E-COMMERCE

By FedEx | First published: February 16, 2024  Updated: April 23, 2025

Social shopping – the space where e-commerce and social media meet – has transformed the e-tail environment. Get the lowdown on the emerging trends shaping online shopping in Asia in 2025.

• For e-commerce brands, staying on top of online shopping trends is non-negotiable if you want to stay ahead of the curve.
• The growth of social shopping – a mix of e-commerce and social media – has led to emerging trends across many Asian markets, reshaping how people shop online.
• From the rise of AI to live commerce, 2025 is shaping up to be a transformative year for e-tailers everywhere.

Since the earliest days of social media, brands have been looking for ways to monetize their presence on popular platforms. And when it comes to shopping, the line between e-commerce and social media is becoming increasingly blurred. 

That’s because both online sellers and the social platforms they use share a common goal: to make purchases within social platforms completely seamless.

But are they getting it right?

4 social shopping trends e-tailers should focus on in 2025

E-tailers have been quick to expand their footprint across social media. Today, social shopping is a major revenue stream for many businesses, with the global social commerce market expected to hit $2 trillion within this year.

At FedEx, we work closely with regional SMEs, whose smart investments in social commerce have resulted in explosive business growth. Through in-depth interactions with these enterprising e-tailers, we’ve identified four key trends to tap into as the social shopping space matures.

1. A better end-to-end social commerce experience

A conventional social commerce strategy sees e-tailers publishing social media posts to promote their products. Next, they encourage customers to purchase by tapping a link to an external sales platform.

It works, but the process is full of friction – and it’s often where many potential buyers drop off. However, barriers to shopping on social platforms have fallen drastically with the launch of in-app functionalities like TikTok Shop, which enables e-tailers to build entire storefronts on social platforms.

The infrastructure to place orders and make payments securely is embedded within the social platform itself. This has long been the norm on Chinese social media platforms such as Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and WeChat. With sophisticated in-app shopping features, buyers can browse mini stores and shop directly from live-stream videos.

This advanced level of social commerce has traditionally been slow to take off on Western social media platforms. Unsurprisingly, the most successful in-app execution has been TikTok Shop, with both buyers and sellers praising the platform’s intuitive algorithm and easy-to-use features. Global platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and Pinterest are now racing to enhance their in-app shopping features to capture similar buyer and seller interest.

On these channels, e-tailers benefit from sophisticated recommendation engines designed for maximum engagement. By monitoring users’ content consumption habits, social platforms can tailor shoppable content and products to each user. And as AI becomes more integrated into platform operations, we’re going to see ultra-precise, personalized recommendations that drive up purchase success.

SMEs investing in seamless, frictionless purchase streams on social will benefit from lower cart abandonment and more opportunities to sell from social shopping.

2. Customer engagement goes omnichannel

Social platforms aren’t just a medium for customers to discover and buy products. With built-in messaging features, they’re also powerful channels for e-tailers to interact with customers pre- and post-purchase.

Think answering product questions, sending timely order updates, providing after-sales support, and more. Popular social messaging apps in the Asia-Pacific region include WhatsApp, WeChat, Zalo, and LINE. However, managing chats across multiple platforms can pose a challenge and take up time.

In response, e-tailers are investing in omnichannel messaging tools to streamline communication. And in 2025, agentic AI is supercharging e-commerce brands’ ability to connect with customers like never before.

Tools like CM.com and SleekFlow can consolidate chats from different channels into a single inbox, allowing e-tailers to manage conversations in one place. From a central inbox, e-tailers can deliver responses directly to the customer’s channel of choice. This results in a smoother chat experience with faster response times, regardless of which platform a customer initiates a query from.

At FedEx, we’re also seeing growing consumer demand for in-app messaging. E-tailers using our FedEx Delivery Manager International solution can send their customers delivery notifications via WhatsApp.

Recipients can chat with us to check on the status of a package or customize their shipment experience by redirecting deliveries.

3. Bringing virtual interactions to life with live commerce

Social shopping has its roots in livestreaming, a trend that took much of Asia by storm when it launched in China in 2016. Since then, it has evolved into a form of shoppertainment, delighting prospective buyers with personal attention and service.

E-tailers interact with customers in real time through flash sales, live auctions, product demonstrations, and question-and-answer sessions. The explosive rise of platforms like TikTok also means that more consumers are primed for this kind of interactive sales experience.

Livestreaming is a one-to-many format that allows e-tailers to reach large audiences at once, but its direct-to-camera approach can feel surprisingly intimate. Brands can connect with customers to address concerns on the spot and close deals while purchase intent is high. 

Almost five in 10 Southeast Asian consumers surveyed by Milieu Insight say that they watch livestream sales at least once a week. E-commerce brands can take advantage of the popularity of livestreams to capture more sales in these markets.

4. Transforming user-generated content into seamless shopping opportunities

It’s every brand’s dream when consumers post about their products simply because they love them. This type of user-generated content (UGC) is not only free, but also created organically, making it feel far more authentic to customers than paid advertisements.

As one study of Indonesian consumers has shown, high-quality UGC can be a strong purchase influence, even if those posting aren’t product experts. 

This trend is being fueled by Gen Z, who prefer to follow the recommendations and endorsements of ‘nano-influencers’. In markets like Singapore, Gen Z consumers spend their shopping dollars on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, often watching hours-long livestreams featuring KOCs (key opinion customers).

As e-tailers recognize the power of earned UGC, we’re seeing brands add value by making their UGC assets shoppable. With tools like Emplifi and Reviews.io, retailers are creating UGC galleries tagged with featured products. Users who click on these posts can buy directly, without needing redirection to an external online store.

One more thing: savvy e-tailers don’t wait for UGC to appear. They craft social campaigns with the potential for virality in mind. With good fortune and timing, these campaigns can spark waves of UGC that can be curated and tagged to boost sales.

How small businesses can get ahead in 2025

SMES can tap into a combination of these trends to grow their businesses. Delivering on each one will help create an intuitive, personalized customer experience. 

Proactive exploration of different channels and AI-driven tactics will make it easier to win customers and build stronger relationships. As e-commerce growth continues to soar, social shopping can help SMEs scale up and reach new markets.

To get your e-commerce business off the ground and find the right shipping solutions, head here.