2025 Mystery Shopping Report:

At A Glance

This report is the culmination of more than 250+ E-COMMERCE TRANSACTIONS from the most in-demand U.S. brands across four key product categories:

• Apparel & Accessories
• Beauty & Personal Care
• Nutrition & Supplements
• Food & Beverage

Pre-purchase

• 95% of brands had readily available inventory. A contributing factor to this performance is the deliberate build-up of larger stockpiles in response to ongoing trade policy uncertainty and the accelerating shift to domestic fulfillment.
• 93% of e-commerce brands do not send abandoned cart reminders even though 84% of consumers report abandoning carts. This suggests that a small percentage of those abandoned carts could be recovered through reminders, which could earn brands thousands in incremental monthly revenue.

Post-purchase Communication

• 56% of consumers prefer receiving order updates and tracking information via SMS; however, only 12% of brands are meeting this expectation.
• 6% of brands do not provide real-time order tracking information, despite it being ranked as a highly essential post-purchase feature.

Shipping and Delivery

• 58% of consumers want estimated delivery dates, but only 1% of brands provide them. Uncertainty around delivery timelines can lead to abandoned carts, even when product quality is strong.
• 14% of brands failed to fulfill their stated delivery promises, averaging a miss of 7 days.

Unboxing

• 12% of the products arrived damaged, with issues originating prior to shipping.
• Only 36% of brands included samples or inserts, which are important for a memorable unboxing experience.

Reverse Logistics

• 12% of brands had no returns policy, causing friction for customers.
• 10% of brands imposed restocking fees costing $5 or up to 25% of the item’s price.

Executive Summary

This report presents the findings of a comprehensive mystery shopping study conducted by Stord assessing the end-to-end e-commerce experience of leading U.S. brands.

Understanding the expectations-experience gap is crucial as it reveals where brands risk undermining conversion despite significant investment in customer acquisition. The brands that close these gaps in consumer experience will capture disproportionate growth and define the next standard in U.S. e-commerce.

Introduction

E-commerce has transitioned from being an additional retail convenience to the default for a growing share of consumer purchases. Insights suggest that by 2027, U.S. e-commerce sales are projected to exceed $1.6 trillion.

Objectives

Stord aimed to evaluate leading industry brands' performance through mystery shopping, focusing on operational performance and customer experience across five key stages:

1. Pre-purchase: Assess visibility into product availability and cart recovery strategies.
2. Post-purchase Communication: Assess order confirmation and shipping information clarity.
3. Shipping and Delivery: Compare shipping costs vs. delivery speed.
4. Unboxing: Evaluate packaging integrity and branding.
5. Reverse Logistics: Review return policy clarity.

Mystery Shopping Methodology

The study spanned Q3 2024 and Q1-Q2 2025, avoiding Q4 due to increased order volumes during Black Friday and the holiday season.

The Current State of E-Commerce

Inventory Availability

• 95% of products were in stock, indicating strong proactive measures against lost sales from unavailability.

Abandoned Cart Reminders

• 93% of brands do not send reminders, losing potential sales from 84% of consumers who abandon carts.

Post-Purchase Communication

• 94% provided tracking information, but alignment with consumer preferences for multi-channel notifications was lacking.

Delivery Promise vs. Actual Performance

• 34% of orders were delivered as promised, indicating a significant disconnect.

Product & Packaging Integrity

• 88% of products arrived intact, yet instances of damage were noted.

Branded & Personalized Unboxing Experiences

• Only 56% of brands used branded packaging, which could enhance consumers' unboxing experience.

Closing the Gaps in Consumer Experience

To meet rising consumer expectations, brands must execute well in operations and consumer engagement strategies. Those that do so will set the new standard for e-commerce.