State of eCommerce 2026: Mobile User Growth Stabilises While Website Traffic Reaches New Highs

Summary

The global eCommerce industry is undergoing a transformation marked by record web traffic, mobile stabilization, and shifting competitive dynamics. In Q4 2025, website visits grew 9% YoY and unique visitors 21%, with strong seasonality from Black Friday and Christmas. Mobile user growth has plateaued, elevating the web channel's strategic importance for customer acquisition.

India emerged as the strongest web market, recording 58B visits (+28% YoY). Platform leaders show divergent trends: Amazon remains dominant but growth slowed; Temu became the #2 cross-platform player with 24% MAU growth; SHEIN's web unique visitors surged 70% YoY. Fashion eCommerce outperformed, with web visits up 54% and unique visitors up 64% YoY, driven by India (+98%) and Pakistan (+109%).

Nykaa's FY2026 net profit jumped 183% to INR 2.04B as revenue surpassed INR 100B. Its web audience hit 40M unique visitors in Nov 2025. Notably, Nykaa's traffic referrals from Wishlink and Instagram grew, while Amazon-originated traffic declined 11.4%, indicating a shift from direct search to content-driven discovery.

Nykaa also reduced digital ad impressions in top metropolitan markets (New Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune) and increased share in other metros from 57.2% to 61.9%, signaling a reallocation to Tier 2/3 cities. For ad ops decision-makers, actionable takeaways include: invest in web channel UX and conversion, leverage content and affiliate marketing for acquisition, expand into emerging markets like India and Africa, and rebalance ad spend toward underserved regional areas.

Analyst Note

The article reinforces a critical pivot back to web channels for customer acquisition, particularly in fashion and beauty. What's notable here is that while mobile app downloads remain stable, engagement metrics like time spent are declining, suggesting that the web is reclaiming its role as a high-intent purchase destination. For ad ops professionals, this implies a need to rebalance media mix strategies—investing more in web-based formats like display, affiliate, and content-driven channels, especially for fashion verticals where website visits surged 54% YoY.

The competitive dynamics are also shifting: Temu and SHEIN are aggressively capturing web audiences, with SHEIN's unique visitors up 70% YoY, challenging Amazon's dominance. This signals that UA budgets should diversify away from over-reliance on search and app install campaigns. Nykaa's strategic reallocation of ad impressions from Tier 1 to Tier 2/3 cities is a microcosm of a broader trend—as urban markets mature, growth is coming from emerging regions.

For monetization teams, this highlights the importance of geo-targeted creative and regional inventory optimization. The key implication: the web channel's renaissance, combined with platform fragmentation, demands a more nuanced, omnichannel approach to both user acquisition and monetization.