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Every year brings something new to the shipping industry. 2025 has been particularly tumultuous, with numerous changes caused by new tariff laws and market shifts.
The current shipping trends are dictated by numerous factors: international relations, the global economy, customer expectations, and the reality of e-commerce markets. As an online store owner, it is crucial to stay updated on the latest news and adjust to stay ahead in the game.
At Octolize, we constantly analyze the global shipping industry to keep our customers informed and our solutions efficient. We have used our experience to compile a list of the top 12 global shipping industry trends we expect to dominate the market in 2026.
See what you can expect from the shipping industry to make sure your strategy for 2026 is seamless and your business is ready to fulfil your customers’ expectations.
Free shipping is more than a strategy to boost sales and increase conversions. Nowadays, it is a necessity.
Research shows that 72% of consumers cite free shipping as a top reason for shopping online, and 62% won’t purchase without it. If you don’t offer it in your online store in 2026, your customers will turn to your competitors.
Moreover, a report by Digital Commerce 360 found that 71.2% of retailers in the top 1000 offered free shipping under at least some circumstances in 2024. This means that the vast majority of top players on the market realise its importance, and everyone who fails to follow will be left behind.
Last-mile delivery is the last stage of an order’s journey, from the local warehouse or a transportation hub to the delivery address (for example, a customer’s home or a pickup point). It can cover anything from a few to a few hundred miles, depending on the distance to the final destination.
It may seem like the smallest link in the supply chain, but it is actually the most complex and expensive one. Capgemini Research Institute found it to constitute 41% of the total logistics costs.
It is also a part of the delivery process that your customers have direct contact with. Therefore, you need to be particularly vigilant in this last step of the product’s journey – especially when it comes to international shipping, as international carriers often pass the parcels to local couriers for last-mile delivery.
Patrick Kelley, executive vice president at OSM Worldwide, advises selecting reliable last-mile delivery providers. They should be chosen separately for every market, taking into consideration which one performs best in every area for your kind of product.
Online shoppers increasingly report issues with parcels never reaching their homes in door-to-door delivery. Many couriers redirect them to pickup points without prior notice or leave the parcels by the door or with a neighbor.
Understandably, this can raise concerns for the order’s security, especially when it comes to valuable items. The good news is that top carrier companies are taking steps to address this issue.
In August this year, DPD UK launched Verified Delivery, a special system protecting high-value deliveries. It is an optional feature which gives customers the ability to present a dedicated QR code in order to receive the parcel.
This simple yet groundbreaking service adds an extra security layer, increasing customers’ trust. If you’d like to integrate your shipping with DPD UK, Octolize has you covered with our DPD UK & DPD Local plugin for WooCommerce.
Ship your DPD orders faster. Collect shipping details, download printable shipping labels, track parcels - everything is automated.
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Customers like to have a choice at every step of the purchase process – including shipping. Firstly, they want to choose the payment method they prefer. Most online buyers have switched to handling digital money, but surprisingly, an analysis by We Are Social discovered that buyers in the UK name cash on delivery as one of the top 15 online purchase drivers.
A choice in carriers also matters. Your customers have different experiences with various companies. They may be loyal to a specific carrier and bounce if they don’t find it in your shop, or particularly dislike another one and abandon their cart if you don’t offer an alternative. Not to mention, diversifying the carrier offer is also beneficial for your business, as it protects you from any unexpected changes in rates, labor strikes, or delivery zone alterations.
Lastly, a choice between home delivery and pickup points is mandatory. Home delivery remains the most common choice, selected by 79% of online shoppers. But the popularity of OOH (out-of-home) options is rapidly growing.
In 2024, the percentage of consumers who expressed interest in parcel lockers jumped from 13% in the previous year to 34%. At the same time, those who would choose access point delivery increased from 7% to 26%.
Those rapid changes mean that online sellers need to follow e-commerce shipping trends and adjust accordingly if they want to keep their customers.
As ecological awareness grows, sustainability takes the lead as one of the most important factors in shipping for customers. They are more likely to choose couriers who actively commit to lowering their CO2 emissions – which only highlights the necessity to give them a choice.
