The average basket is declining, transactions are increasing, and regulatory obligations are multiplying. Succeeding in an online business in 2026 no longer relies on the same levers as it did two years ago. The models that perform today incorporate technical, legal, and behavioral constraints that most guides overlook.
Agentic commerce and visibility in AI responses
Buyers now use artificial intelligence to search for products, compare options, and prepare for a purchase. This behavior changes the acquisition logic: visibility in AI agent responses becomes a distinct channel from traditional SEO. An e-commerce site can be well-positioned on Google and completely absent from the responses generated by a conversational assistant.
The difference lies in the structuring of product data. AI agents leverage schema.org tags, complete technical sheets, and factual descriptions. A vague marketing label (“the best solution for your needs”) does not feed any agentic engine. We recommend treating each product sheet as a queryable database: price, dimensions, compatibilities, delivery times, return conditions.
Consumer trust decreases when AI is involved in payment, identity, or sensitive data. Publishing information about personal data processing and accepted payment methods on every transactional page enhances credibility with both agents and users. We observe that sites that clearly separate the research phase (where AI is welcome) from the payment phase (where humans want to maintain control) convert better.
To closely monitor these developments, the news from Business Hack regularly covers the concrete impacts of AI on online sales models.
Digital accessibility: legal obligation and conversion lever
Since June 28, 2025, the European Accessibility Act applies to e-commerce services aimed at consumers. This directive (EU) 2019/882, transposed into French law, requires making the purchasing journey usable for people with disabilities, publishing an accessibility statement, and providing a reporting channel for blockages.
Microenterprises providing services benefit from an exemption under certain conditions. For all other structures, non-compliance exposes them to sanctions and, above all, a loss of traffic. An inaccessible journey is a broken conversion tunnel for a significant portion of visitors.
Technical points to check as a priority
- The color contrast on action buttons and form fields, which remains the most common flaw in standard e-commerce themes.
- Keyboard navigation throughout the entire checkout tunnel, from the cart to payment confirmation.
- Text alternatives for product images, including visuals of variants (color, size) that are often overlooked.
- Compatibility with screen readers for dynamic filters and JavaScript cart updates.
Treating accessibility as a one-time project is a mistake. Every theme update or feature addition can break compliance. We recommend integrating an automated audit into the deployment pipeline.
Retention strategy in the face of declining average basket size
In the second quarter of 2026, e-commerce transactions increased by 13.5% while the average basket size declined by 4.3%, to €59.70. This discrepancy has a direct consequence on profitability: the cost of acquisition per order weighs heavier when the amount collected decreases.
Focusing solely on acquisition in this context is like filling a bucket with holes. Subscription models, tiered loyalty programs, and upselling mechanics become the real margin levers. A recurring customer costs a fraction of the price of a new customer acquired through advertising campaigns.
Upselling and subscription: what works concretely
Subscription is not limited to monthly boxes. Automatic replenishment (consumable products), premium access (exclusive content, priority delivery), and personalized bundling based on purchase history generate recurrence without forcing the customer into a rigid format.
Effective upselling relies on timing. Offering a complementary product at the moment of adding to the cart converts better than a follow-up email three days later. Platforms that display the recommendation on the cart page with an explicit gain (“add X to qualify for free shipping”) achieve measurable results.
Tax on small packages and logistical repositioning
The European tax on small packages is changing the habits of French consumers. For an online business, this means that low-value products imported from outside the EU lose their price advantage. Dropshipping from non-European suppliers is directly impacted.
This context favors companies that work with French or European suppliers. Beyond regaining price advantage, short delivery times and logistical traceability meet a growing expectation from buyers. Affiliate marketing for products sourced in France is becoming more relevant against less competitive Chinese catalogs.
We also observe a shift towards digital services (online training, premium content, SaaS software) that inherently escape logistical constraints. For entrepreneurs starting with a limited budget, selling a service or digital product remains the most resilient model against regulatory changes in physical commerce.
Online business in 2026 is driven by three indicators: the share of recurring revenue, the accessibility score of the conversion tunnel, and presence in AI agent responses. Entrepreneurs who track these metrics rather than just traffic volume gain an edge in a market where total revenue is increasing but where each order brings in less.
