Consumer Electronics Trends 2025: Market Growth, AI & DTC Playbook

Global spending on consumer tech and durables is projected to hit $1.29 trillion in 2025, jumping 2% year over year. 

Yet the electronics industry outlook remains uneven: IDC now expects smartphone shipments to grow just 0.6% to 1.24 billion units for the year, while wearables and smart-home devices maintain mid-single-digit momentum. 

These crosscurrents define the consumer electronics trends coming into focus, like digitally led discovery, AI-powered personalization, and buy now, pay later (BNPL) checkout. At the same time, right-to-repair legislation is accelerating across the US and EU, with Texas poised to become the ninth US state to mandate spare-part access. 

Shopify equips electronics brands to thrive amid these changes. Nanoleaf doubled conversions after moving their headless storefront to Shopify, and gaming-audio leader Turtle Beach tripled DTC sales by unifying 11 regional sites into a single omnichannel retail stack. 

For enterprise electronics brands weighing platform changes, the numbers speak volumes. JB Hi-Fi grew online sales from $200 million to $1 billion after migrating to Shopify. Skullcandy completed their entire replatform in just 90 days, immediately cutting page load times by 70%. These migrations weren't just technical shifts—they freed technical teams to focus on innovation rather than maintenance.

Ahead, learn about the top consumer electronics trends to keep your company ahead of the curve. 

Global and North American market overview

Global market dynamics

The global consumer electronics market is forecast to reach $1.46 trillion in 2025 and expand at a 7.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2032, driven by steady demand for smart-home, gaming, and health-tech devices.

The Asia-Pacific region remains a major player, accounting for 38.1% of global revenue in 2024, thanks to China’s manufacturing base and a surge in the consumption of home appliances among younger generations across India and Southeast Asia. Ecommerce continues to capture a growing market share, taking roughly one in three consumer electronics dollars worldwide. 

However, geopolitical risk is nudging brands to shorten value chains. A 2025 survey of EU and US manufacturers found that local capacity is on track to rise to 41% of total production within three years (up from 37% in 2024), with 82% of companies actively reducing their reliance on Chinese suppliers.

North American market insights

Retail demand in North America is staying strong, despite looming tariffs. The US consumer technology sector is projected to log record retail revenues of $537 billion in 2025, up 3.2% year over year.

Looking at hardware alone, the wider North American consumer electronics market is expected to reach $256.6 billion in 2025 and grow at a 4.7% CAGR through 2033. Both online and offline channels matter, but digital is pulling ahead faster on the B2B side. 

Analysts estimate that the North American B2B ecommerce market will grow at an 18% CAGR from 2025 to 2034, with the region already accounting for ~39% of global B2B ecommerce revenue in 2024. That outsize growth potential makes wholesale and procurement marketplaces key channels for electronics brands looking to diversify beyond consumer retail.

Eight key consumer electronic trends

1. Digitally led discovery is the first step in customer journeys

Nearly three-quarters (72%) of consumers say they “almost always” start their search for electronic devices online. It’s the category that's most digitally researched among any retail vertical. Even for broader shopping, two-thirds of buyers begin on a search engine before completing an in-store purchase.

Social and creator channels are closing the gap with search. A 2024 survey found that 68% of US adults have already made purchases through social feeds, with projected spending topping $59 billion this year. Short-form video demos, influencer unboxings, and algorithmic “For You” suggestions now sit squarely in the mid-funnel and guide product consideration.

How can you improve your chances of being found?

• Be discoverable everywhere shoppers start. Prioritize structured product data, rich visuals, and schema markup so items surface in Google Shopping, TikTok Shop, Amazon, and price comparison engines.
• Own SERP real estate. Shopify’s SEO features and supported third-party apps help you optimize product detail pages (PDPs), support documents, and user guides to improve their visibility in search results.
• Leverage first-party data to out-target big marketplaces.Shopify Audiences uses aggregated, consented commerce signals to build high-intent lookalike lists for paid social and CTV, cutting customer acquisition cost (CAC) by up to 50% for early adopters.
• Turn discovery into a frictionless purchase. Features like Shop Pay one-tap checkout and dynamic Shop Minis let browsers convert inside social apps or creator landing pages without redirect lag.

Meet shoppers with the right content and express checkout wherever they first look, and you’ll set the tone for the entire customer journey. 

2. The role of in-store testing

A hands-on experience still matters for tech buyers, even in a digital-first world. A Criteo Q3 2024 global survey found that 44% of electronics shoppers prefer to physically interact with a device before buying. High-value categories like gaming headsets and smart-home hubs still rely on audio, haptics, or lighting demos that can’t be felt online.