Customers also expect eco-friendly packaging. 84% declare that they would turn their backs on a brand with poor environmental practices. Tons of plastic foil and endless scrolls of bubble wrap are no longer acceptable – reusable packaging and sustainable solutions are the new norm.
The same applies to the way products are packed. Online shoppers are less likely to accept their products shipped in separate parcels, even if it means waiting longer. A survey by AlixPartners found that 73% of customers are willing to wait longer for a multi-item delivery if it arrives in a single shipment (provided shipping remains free, which again highlights the importance of offering free shipping).
If you struggle with fitting your products into boxes in the most optimal way, at Octolize, we have a solution for you. Our Flexible Shipping Box Packing plugin uses an advanced algorithm to find the most efficient way to pack items based on their dimensions and the box size.
Moreover, more than half of online shoppers declare their readiness to wait longer for a parcel if it comes from a sustainable source. Yet only 1 in 5 are willing to pay more for eco-friendly delivery – meaning that if you want to build customer loyalty in 2026, you need to make sustainable shipping a norm, not a privilege.
Next-day delivery is a staple by now. It is not as much a magnet that attracts customers as a factor that can cost you conversions if you fail to provide it. Next-day delivery is predicted to grow from 1.9 billion parcels to between 3.2 and 4.3 billion by 2027.
Now, the online shoppers’ expectations have grown even further, settling on same-day and instant delivery. The difference between the two terms is that instant delivery should arrive at its destination within 1 hour of placing the order. It is especially common for groceries and medicine.
51% of retailers offer same-day delivery today. 85% of them claim the feature improved their market presence and increased their competitive edge.
Whether you offer same-day or instant delivery depends on the nature of your business. For example, 64% of online shoppers expect their groceries to arrive within 24 hours, and 40% want them in their kitchen within 2 hours.
On the other hand, 40% of household product buyers and 35% of tech shoppers want same-day delivery, while 38% expect their beauty products and 32% their clothing to arrive within 24 hours.
The global same-day delivery market is predicted to generate 17.8 billion USD in 2026, 37.9 billion USD by 2030, and 66.8 billion USD by 2033. The rapid growth proves that you will fall behind if you fail to adjust to the customers’ demands.
According to Shopify, as many as 95% of customers are less likely to shop with a brand again after a negative return experience. Moreover, a global study by Narvar found that 15% of online shoppers wouldn’t return to a shop again at all.
Interestingly, that is true for 8% of return shoppers and as many as 31% of first-time customers. The latter group is also less likely to describe the return process as “easy” (45% for first-time buyers vs 66% for returning customers).
Global consumers identified 3 top reasons preventing them from completing a purchase at an online store:
A long waiting time for a refund is also frequently quoted as the main reason for a negative return experience.
Shipping plays an important role in the topic of returns, as the majority of online shoppers (56%) choose to return an item by mail. However, they like to be given a choice between a carrier pickup, a drop-off box, or a parcel locker.
In order to keep your customers happy and loyal to your shop or brand, you need to make the return process as easy as possible for them. Free shipping for returns, tracking label generation, and a selection of different options to send back an order are widely appreciated by online shoppers.
Customers love parcel lockers for the flexibility they give them. They don’t have to worry about the courier arriving when they aren’t home and leaving their parcel unprotected. With their delivery safely stored in a locker, they can choose when they will pick it up.
Consequently, the OOH (out-of-home) delivery market is predicted to grow at around 15% CAGR by 2030.
It is reflected in the actions taken by global companies increasingly investing in this type of delivery, especially in Europe:
The conclusion? OOH delivery is here to stay – and grow. Customers are getting used to a new standard. If they can pick up even their groceries at parcel lockers, they will expect it for all their deliveries.
At Octolize, we saw this trend growing and responded with an appropriate tool. The Pickup Points PRO for WooCommerce plugin allows you to offer pickup points as a delivery method at checkout. Your customers can choose from 32 worldwide carriers, from big international ones to local couriers.
Online retailers keep experimenting with different packing formats. We have recently gone through a phase of testing out flexible forms of packaging in an attempt to achieve ultimate packing efficiency.
