In 2025, Australian eCommerce stands at a turning point. Growth remains steady, yet customer expectations have surged to new heights. Artificial intelligence is transforming how shoppers browse, buy and interact, while economic pressure continues to squeeze margins. In such a competitive environment, brands that invest in personalisation, trust and Core Web Vitals optimisation will be the ones that break away from the crowd.
The latest State of the CX Nation report shows that most Australian retailers understand the challenge but struggle to execute it. Although 80 per cent of leaders identify eCommerce customer experience (CX) as a strategic priority, 37 per cent admit their teams fail to deliver on the promises they made.
This widening gap between strategy and execution is both a risk and an opportunity – and one of the biggest untapped opportunities across most online brands. Retailers that can deliver a seamless personalised shopping experience built on speed, relevance and reliability will gain the customer trust that fuels loyalty and long-term growth.
The eCommerce Customer Experience: Three Main Performance Metrics
A strong customer experience is the foundation of every successful eCommerce business. Research shows that a smooth and enjoyable online shopping experience can increase retention, lift average order value (AOV) and strengthen loyalty, even when competitors lower their prices.
Your site’s performance is a crucial part of that experience. Many founders still treat page speed optimisation as a technical issue for developers rather than a priority for the business. That is a costly mistake. Shoppers will not wait for slow pages, unstable layouts or delayed responses. Performance shapes perception, and perception builds eCommerce trust.
A study by Deloitte and Google found that just 0.1 seconds faster load time can increase conversions by 8.4% and boost average order value by 9.2%. This proves why following Google Core Web Vitals best practices should be a central focus for brands looking to improve their eCommerce performance metrics. At their essence, the Core Web Vitals framework assesses three main factors that shape how visitors perceive speed, responsiveness and stability:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – how quickly your page loads. Research shows product pages can see 40-50% lower conversion rates when load time goes from 2 seconds to 4-5 seconds.
- Interaction to Next Point (INP) – how quickly your site responds to user actions. Improved interactivity scores may bring up to 7% increase in sales. That’s millions of dollars from a technical fix.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – racks whether banners, buttons or images shift while a page loads. Improving this score by only 15 per cent can result in 20 per cent longer browsing sessions and a 14 per cent lift in conversions. Effective Core Web Vitals analysis has a direct impact on eCommerce conversion optimisation.
Ultimately, page speed optimisation is the first and most important step towards better customer retention, higher conversion rates and stronger eCommerce performance metrics. A slow website drives customers away before they even have the chance to appreciate your design or products.
Building a strong customer experience (CX) in eCommerce begins with technical excellence. When your site performs seamlessly and provides a frustration-free journey, you lay the foundation for deeper personalisation and long-term customer retention.
The SCOPE Framework: A Strategic Lens for eCommerce Success
While optimising page speed, Core Web Vitals, and technical performance is essential, brands also need a broader strategy to maximise their visibility, engagement, and conversions. SCOPE is LION Digital’s proprietary framework that evaluates five critical dimensions of digital presence – Social Proof, Content, Optimisation, Performance, and Experience.
By systematically assessing these pillars, SCOPE helps brands understand not just how fast their site loads, but how effectively it builds trust, engages users, ranks in search (including AI-driven results), and converts visitors into loyal customers. In essence, it’s a diagnostic tool that connects technical performance with strategic growth opportunities, ensuring every optimisation effort delivers measurable business impact.
This framework naturally complements the Performance & Conversion Accelerator, providing the strategic insights that guide the hands-on improvements needed to drive stronger eCommerce results.
Ecommerce Growth Builds on Personalised Shopping Experience
Customer expectations have surged. The Australian and New Zealand Commerce Report 2025 by IAB Australia and Pureprofile states that 83% of consumers are more likely to purchase from companies offering tailored experiences and loyalty programs. However, research shows that most retailers struggle with executing effective omnichannel personalisation.
This is a vital eCommerce performance metric. A recent study found that brands leading in personalisation generate around 40 per cent more revenue than competitors. Delivering the right message to the right person at the right time strengthens emotional connection, increases conversion rates and enhances overall customer loyalty.
