As U.S. online merchants prepare for the peak holiday shopping season, new U.S. findings from the 2026 DHL eCommerce Trends Report reveal a key disconnect: merchants are investing in the right areas but may underestimate how much delivery choice, speed and transparency influence purchase completion. The findings highlight opportunities to close gaps in delivery, inventory visibility and AI-powered experiences.
With 93% of U.S. consumers identifying as convenience-driven shoppers, delivering a fast, reliable, and transparent experience matters, especially when holiday demand puts added pressure on inventory and delivery networks.
The findings also highlight what businesses can do to build more resilient e-commerce supply chains during periods of elevated demand. Inventory visibility, flexible delivery options, real-time communications and access to scalable logistics networks emerge as critical capabilities for managing seasonal demand surges, reducing cart abandonment and maintaining customer satisfaction during peak periods.
10 key findings for the holidays:
Black Friday and Cyber Monday remain essential retail events. Ninety-three percent of merchants run special promotions during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, while 69% expect sales associated with the events to increase over the next five years.
Shoppers continue to trust seasonal offers. Eighty-three percent of merchants believe online shoppers completely or mostly trust retailers’ offers and prices during seasonal holidays, compared with 77% reported in the 2025 U.S. findings.
Product availability remains a critical conversion challenge. Sixty-eight percent of U.S. shoppers say they abandon purchases when products are out of stock or unavailable, closely aligning with the 69% of merchants who report shoppers abandoning baskets for the same reason. Maintaining accurate inventory visibility and improving demand forecasting can help businesses reduce lost sales opportunities and strengthen resilience when order volumes increase unexpectedly.
Merchants may be underestimating the importance of delivery options. While 66% of U.S. shoppers say they abandon purchases when delivery offerings don’t meet their expectations, only 48% of merchants report delivery offerings as a reason shoppers abandon their baskets, an 18-percentage-point gap.
Same-day delivery is gaining importance for shoppers and merchants. Fifty-seven percent of U.S. shoppers say they want same-day or faster delivery and returns in the next five years. Meanwhile, 46% of merchants plan to prioritize same-day delivery over the next 12 months, while 54% plan to prioritize next-day delivery. Investment in faster delivery capabilities can help businesses maintain service reliability and customer satisfaction even as e-commerce volumes rise during seasonal peaks.
Real-time visibility matters before and after checkout. Forty percent of U.S. shoppers want real-time inventory updates and back-in-stock alerts, while 46% of merchants plan to invest in real-time delivery tracking and communication over the next 12 months. The findings point to growing demand for greater visibility both before and after checkout.
AI adoption is growing, but shoppers want trust built in. While 68% of merchants currently use AI for personalized experiences, convenient solutions, and analytics, 64% of shoppers say privacy, trust, and security are their biggest concerns around AI, and 46% want AI-powered fraud detection.
Discounts and free delivery remain powerful conversion tools. Fifty-nine percent of merchants use discount offers to support basket conversion, followed by free delivery at 58%, up from 52% in the 2025 U.S. findings.
Social commerce is becoming a core sales channel. Seventy-five percent of merchants allow shoppers to browse and buy through social media, compared with 69% that reported selling through social media in the 2025 findings. Facebook is the most widely used social sales platform at 88%, followed by Instagram at 79% and TikTok at 76%.
Logistics innovation is central to future competitiveness. Sixty-six percent of merchants want their logistics provider to offer same-day or faster delivery and return services over the next five years. Another 51% want personalized delivery and return windows, including bundled deliveries that can lower the carbon footprint, while 48% want more parcel shops and locker locations.
“Peak holiday season doesn’t just test demand; it tests the resilience of a company’s supply chain. Our research shows that shoppers are looking for more than a good deal. They expect products to be available, delivery to be fast and flexible, and the entire experience to feel easy and reliable. Businesses that invest in inventory visibility, delivery options, and real-time communication are better positioned to maintain customer trust and performance when volumes surge,” said Scott Ashbaugh, CEO, DHL eCommerce, Americas.
