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 behaviour captured more sales. As a result, behaviour-based automated emails generated 25 per cent of total email revenue from just 1.7 per cent of sends.
“What we saw in 2025 reflects the broader US economy – growth came back, but it didn’t reach everyone,” said Marty Bauer, e-commerce 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 behaviour had a clear advantage, while others found it harder to keep up.”
Omnisend’s 2025 study shows US e-commerce orders grew 147 per cent year over year, but growth was concentrated, with the top 5 per cent of brands driving over half of gains.
Shoppers clicked marketing less often but converted and spent more when they did.
Automation and behaviour-based messaging proved critical, generating outsized revenue from fewer, higher-intent interactions.
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 US 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 behaviour.
Year over year, performance showed meaningful gains in revenue efficiency despite softer engagement at the top of the funnel. Average order value increased 22 per cent, rising from $149 to $182, while average revenue per email grew 17 per cent, from $0.08 to $0.10. Conversion efficiency improved substantially, with email click-to-conversion up 51 per cent from 5.0 per cent to 7.69 per cent, indicating stronger post-click performance. However, these gains occurred alongside a 33 per cent decline in email click rates, suggesting fewer clicks overall but higher-quality traffic that converted at a much higher rate.
“Clicks became harder to get in 2025, but they also became more valuable,” said 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.”
The data shows that many of the fastest-growing US brands used automation to respond to customer behaviour in real time. As shoppers became more selective, brands that reached customers when they were already close to buying saw better results.
“Brands that relied on automation weren’t trying to convince people to buy – they were responding when customers had already shown intent,” added 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.”
This report has analysed e-commerce 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.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR)
