixed, a more than a little misty eyed and contemplating a very important question: at what point might AI go too far?
Search is a behaviour, not a channel
Bethan Vincent, founder of marketing consultancy Open Velocity, explained how we need to think differently about search, seeing it as a behaviour rather than simply another marketing channel, and offered a new definition:
“Search is the iterative, emotional and context-driven behaviour by which people navigate uncertainty, gather meaning and move toward decisions.”
Bethan made the point that search doesn’t start with a query, but memory, and that even before Zero Click search 82% of users chose a familiar brand for the first click. So, the question is, are you even on their radar to begin with? This requires people knowing you exist, having credibility and having a clear USP from the competition. Search is only a small part of the journey, and we need to prioritise influencing customer behaviour to ensure they’re searching for our brand in the first place.
That might not sound groundbreaking, but as marketers we lose sight of these basic tenets too often, instead focusing on search visibility metrics as an indication of ‘success’.
This was emphasised during James Miller’s talk: The Evolution of Ecommerce Content and What the Future Holds.
“Shoppers seek trust, social proof and immersive experiences,” said James.
“They want to see real-world usage, authentic reviews, and rich media that help them visualise the look, feel and value before committing to a purchase.”
James also provided some great examples of rich media to include on product pages to drive higher conversions, including 360-degree visuals, in-scale images and product demonstration videos.
Focusing on audiences is key to Digital PR success
Shannon McGuirk joined Re:signal as Digital PR Director back in October, and during her talk reflected on her years of experience working in PR to explain how relevancy has taken over from virality in terms of impact and importance.
“I stood on stages sharing tips and tricks on how to get campaigns to go viral,” Shannon explained.
This included some of the most commonly used formats for ecommerce digital PR campaigns, such as interactive maps, ranking indexes, dream job competitions and surveys
“What I ddin’t realise at the time, was that I was promoting the wrong behaviours with virality,” said Shannon.
“Scale this approach across an industry, and we’re at risk of media over-saturation.”
This is why relevancy is now centre stage, especially for ecommerce brands, but this still too often focused on links and outreach at the expense of topical relevance. Relevancy should be a given in digital PR campaigns, not simply a buzzword, which also allows us to focus on our audiences—and when we do that, topical relevance and offsite trust signal quality comes naturally.
Shannon refers to this approach as Persona-driven PR, and provided a framework for building it out:
Re:commerce has established itself as a must-attend event for ecommerce marketing professionals
Boasting nine incredible speakers and seven in-depth roundtable sessions, Re:commerce 2025 has been getting rave reviews from attendees, and we think it has established itself as a must-attend event for any marketing professional interested in ecommerce and omnichannel retail.
We’d like to thank all of our wonderful speakers once again for helping us to make a fantastic event: Andreas Ekström, Gillian Ridley Whittle, Crystal Carter, Shannon McGuirk, Bethan Vincent, Azeem Ahmad, James Miller, Aleyda Solis and Miya Knights.
We’d also like to thank our sponsors: Launch, SearchPilot, BeBettor and Advanced Web Ranking. Click here to find out more about sponsoring future events.
Want to be a part of Re:commerce 2026?
Re:commerce might’ve only been a couple of weeks ago, but we’re already excited to get started planning next year’s event.
If you’d like to be among the first to hear about Re:commerce 2026, including access to exclusive Early Bird offers, register your interest below.
