By Ellie-Rose Davies, Content Manager at IMRG

 

Peak can make almost every dashboard look positive. Traffic rises, promotions launch and sales begin to build, but these signals do not always tell retailers whether they are attracting valuable demand or creating profitable growth.

 

We asked IMRG members what they see as the biggest tricks, treats and telling signs in eCommerce right now. Their responses explore the quality of traffic, the role of product information, pricing, profitability, fulfilment, delivery and returns.

 

Not every visit is a buying signal

 

As Peak approaches, rising traffic can be encouraging. However, shoppers may still be researching, comparing products and moving between different websites before they decide to buy.

 

Managing Director at RTB House, Przemek Wyszynski, says ‘One of the biggest ‘tricks' in eCommerce right now is assuming every click tells you something meaningful about purchase intent.’

 

‘Our European Shopping Trends report shows that only 27% of consumers buy on their first site visit, while 75% visit more than one website before making a purchase.’

 

Przemek reveals that ‘As retailers approach the peak period, traffic volumes and clicks only tell part of the story.’

 

‘Understanding how advertising influences shoppers throughout their journey, from initial awareness to eventual conversion, will help retailers make smarter decisions and maximise opportunities during the peak shopping period.’

 

This longer path to purchase means that the source and quality of traffic matter as much as the volume being generated.

 

For Alexandros Karagiannis, Founder at Lezzat, the growing role of AI makes it even more important to look beyond sessions.

 

He says, ‘The biggest trick this quarter is mistaking traffic for momentum. Cheap clicks and AI-referred visitors inflate sessions while conversion quietly slides, so a busy dashboard hides a weak quarter.’

 

‘The genuine treat sits in your own data: brands combining their marketplace search and conversion data with AI are making sharper product and range decisions than any trend report allows.’

 

Alexandros shares, ‘The telling sign to watch is whether your product information is clean and machine-readable.’

 

‘As AI increasingly does the discovering, retailers with structured, accurate product data will be surfaced and chosen. The rest will simply be skipped, no matter how good the product is.’

 

AI-led discovery adds a further layer to how traffic is understood. It also places more importance on the information available about each product.

Justin Thomas, VP Sales - EMEA North, at Akeneo, tells us that ‘As AI increasingly influences product discovery and comparison, traditional measures of search visibility and website visits may become less reliable indicators of demand.’

 

‘The treat is the opportunity to reach better informed shoppers with more relevant products, accurate pricing and compelling promotions, but this depends on having complete, consistent and trustworthy product information that both consumers and AI can understand.’

 

Justin says, ‘The telling signs will be changes in conversion rates, traffic sources, product engagement and returns, revealing whether retailers are attracting more qualified customers or simply generating more noise.’

 

The message is not that traffic has become unimportant. It is that retailers need to understand what happens after the click, and whether their activity is bringing them closer to a valuable sale.

 

Making better use of the demand already available

 

Once retailers have a clearer view of their traffic, the next consideration is where to focus investment. With competition and advertising costs rising, generating more visits is not always the answer.

 

Joe Appleton, Head of Performance at Shoptimised says, 'The biggest challenge for retailers right now isn't necessarily generating more traffic; it's making that traffic profitable.’

‘With increasing competition and rising advertising costs, simply spending more on Google Ads isn't always the answer.’

Joe recommends that ‘One trick retailers shouldn't overlook is using a Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) to potentially reduce CPCs and make budgets go further.’
‘The bigger opportunity lies in existing product catalogues. Retailers often have thousands of products, yet advertising budgets tend to concentrate on a relatively small percentage of them.’

Joe recommends, ‘With Black Friday approaching, I'd encourage retailers to look beyond their bestsellers and identify products with untapped potential.'

 

The same principle applies to pricing. A rise in sales may suggest that a promotion is working, but it does not necessarily show whether the additional orders are profitable.

 

Hemang Nathwani, Sales Director, Price Trakker says, ‘Headline sales growth can be misleading during Peak if it comes from deeper discounts rather than stronger demand.’

 

‘Retailers can look at margin, conversion and availability together, and compare like-for-like products rather than reacting to every competitor promotion.’

 

Hemang shares, ‘The opportunity is to be selective: identify where a price adjustment could win a profitable sale and where stock availability or delivery provides enough value without discounting.’

 

He tells retailers to ‘Watch how competitors' prices and stock positions change through Q4, alongside your own basket and checkout behaviour. Those signals can help distinguish a genuine market shift from a temporary promotion that does not justify matching.’

