E-commerce sites that perform well in 2026 are no longer distinguished by their catalog or advertising budget. The playing field has shifted towards regulatory compliance, the technical architecture of the purchasing journey, and the ability to leverage first-party data seamlessly. Succeeding with your e-commerce site now requires mastering aspects that most guides only skim over.
GPSR and digital accessibility: two regulations changing the architecture of an e-commerce site
The General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) has been applicable since December 13, 2024, to non-food consumer products sold online, including second-hand and refurbished items. Specifically, each product listing must display traceability information, the name of the responsible manufacturer or importer, and an accessible reporting channel for consumers.
For an e-commerce site, this means revising product listing templates. A missing field can lead to the removal of the offer on compliant marketplaces, or even a direct penalty.
Digital accessibility has been mandatory since June 28, 2025 for B2C services in Europe. Online sales sites are affected: keyboard navigation, sufficient contrasts, textual alternatives for images, and order forms compatible with screen readers.
The French e-commerce community still underestimates this issue, even as case law begins to emerge regarding compliance failures. Merchants who share their technical feedback often find themselves at specialized events like https://www.bargento.fr/, where these compliance topics are regularly addressed.
The Digital Services Act adds an additional layer. Since February 17, 2024, it applies to any intermediary service, which includes e-commerce sites as soon as they publish customer reviews or host user-generated content. Moderation, algorithmic transparency, traceability of third-party sellers: the DSA is not just for large platforms.
Shopping journey and conversion: underutilized technical levers
The majority of articles on e-commerce trends list AI, social commerce, and green delivery. These topics matter, but the conversion rate often hinges on implementation details that no one mentions.
Checkout and payment methods
A lengthy payment process remains the primary cause of cart abandonment. We recommend limiting the checkout to a maximum of two steps after the cart. Guest checkout is no longer an option but a prerequisite.
On the payment methods side, offering at least three relevant local options makes a measurable difference in conversion. Credit card, digital wallet options like Apple Pay or Google Pay, and split payment cover the vast majority of preferences in France.
Web performance and mobile-first
An e-commerce site with a loading time exceeding three seconds on mobile loses a significant portion of its visitors before even displaying the first product. Google’s Core Web Vitals remain the benchmark to follow: LCP, FID (replaced by INP), and CLS.
- Compress product images in WebP or AVIF format, with systematic lazy loading on listings
- Reduce third-party JavaScript to the strict minimum (each analytics tag or social widget adds weight)
- Cache category pages and product listings via a CDN configured for dynamic content
A fast site converts better than a pretty but slow site. This is a trade-off that many merchants still get wrong.
Acquisition strategy: going beyond classic SEO for your online store
Natural referencing remains a pillar, but the landscape has changed. Generative search engines (SGE at Google, Perplexity, ChatGPT with browsing) are altering how consumers discover products. An e-commerce site optimized only for traditional blue links misses out on a growing portion of traffic.
Optimization for generative engines, sometimes referred to as GEO, relies on structured content, enriched product data (schema.org Product, Offer, Review), and direct answers to questions buyers have. Product listings written as simple supplier descriptions are no longer sufficient.
Google Merchant Center and product feeds
The Merchant Center plays a central role in the acquisition strategy. AI-driven Shopping campaigns (Performance Max, AI Max) directly depend on the quality of the product feed. Optimized titles, complete attributes, images compliant with guidelines, up-to-date prices: a poorly structured product feed sabotages the entire paid marketing strategy.
We observe that merchants who invest in a dedicated feed management tool achieve significantly better results than those who rely solely on their CMS’s native export.
Post-purchase customer experience: the neglected loyalty lever by most stores
The sale doesn’t end at payment. The delivery experience, order tracking, and return management constitute the last link in the chain, and often the most fragile.
- A clear confirmation email with a real-time tracking link reduces calls to customer service
- A readable return policy (not buried in the T&Cs) increases purchase confidence
- A simple loyalty program, based on concrete benefits rather than abstract points, drives repeat purchases
Customer reviews remain the primary reassurance factor before purchase. Collecting authentic reviews after each order, displaying them on product listings, and responding systematically is not surface-level marketing; it’s a direct conversion lever.
The cost of acquiring a new customer continues to rise across all channels. Focusing on retention and customer lifetime value is a more profitable investment than multiplying acquisition campaigns without caring for post-sale. An e-commerce site that masters its regulatory compliance, conversion funnel, and post-purchase experience has a structural advantage that is difficult for competitors to replicate.