However, now, we are slowly circling back to the beginning: square boxes. The transition to flexible packaging didn’t pass the test when paired with another significant trend in the shipping industry – automation.
First of all, box packing algorithms deal with square shapes with set dimensions much better than with irregular ones. A system based on calculation prefers regular, predictable data to provide the best results.
Secondly, the sole action of sorting packages is nowadays heavily automated. Parcels are moved around by robots, which find moving square boxes much easier than irregular shapes.
Lastly, square boxes are easier to fit together on a warehouse shelf, pallet, or in a delivery truck. Online shops are returning to this solution, finding that it contributes to faster, efficient, and more sustainable deliveries.
Customers want to feel in control. They need to know where their parcel is, when it is going to arrive, and how it is going to be delivered at all times.
Going even further, they want to have full control over all of those aspects. Research by Sendcloud found that:
You can allow your customers to do the latter with the Delivery Date Picker plugin for WooCommerce. Give them the control they require by displaying a calendar at checkout, where they will be able to select a date that works for them.
Let your customers choose a convenient delivery date for the ordered products and make the shipping cost dependent on the date they choose.
View Details or Add to cartOnline shoppers are increasingly disillusioned with shipping mishaps: parcels getting lost or delivered to the wrong address, valuable deliveries left at the doorstep or with neighbours, and delays.
In order to trust your store, they need to know you can provide reliable shipping. You can prove that by introducing an efficient tracking system and allowing them to manage their order, even once it has been dispatched.
The world of e-commerce is heavily reliant on global events. Politics, natural disasters, and the economic situation all directly impact people’s ability and willingness to spend money online, as well as shipping itself.
At the beginning of 2025, projections by Digital Commerce 360 assumed a 7.7% increase in web sales year over year for the Top 1000 retailers. Due to the numerous upheavals in the world of shipping in the second half of the year, those numbers fell to 4.5% towards the end of 2025.
Changes in tax rates and dynamic political relations between nations influence the cost of shipping, which, in turn, affects every business. It is more important than ever to adopt strategies that will protect your business from outside influences: carrier diversification, market variety, and backup plans.
Research by McKinsey found that 88% of organizations admit to using AI in at least one business function. The number demonstrates a rapid growth from 78% in 2024 and 55% in 2023.
Without a doubt, shipping is one of the most heavily automated industries globally. Tracking, sorting, and labelling are entirely carried out by machines. Artificial intelligence can also be used for more accurate predictions, taking into account weather forecasts, traffic reports, and GPS.
AI can even be applied to something as simple as setting up shipping in your online store. The Flexible Shipping plugin by Octolize comes with a built-in AI Shipping Assistant – a tool that will help you create the shipping configuration you need in seconds. All you need to do is tell it what you need to achieve, and it will generate the accurate rules for you and implement them if you’d like.
These are our predictions for the top 12 global shipping industry trends in 2026. While we can’t see the future, we can use the current data and our experience to shape an outlook for the next year.
In 2026, you can expect a growing use of AI and automation in shipping and a rising demand for parcel lockers and OOH deliveries. Customers will require a choice in payment and shipping options, easy returns, and flexibility in keeping track of their order and making live decisions about the delivery process.
Sustainability, security, and last-mile delivery will continue to grow in importance, as will the demand for same-day and instant delivery. Online merchants need to remain resilient and adaptable to keep up with the latest news and adjust their shipping strategy accordingly.
At Octolize, we make it our mission to support you throughout all the changes in the shipping industry. We constantly develop our solutions and adapt them to your needs so that you can provide your customers with the shipping experience they require and deserve.
Explore our plugins and see how Octolize can help you optimize your shipping strategy in 2026.
Lucyna Polok is an SEO and content specialist passionate about crafting effective strategies and creating engaging content. She has worked across a variety of industries, both in-house and as a freelancer. A strong believer in the power of storytelling, she believes that good content not only delivers business results, but also resonates with customers through an emotional connection with a brand.
At Octolize, she is responsible for aligning the content strategy with business goals and increasing visibility, trust, and authority of the brand via data-based SEO efforts. On the blog, she focuses mostly on topics for those only beginning their adventure with e-commerce, explaining scenarios and terms in an approachable way.
