Cyber 5 2025: Digital shelf lessons for ecommerce leaders

We’ve just released our Cyber 5 2025 report, and I want to share what stood out most and what it means for the digital shelf. The headline is simple. You don’t need more traffic to grow, you need better execution.

Traffic fell -15% year on year, yet ordered revenue still rose +12%, driven by a +40% lift in Average Selling Price ASP. Brands also pulled back ad spend by -23% and still improved ROAS by +59%.

The playbook that emerged was clear. Price with discipline, protect availability, and buy media for efficiency.

Five digital shelf lessons for ecommerce leaders

Leverage these five lessons learned from Cyber 5 2025 to ramp up your brand in the 2026 ecommerce landscape.

Lesson 1: Act for intent, not volume

Fewer shoppers showed up, but the ones who did were ready to buy. Average conversion held flat versus baseline, even as daily behaviour swung between -4% and +4%, a sign of more reactive, high-intent audiences.

That puts pressure back on the basics. Compelling PDPs, fair pricing, and accurate in-stock signals. Digital shelf analytics help surface content, price, and stock gaps before they cost conversion.

Lesson 2: Price with discipline

Price, not volume, was the biggest driver of growth. Market-wide ASP lift accelerated from +25% to +40%, reflecting a shift towards higher list prices. To soften the impact, discount depth increased to 3% over baseline, up from 0% last year.

Those discounts were offset by efficiency gains elsewhere. Ad spend fell -23%, ROAS improved +59%, and margins held flat. Price with discipline by governing pricing consistently across retailers, applying rule-based discounts selectively to unblock conversion, and keeping every pricing decision aligned to margin targets using digital shelf analytics.

Lesson 3: Protect availability or pay the OOS tax

Availability was a quiet differentiator. Revenue loss from out-of-stocks fell -54% year on year, from a +420% baseline lift to +194%, pointing to better demand-supply alignment during the peak. Lower levels of casual browsing likely helped, but the upside went to brands that kept high-ASP winners in stock.

Protect availability by using digital shelf analytics to spot emerging OOS risk, suppress paid placements when items aren’t available, and prioritise replenishment for proven performers.

Lesson 4: Buy smarter media convert known intent

Media strategy followed the same efficiency theme. Teams moved away from acquisition and leaned into conversion. Total ad spend declined -23% year on year, CPC fell -14%, and ROAS improved +59%. Budgets shifted towards Sponsored Display and retargeting, which grew +87% year on year, while coverage stayed focused on high-ticket drivers.

Buy smarter media by reallocating spend towards in-market demand, backing top-performing, high-ASP items, and stepping out of auctions when CPC pressure starts to erode returns, with digital shelf analytics connecting shelf readiness to media decisions.

Lesson 5: Orchestrate in real time with unified signals

What separated the strongest performers was speed. Flat average conversion paired with volatile swings, higher ASPs, lower OOS losses, and a shift towards retargeting rewarded teams that could act in the moment. That only happened when digital shelf analytics were combined with pricing, supply, and media signals.

Orchestrate in real time by centralising data, automating price rules and OOS suppression, shifting budgets programmatically, and keeping pages retail-ready through continuous compliance monitoring.

The 2026 mandate

Cyber 5 2025 made one thing clear. An intent-first, efficiency-led approach can deliver more growth with less spend and less traffic. Price with discipline. Protect availability. Buy smarter media. That’s how you win the shelf when it matters most.

Read the full Cyber 5 2025 report or request a demo to see how these insights translate into action.  

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