The challenge for many eCommerce founders is not intent but capability. According to the 2025 Global Consumer Products Engagement Report, only 36 per cent of Australian retailers include personalisation in their campaigns. Most just lack the data maturity, connected systems and internal alignment needed to execute effectively.
To make personalisation work, you need:
- Connected data systems that actually talk to each other
- Marketing technology that’s properly set up and used
- Teams aligned around a shared vision (only 37% of organisations have this)
- Technical infrastructure capable of handling the load.
LION Digital helps online retailers in Australia build that data-driven foundation for smart personalisation. By analysing user behaviour and heatmaps, and leveraging A/B testing, our experts provide valuable insights that inform effective eCommerce performance optimisation strategies.
Trust: The Invisible Differentiator
Personalisation requires data, but users aren’t willing to provide it without trust. When customers feel their data is used respectfully and transparently, their satisfaction and purchase intent soar. But cross that invisible line through irrelevant targeting or opaque data practices, and trust evaporates overnight.
Customers may forgive the occasional bug or delay, but not dishonesty or poor ethics. And here’s the catch:
- Trust requires transparency.
- Transparency requires accurate data.
- And accurate data requires proper technical infrastructure.
It all comes back to following Core Web Vitals best practices, and LION Digital’s Performance & Conversion Accelerator can help with that. It’s a hands-on optimisation program that ensures your website is technically and experientially ready for growth.
The Accelerator combines a Core Web Vitals audit with conversion-focused enhancements to improve page speed and interactivity scores: our expert team analyses how real users interact with your site, pinpoints friction points, and implements targeted fixes to enhance your eCommerce customer experience rates.
Performance & Conversion Accelerator: Your Competitive Advantage
Several digital marketing reports show that most Australian retailers intend to enhance customer experience and personalisation, yet few have the operational capacity to deliver. The Performance & Conversion Accelerator bridges that gap with practical, done-for-you implementation. It includes:
- Comprehensive analysis. A full Core Web Vitals analysis that compares your site against competitors and industry standards. You’ll know exactly where you stand and what to improve.
- Integrated solution. Not just recommendations but actual technical fixes implemented on your site. Image optimisation, code minification, mobile-first optimisation, and all the technical details that make a difference.
- Customer retention strategy. By collaborating with innovative tools and platforms like Yotpo, we help you engage customers and build trust through a personalised marketing approach.
- Conversion optimisation. Beyond just making things faster, the service includes analysis of user behaviour through heatmaps and session recordings, plus implementation of UX/UI improvements and A/B testing to maximise results.
- Measurable results. Real-user data and lab testing will be used to prove the impact. You’ll see exactly how technical improvements translate to business outcomes.
Why This Matters Right Now
Opportunity rewards the quick. While 82% of leaders prioritise CX and 72% recognise personalisation’s importance, only those with the capability to execute will win.
Most of your competitors are stuck in the same place you might be: knowing what needs to happen, but struggling to make it real. Meanwhile, customer expectations keep rising, and Google’s algorithm keeps prioritising fast, user-friendly sites. The cost of delay in eCommerce personalisation and performance optimisation rapidly increases.
You can keep planning and strategising while your site underperforms. Or you can fix the technical issues and create a strong foundation to build everything else on it.
A Roadmap for eCommerce Founders
In the coming years, the difference between good and great eCommerce brands won’t be price or product; it’ll be personalisation and customer experience. But these don’t work without performance. You can have the most sophisticated engine for personalised product recommendations, but if your site is slow or unstable, customers leave before they see those innovations.
LION Digital’s Performance & Conversion Accelerator builds the solid technical foundation that makes personalised experiences possible. By combining Core Web Vitals optimisation with conversion optimisation, you see instant, measurable results. A faster site converts more effectively, retains customers for longer and drives stronger eCommerce performance metrics.
Get in touch with LION Digital today for a consultation. Let’s discuss how we can help you bridge the capability gap that is holding back your business. With nearly two decades of experience in eCommerce strategy, platform management, digital marketing, and improving operational efficiency, our team has successfully guided retailers of all sizes in turning challenges into opportunities.