And once they’re on the sales floor, shoppers keep their phones out. Some 64% have scanned a QR code in-store to pull up specs, reviews, or price comparisons. For brands, brick-and-mortar stores are still a moment of truth—but both physical and digital stories need to line up. 

Shopify’s unified commerce solution helps create and manage these omnichannel experiences. Serve an endless aisle where shoppers can test the demo unit, then buy any color or configuration you have in another warehouse or store. Staff can use the Ship-to-customer checkout in one tap on your Shopify POS. 

3. Desire for personalization

Customers want personalized shopping experiences at every turn. Brands that tailor content, events, and support to each shopper’s history and preferences will turn once-off browsers into lifelong customers. 

In fact, McKinsey found that 71% of consumers expect brands to personalize every touchpoint, and 76% report frustration when that doesn’t happen. Electronics buyers, in particular, reward brands that remember their specs and accessories. In 2023 Best Buy launched My Best Buy Plus and My Best Buy Total, bundling AI-driven product picks, member-only pricing, and 24/7 tech support.

4. Shift to self-serve experiences

Gartner predicts that 80% of B2B sales interactions will happen on digital channels by the end of 2025. A Forrester study also found modern buyers close more than half of high-ticket deals (greater than $1 million) through self-serve checkouts on vendor sites or marketplaces. 

If you’re selling B2B, you’ll want to meet Gen Z and millennial procurement teams in the right spaces. They don’t want a phone call or a trade show. Instead, they are looking for instant price lists, click-to-reorder, and other experiences similar to a B2C checkout flow. Fail to offer them, and you’re screened out long before a salesperson can intervene.

Shopify’s B2B suite lets brands run self-serve wholesale and DTC from a single admin. Create a B2B portal for your electronics brand that lets you:

• Control B2B accounts: Set up company profiles with customer-specific price lists, payment terms, and catalogs. Buyers can see the right SKUs, currency, and net terms the moment they log in.
• Enable fast reorders: Quick-order lists, saved carts, and CSV uploads cut checkout time from minutes to seconds.
• Create personalized storefronts: Display customer-specific content, banner messages, and promotions that give your portal a “white glove” service feel.
• Connect all your customer data: Pool data from your enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), warehouse management system (WMS), and more into Shopify’s unified data model to unlock real-time updates and analytics. 

For brands managing complex distribution networks, such as dealers, value-added resellers (VARs), and international distributors, Shopify's B2B tools also handle multi-tier relationships through:

• Hierarchical account structures mirroring your actual distribution chain
• Channel-specific pricing for different partner types 
• Automated approval workflows matching existing business rules

These capabilities are crucial for electronics brands looking to expand globally while maintaining consistent partner relationships.

5. Adoption of flexible installments

Demand for buy now, pay later (BNPL) continues to climb as shoppers look for budget-friendly ways to afford high-ticket tech. 

BNPL already captures 7.7% of online spending in the Asia-Pacific region. In the United States alone, BNPL payments are forecast to reach $122.3 billion in 2025, expanding 12.2% annually. 

And shoppers aren’t just splitting payments—they’re spending more when the option is there. Shopify’s own data show Shop Pay Installments can lift average order value by up to 50% and cut cart abandonment by 28%.

Nomad Goods, for example, offers “Pay in 4 installments” among their payment options. 

At a glance, shoppers can see:

• The interest-free, biweekly breakdown
• A clear “Continue to payment plans” CTA
• A note that installments are powered by Affirm and still earn Shop Cash rewards

Placing the flexible-payment callout alongside shipping-method choices and total order value normalizes BNPL as just another checkout option. Highlight installments before card entry to prevent last-minute sticker shock and cart abandonment.

6. Influence of social commerce and influencers

Consumers respond to real stories from people they trust. 

A 2025 Sprout Social survey found that more than one-third of consumers across all age groups prefer to search for product reviews and recommendations on social platforms first. And some 76% of participants say social content influenced a purchase in the last six months.

TikTok Shop is the single biggest growth driver in social commerce, with sales on the channel projected to reach $85.6 billion this year (up 19.5% YoY) and more than $100 billion in 2026.

The brands seeing the best results from this channel are showcasing key product features through authentic collaborations with public figures consumers know and trust. Think of Lady Gaga, The Weeknd, and Olivia Rodrigo recording music videos entirely with iPhones for Apple’s #ShotOniPhone campaign. 

Of course, your marketing budget might not stretch to Grammy winners. Don’t worry: a study from Bocconi University revealed an average return on investment of $1,000 on every $50 spent on collaborations with nano-influencers (those with fewer than 10,000 followers).

