Building your 2026 eCommerce Roadmap
Your 2026 eCommerce Roadmap may not feel like a high priority in Q4, when you’re focused on fulfilment rather than forward planning – which makes complete sense.
But the earlier you start shaping your 2026 digital strategy, projects and budgets, the easier it becomes to hit the ground running when January lands.
Here’s how eCommerce teams can plan before 2025 closes to set themselves up for a strong 2026.
1. Lock in Your 2026 Technology Priorities
Whether it’s search, recommendations, fulfilment or integrations, you’ll want to consider what’s top of your tech priorities list.
Key areas worth considering:
- Integrations & automation (ERP, WMS, marketplace connectors)
- AI-powered workflows and product listing automation
- Checkout improvements (faster, mobile-first, frictionless)
- Data consolidation & reporting upgrades
- Fulfilment optimisation and shipping logic
2. Ensure Your eCommerce Roadmap Budgets for a More Competitive Market
It’s no big surprise that the costs of running a business are going up – 2026 is likely to bring higher customer acquisition costs, competition across paid ads, and more sellers adopting AI and automation.
Your 2026 eCommerce roadmap will need to consider how they allocate budgets, ensuring more investment goes into:
- Efficiency tools (automating manual processes)
- Omnichannel presence (new marketplaces, international reach)
- Customer lifetime value (repeat purchase programmes, loyalty)
- Conversion improvements rather than pure traffic
3. Strengthen Your Omnichannel Foundation
Customer journeys in 2026 will be even more fragmented across marketplaces, web stores, and social commerce. To compete, you’ll need a backend setup that ensures:
- Listings, stock and pricing sync across every channel
- Centralised reporting that gives a single source of truth
- Fulfilment workflows that can expand with demand
- Fewer manual processes (because manual breaks at scale)
Brands that sort their infrastructure out now will be ready to take advantage of new opportunities next year – without the operational strain.
4. Identify Opportunities to Expand Your Channel Mix
Marketplaces keep evolving, and sellers should be looking for their best opportunities to expand their reach. This might mean considering things like new European channels, niche and category-specific marketplaces, or US expansion when building your 2026 eCommerce roadmap.
Planning now helps you:
- Forecast listing volume
- Assess margin impact
- Prepare fulfilment options
- Integrate new channels on the front foot instead of reactively
5. Build Your 2026 Improvement Roadmap
As a good rule of thumb, teams can use December to map out:
- What to fix
- What to upgrade
- What to automate
- What to stop doing
- What to invest in
- What to experiment with
Laying the groundworks for your 2026 eCommerce roadmap in Q4 will mean what’s working vs what isn’t working will be fresh in your mind, and you’ll be ready to hit the ground running in 2026.
If you’re looking to streamline your infrastructure, improve integrations or prepare your omnichannel setup for 2026, Volo can help. Our platform connects your marketplaces, stores, inventory, orders and data in one place – giving you the visibility and control needed for the year ahead.