 

Looking beyond bestsellers and competitor promotions could help retailers identify where demand can be converted into profitable growth, rather than simply adding to the volume of activity.

 

Connecting demand with operational readiness

 

The value of a sale is also shaped by what happens behind the scenes. More traffic and stronger conversion can create problems if product information, stock availability or fulfilment capacity cannot support the additional demand.

 

Kevin Steward, UK Country Head at Base.com reveals ‘At Base.com, we encourage retailers to connect demand with operational readiness: accurate product information, reliable stock availability and delivery promises that reflect fulfilment capacity.’

 

‘Before increasing advertising spend or deepening discounts, check which products and channels generate margin after marketplace fees, shipping and returns.’

 

Kevin says, ‘Watch conversion alongside cancellations, dispatch times and stock discrepancies.’

 

‘These signals can reveal where sales are creating avoidable costs. Retailers can prioritise fixing those gaps now, so additional Peak demand translates into sustainable growth rather than more manual work for teams.’

 

These checks become particularly important when orders are spread across Black Friday, Christmas and the weeks in between. fulfilmentcrowd also warns that a successful Peak cannot be judged by revenue alone.

 

fulfilmentcrowd expresses how ‘Peak can be a deceptive period for retailers. Revenue might rise during Black Friday and Christmas, but that doesn't necessarily translate into stronger profits.’

 

‘Discounting, poor fulfilment or a surge in January returns can all quickly eat into margins.’

 

They similarly recommend that retailers ‘look beyond headline sales figures and pay closer attention to cost-to-serve, return rates and profitability across individual products and channels.’

 

‘The real measure of a successful peak isn't simply how many orders you generate, but how efficiently you fulfil them and how much value they ultimately deliver.’

 

They leave retailers with a core message: ‘Record sales mean little if the margins disappear soon afterwards.’

 

The customer journey continues after checkout

 

Being visible across channels and converting demand is one challenge. Meeting expectations once an order has been placed is another.

 

Gavin Murphy, CMO at Scurri notes, ‘The trick this Peak season is assuming faster delivery always means happier customers.’

 

‘Many shoppers will accept longer delivery times in exchange for lower charges, making choice and transparency more important than speed alone.’

 

‘The treat is the opportunity to win international customers, provided retailers stay abreast of changing customs regulations and shipment compliance requirements.’

 

Gavin shares, ‘The telling sign will be what happens after the first order. Peak promotions may attract new customers, but delivery determines whether they return.’

 

‘Retailers can monitor delivery costs, service performance and post-purchase engagement, recognising that the delivery experience can turn seasonal shoppers into loyal customers.’

 

The post-purchase experience can also expose risks that are not visible in the original order data. In returns, a small percentage can represent a significant financial cost at scale.

 

Liselotte Reijrink, Sales Director at ReBound Returns, says, ‘The trick in returns is that fraud looks small.’

 

‘A fraud rate of 5% seems manageable, but with average return rates at around 20% of sales, and set to rise further over peak season, the losses quickly add up.’

 

‘Our analysis found that a mid-market retailer with £100 million in annual sales and a 5% fraud rate faces a projected £1 million loss each year. For a large omnichannel retailer that rises to £3.5 million, and at enterprise scale, returns fraud would cost a retailer £20 million yearly.’

 

Liselotte says, ‘The telling signs are in the data. For example, the longer a customer holds a product before returning it, the greater the risk of fraud.’

 

‘Normal returns have a median lead time of 9.5 days, for potentially fraudulent returns it almost doubles to 18 days.’

 

‘Retailers understandably don’t want to spook genuine customers and risk damaging loyalty,’ reflects Liselotte.

 

‘Behavioural analysis and risk scoring at the point of return, physical verification at hub level, and connected data across channels catch fraud before it becomes a loss, without slowing down the returns process.’

 

In summary

 

Traffic, sales and order volumes can all rise during Peak, but none of these figures provides the full picture on its own.

 

Retailers also need to understand the quality of their demand, the margin generated by each sale, the products and channels creating value, and whether their operation is ready to fulfil orders efficiently.

 

Delivery, returns and post-purchase behaviour will then show whether that demand has created lasting value. Looking beyond the headline numbers could help retailers distinguish genuine opportunities from activity that simply creates more cost.

 

Published 12/11/2026