Every year, long reports land in inboxes. Packed with insight, but heavy going and they’re tricky to find time to read if you have other things to do (like your actual job).  We’ve done the work for you, distilling SimilarWeb’s 2025 State of eCommerce report into the trends UK eCommerce brands need to act on; TL:DR style. 

The headline: 

Large Language Models (LLMs) are emerging as new referral engines, and mobile apps are increasingly where consumers browse and buy. 

The UK is already ahead of the curve in adopting this shift, particularly in Beauty and Home & Garden.

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LLM Referrals: More Than a Blip

• AI referral traffic is booming — SimilarWeb reports that global visits from AI platforms topped a billion in 2024 and are climbing steeply into 2025.
  
  
• Content dominates — around three-quarters of LLM referrals go to blog posts, guides, and information-rich pages. Product pages barely register, leaving a wide-open opportunity.
  
  
• Sector hotspots — Beauty & Personal Care and Home & Garden are among the fastest-growing verticals for LLM referrals. In both categories, UK retailers are outperforming global peers, with a bigger share of discovery now flowing from AI assistants.
  
  

This shift matters because it rewards brands with content depth, not just products on shelves. A buying guide or tutorial is more likely to get surfaced in ChatGPT or Perplexity than a lone product listing.

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Source: https://www.similarweb.com/corp/2025-state-of-ecommerce/ 

Mobile Apps: The Transaction Battleground

• Mobile is where purchases close — desktop still drives research, but mobile apps and mobile-optimised sites now account for the lion’s share of completed sales. This is a complete reversal of the paradigm from ten years ago, where the opposite was the case and ‘the sale’ always closed on desktops.
  
  
• Apps capture attention — in the UK, fashion, grocery, and homeware apps are pulling ahead, driving retention and repeat purchase.
  
  
• Owned space — an app isn’t just a channel; it’s owned territory. Brands can use push notifications, loyalty, and personalised journeys to drive more value than through the browser.
  
  

What UK eCommerce Brands Should Do Now?

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Why the UK is Ahead

The UK’s dense retail landscape, high digital literacy, and early experimentation with AI in content and retail tech mean brands here are already benefiting. In sectors like Beauty and Home & Garden, UK retailers are punching above their weight in capturing LLM referral traffic.

This isn’t a case of “watch and wait.” It’s happening now, and the early adopters are already visible where others aren’t.

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Source: https://www.similarweb.com/corp/2025-state-of-ecommerce/ 

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The Bottom Line

Search still matters. But discovery is fragmenting. LLMs are gatekeepers of inspiration, and mobile apps are where baskets are checked out. For UK eCommerce brands, the smart move is to treat these not as side-channels, but as central to strategy. Those who do will build visibility — and revenue while competitors play catch-up.

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