💡Looking for influencers to partner with on your next campaign? Use Shopify Collabs to discover, contract, and pay creators from one dashboard

7. Health and fitness tracking wearables

Wearables is one of the biggest consumer-tech categories, forecast to surpass the 100 million user mark in 2025—and more than one-third of all adults in the US already own a wearable device. 

Worldwide, shipment momentum also hit 534.6 million units in 2024, up 5.4% YoY, and are expected to keep climbing another 4.1% in 2025. The pure fitness-tracker slice alone should hit $72 billion in 2025, and keep compounding at nearly 19% annually through the decade.

But the real story isn’t in selling hardware. These brands pair sensors with software, coaching, and community to lock in lifetime value. 

Aneela Idnani kept her hair-pulling disorder hidden for 20 years. When her husband noticed bald patches, the couple set out to build a solution: Keen, a smart bracelet that vibrates whenever it detects the wearer’s trained hand movement (such as hair pulling, skin picking, nail biting).

The first prototype, fashioned from a Nintendo Power-Glove sensor, evolved into Keen2, a sleek, app-linked bracelet now sold on the Shopify storefront for their HabitAware brand. The system bundles:

• Gesture-detection hardware that delivers a gentle haptic alert
• An in-app journal and trigger analytics so users can spot patterns
• Optional peer coaching and online courses, transforming a one-time purchase into recurring revenue

HabitAware has shipped tens of thousands of devices worldwide and earned a spot on TIME’s “Best Inventions” list for providing real-time awareness that changes behavior.

8. AI-enabled wearables and devices

The wearable AI market was worth $39.7 billion in 2024, and is on track for a 27.7% CAGR through 2034. From rings that coach recovery to robots that vacuum dust, AI is turning devices into household teammates. 

Take a look at the Matic floor robot. This piece of technology uses AI mapping and obstacle avoidance to mop and vacuum autonomously after a single home scan. Dyson has also placed a big bet on robots that’ll be able to clean furniture and pick up plates by 2030.

If you’re getting into selling AI-enabled products, here are some tips for merchandising them:

• Show outcomes over specs. Pair each technical feature with a plain-language benefit, like “Energy Score → fewer groggy mornings,” or “LiDAR mapping → spotless corners.”
• Use interactive media. Offer 360-degree views, AR try-ons, or room-scale visualizers so shoppers can size the device or see data overlays in context.
• Address trust upfront. Dedicate a collapsible FAQ or badge row to privacy and data security. Showcase on-device processing, encryption, and opt-in sharing.
• Provide real-world examples. Include one or two customer stories (video or quote) showing how AI solved a pain point. People connect faster to lived experience than to benchmarks

Challenges for businesses

Product repairs ("right to repair")

Across the US, nine states including Colorado, Minnesota, California, and, most recently, Virginia, now require consumer electronics makers to supply independent repairers and end users with the same parts, tools, and firmware provided to authorized centers.

This could lead to higher after-sales costs. You have to hold parts in inventory for five years (typical requirement) and publish diagnostic documents. 

Electronics manufacturing practices

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs now cover packaging and/or electronics in all Canadian provinces and seven US states, with more on deck for 2026. Brands must finance collection and recycling or join a producer responsibility organization.

TikTok bans

Nineteen countries have either fully or partially banned TikTok. 

The dust is yet to settle on whether the social app, which is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese-founded company, is going to be permanently banned in the US.

Regardless of the outcome of TikTok’s pending US ban, this saga is an important reminder to brands of the importance of diversifying their social commerce strategy, especially if they’re trying to capture a market where TikTok is already banned.

HIPAA regulations

Wearable and health-app makers are typically outside HIPAA coverage, but are now squarely inside the scope of the FTC’s Health Breach Notification Rule. If a breach exposes individually identifiable health data, companies must notify users and the FTC within 60 days.

💡 Tip: State in PDPs and terms of service which metrics are collected and whether processing occurs on-device or in the cloud.

Rising costs

Material and labor costs were expected to remain “elevated for at least the next six months,” say North American manufacturers surveyed in January 2025. Margins are being pinched even as demand plateaus.

New US trade measures (e.g., the proposal to double steel and aluminum tariffs announced in June 2025) could further raise component prices and squeeze retailer markups.

Complex legacy system integration

Many electronics brands operate across hundreds of stores with deeply embedded ERP, WMS, and OMS systems—making platform integration a significant concern. Migrating to a new commerce solution often requires compartmentalizing core business functions like pricing, product, and fulfillment, and syncing them in real time.

Skullcandy's experience is telling: "I challenged the team with an aggressive timeline: to go live within just 90 days. Initially, there was concern. But once we kicked off, everybody quickly saw a path to 'This is actually going to happen,'" says Evin Catlett, VP of global ecommerce.

