Top Three Takeaways from eTail Toronto 2025: Key Retail Trends and Theme

The 2025 eTail Toronto event explored the Canadian retail scene with themes focused on conversations: from hyper-personalized AI experiences to omnichannel agility and the growing importance of loyalty in a complex economic climate. Here are the top three takeaways from this year’s eTail Toronto conference:

1. AI and Data-Driven Personalization at Scale

A clear eTail takeaway was the central role of AI in transforming every stage of retail. Retailers are moving beyond segment-based offers to deliver AI-powered, truly individualized experiences. One standout: integrating payment links (such as Interac e-Transfer® via Clik2pay) directly in AI chat boxes or support windows. With this approach, businesses can turn a helpful conversation into a purchase, seamlessly blending personalized recommendations and customer service with instant, intent-driven transactions. This is “real-time commerce” in action, reducing friction and maximizing conversion at the moment of peak customer interest.

2. Seamless Omnichannel and Supply Chain Agility

Eliminating channel silos dominated the agenda, fueled by the goal of offering frictionless customer journeys—whether users engage online, in-store, or on mobile. Payment innovations are helping solve a historically tough gap: enabling true omnichannel checkout. Merchants using payment request links by email, SMS, or QR code no longer have to rely solely on traditional website checkouts. Payments can start anywhere, the fitting room, a marketing email, or a support chat, and finish wherever is most convenient for the customer. This makes the shopping experience location- and device-agnostic, and ensures the final friction point, payment, is streamlined, giving merchants the agility to drive sales across channels.

3. Customer Acquisition, Loyalty, and Next-Gen CX

Building loyalty and delivering a strong customer experience underpinned the majority of eTail discussions this year. Here, the connection to payments is decisive. Offering trusted Canadian payment options (such as Interac e-Transfer) broadens market reach: it enables payments directly from bank accounts for the 40% of Canadians who may prefer this method, or can’t use credit cards. A familiar, fast, and card-free checkout cuts down cart abandonment, increases trust, and sharpens the merchant’s competitive edge. Plus, from a business perspective, guaranteed funds (no chargebacks) and faster settled payments support better cash flow and operational resilience—mini-wins that quickly add up to brand loyalty in a tough market.

The future of shopping is built on trust, agility, and smarter tech; principles anyone can bring to their business. If you’re ready to grow, these eTail insights can guide your first move. Now’s the time to try new tools and discover what works best for your customers.