The ecommerce sector has experienced significant change over the past decade and 2025 was no different. At Prolog the year ended with our busiest and most challenging peak period that was also our most successful. This was, at least in part, due to our understanding of the drivers affecting the sector and our ability to evolve in line with these.
At the heart of these changes is, as ever, the customer. Consumers now shop fluidly across social platforms, mobile devices and websites. They expect real-time availability, rapid delivery, transparent tracking, and effortless returns. They no longer distinguish between channels and expect the same pricing, availability, and service whether they’re shopping on Instagram, a mobile app, or in-store.
This has profound implications for fulfilment as inventory can no longer live in silos, order management cannot be channel-specific and visibility must be real-time and unified. At Prolog we support both B2B and B2C through unified, omnichannel models with an approach that integrates inventory, order management, and delivery visibility across all sales channels into a single operational ecosystem.
We are also seeing the growth of immersive Shopping through AR and VR2025 saw augmented and virtual reality move further into the mainstream. Virtual try-ons, 3D product visualisation, and digital showrooms are designed to improve conversion rates while reducing returns. However, these tools also increase order volumes and SKU complexity, placing greater demands on fulfilment operations. Communication with our customers around their plans in this area have been key to our ability to respond.
There have been some high-profile examples this year of how problems with speed, returns, and transparency can cause brand damage.Same-day and next-day delivery are no longer premium offerings, they are baseline expectations. Customers want precise delivery windows, proactive communication, and frictionless returns. The increase of social media means that any failings are documented and shared – in some cases going viral and/or being picked up by mainstream TV and media. With regard to returns, I believe that they have become a defining part of fulfilment. How quickly a refund is processed can have a huge benefit for customer loyalty. For our retail customers, how efficiently an item is reintegrated into stock, and whether resale is possible all directly impact margin and loyalty. Getting it right is an important win.Peak is important but it’s not the be all and end all.
In our industry we often hear that companies live or die by their success during the peak period from Black Friday to Christmas and certainly we handled higher volumes than ever before. However, the post-Christmas limbo, the days between Dec 26-30 creates a unique mix of pressures. They are among the highest return-volume days of the year, as customers send back or exchange unwanted gifts. At the same time, shoppers are diving into online sales and spending gift cards. With sales starting as early as Christmas Day this year, in 2025 there were four full days of ordering before fulfilment and delivery restarted on the 29th. This is exacerbated by the fact that many operations, including carriers, are running with fewer people on the ground, as teams understandably take time off after the peak Christmas run-up. It is important not to take your eye off the ball come Christmas Eve lunchtime!
In addition 2025 showed us that buying behaviour has generally become more volatile and less predictable outside these traditional timeframes. For example, a TikTok campaign can go viral overnight, or a live shopping event can outperform forecasts by multiples. Seasonal peaks are sharper, faster, and less forgiving. As a result, demand can be fragmented, unpredictable, and it is always on! Fulfilment solutions must be built to absorb this complexity - not just react to it.
As a result, scalability is at the heart of any fulfilment solution.Perhaps the biggest shift over the past few years and particularly this year that I have seen is the need for fulfilment operations to be able to scale both up and down, fast! Different channels peak at different times and viral moments don’t respect forecasts. At peak periods, we’ve seen clients exceed projected volumes by more than 200%. The ability to absorb that demand without compromising accuracy, speed, or experience is fundamental now.
This year more brands realised that personalisation doesn’t end at the checkoutOne of the most overlooked opportunities in e-commerce is fulfilment-led personalisation and this year at Prolog we saw a huge upturn in demand for these services. Packaging, presentation, inserts, samples, sustainability choices are all details that shape how a brand is perceived and remembered. The unboxing experience is often the only physical interaction a customer has with a digital brand, and it carries a disproportionate emotional weight.
Finally, the benefits of having the right specialist fulfilment partners are being realised. Increasingly there is an understanding that fulfilment directly influences customer experience and loyalty, revenue protection, operational scalability and ultimately long-term growth and success. Finding the right partner is critical.