JB Hi-Fi integrated over 200 stores' worth of inventory, pricing, and product data using Shopify's API architecture. "We can break up the problem space, from pricing and product, all the way to fulfillment. Shopify fits in with that architecture really well," explains Simon Page, CIO.

💡 Tip: Evaluate whether your platform offers flexible GraphQL and REST APIs to connect to enterprise software like SAP, NetSuite, or custom OMS tools.

Opportunities for consumer electronics brands

Focus on direct-to-consumer strategies

Owning the storefront means owning the margin, the data, and the customer relationship. 

Brands that move to Shopify’s unified stack see fast wins: Nanoleaf doubled conversion after going headless, and Turtle Beach tripled DTC sales by consolidating 11 regional sites on Shopify Plus. Even hardware giant Corsair is investing in a headless Shopify build to power their multi-category catalog. 

A DTC channel also insulates brands from retail-partner margin squeeze and gives them first-party data for lifetime marketing.

Importance of customer retention

Paid media keeps getting pricier, with customer acquisition costs up 222% since 2013.

Hanging on to each hard-won buyer is now the key to profit, so brands are rolling out tiered memberships, early-access drops, and points that can be redeemed for accessories. Shopify’s third-party loyalty apps help you launch these sticky programs without custom code.

Embracing omnichannel integration

Some 70% of shoppers spend more with brands that deliver a smart, fully integrated omnichannel retail experience, and the average buyer now touches 11 different channels on the path to purchase.

Shopify keeps those channels in lock-step—one back end for web, marketplaces, social, and POS—so brands can fulfill anywhere shoppers land. The lesson is straightforward: unify inventory, checkout, and customer data across every touchpoint, and higher basket sizes and repeat buys follow naturally.

Leveraging personalization and customer loyalty

With Shopify, you can build personalized experiences around any sales channel with unified first-party data. Route purchase, browsing, and in-store data into a single customer profile and send tailored product recommendations, deals, and support. Use Shopify Subscriptions to create memberships that mirror Best Buy’s model, but keep all the checkout data inside your Shopify admin. 

Elevating PDPs with rich media experiences

For technical products, comprehensive visualization is crucial. Shopify's native media capabilities allow electronics brands to transform basic product pages into immersive experiences that rival in-store demonstrations.

Leading electronics brands now include:

• Multi-angle product videos showcasing key features and size context
• Interactive 3D models that customers can rotate and explore
• AR capabilities that place products in customers' environments
• Comparison widgets showing feature differences between models

With Shopify's 3D media support and AR Quick Look capabilities, brands can create these immersive experiences without specialized development resources.

Capitalizing on emerging categories

As mentioned, smart-home tech is exploding, and domestic robots are close behind. 

Shopify helps innovators in these fast-moving niches come to market quickly. You can leverage 3D/AR product media, Hydrogen-powered headless storefronts, and Native Subscriptions to turn complex IoT or robotics launches into click-to-buy experiences. 

Importance of speed to market

Speed inevitably beats scale. HVAC titan Carrier now launches new commerce sites in 30 days—90% faster than previously—and at 10% of the previous cost after migrating to Shopify. Lower total cost of ownership means electronics brands can test product-market fit or regional storefronts quickly, then double down before the next tech cycle turns.

Outpacing legacy platforms

Consumer electronics brands migrating from platforms like Salesforce Commerce Cloud, SAP Hybris, BigCommerce, or Adobe Commerce report immediate differences:

• Peak traffic: JB Hi-Fi handled 2x their previous Black Friday volume without issues (their legacy platform had crashed for two hours during peak)
• Feature deployment: Skullcandy cut product launch time from 36+ hours to under 30 minutes
• Integration: Direct API connections to enterprise systems without custom middleware
• TCO: HVAC brand Carrier launches sites 90% faster at 10% of previous costs

Shopify removes unnecessary complexity—we now focus on customer experience, not infrastructure.

Minimize migration risk, speed up time to value

Migrating to Shopify doesn’t mean hitting pause. Skullcandy replatformed from BigCommerce in just 90 days—cutting homepage load times by 70% and launching new products in under 30 minutes. Shopify supports phased rollouts, region-specific launches, and full integration with ERP, OMS, and CRM systems via GraphQL and REST APIs.

Stay wired in or get left behind

Consumer electronics is a moving target. Regulations tighten, channels flip, and new device classes emerge every year. Brands that track the shifts, like AI-powered personalization and flexible payments, can take advantage of every shift. 

Anchor your strategy in first-party data, merge every channel into one source of truth, and iterate at the pace of new technology. With a unified commerce stack like Shopify, you can ship new products before the next trend takes off.