The ecommerce funnel as we once knew it still exists, but it no longer follows a neat, linear path that many brands have grown accustomed to.
These days, shoppers don't simply search, browse and subsequently buy. Discovery now happens across multiple touchpoints, often long before a customer ever visits your ecommerce website. By the time someone lands on your site, they're likely already influenced by social content, recommendations, reviews or prior exposure to your brand. Understanding how brand and product discovery works today is essential for ecommerce brands that want to attract, convert and retain customers. Without further ado, let's delve in!
The traditional ecommerce discovery funnel
Traditionally, ecommerce discovery was relatively straightforward. Customers identified a need for a particular item, searched for a product and landed on a website through organic or paid search within search engines like Google or Bing. From there, the journey moved logically through category pages, product pages and ultimately ended at the checkout page. Websites were primarily designed to convert users who had found them via search engines. As a result, discovery, research and purchase were distinct stages of the ecommerce funnel, with search engines sitting firmly at the top. The traditional ecommerce model worked well when search was the main way people found products and brands online.
What has changed in how consumers discover brands?
Nowadays, consumers are exposed to products and brands long before they actively intend to purchase something. Discovery is often passive and repeated, shaped by content, context and social proof rather than being driven by direct intent. Customers might first see a product on social media, hear about a brand from a trusted influencer, spot it on a marketplace or encounter it through blog content or recommendations. Trust and familiarity are built gradually across these touchpoints, often without a clear beginning or end, highlighting how discovery no longer happens in one place or at one moment like it used to.
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Social and creator-led discovery: Social platforms like Instagram and TikTok, and their abundance of content creators, play a major role in modern ecommerce discovery. Products are introduced through real-world use, video recommendations and storytelling rather than traditional paid advertising. This type of discovery is often low-intent but high-influence. Shoppers may not be ready to buy, but they start to recognise the brand and associate it with a need, lifestyle or solution that they'll remember and return to when the time is right.
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Social commerce and TikTok Shop: Social commerce has fundamentally changed how the product discovery funnel works. Platforms like TikTok Shop allow shoppers to move freely from discovery to checkout without ever leaving the app. Products are discovered through short-form video, live shopping and creator content, with social proof baked directly into the experience. This compresses the funnel and reduces friction, particularly for impulse and trend-led purchases. For many ecommerce brands, this means discovery does not always lead to a website visit as the social platform becomes both the top and bottom of the funnel.
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Marketplaces as research tools: Online marketplaces continue to play a major role in brand discovery, even when they're not the final point of purchase. Many shoppers use marketplaces to compare products, check pricing and read reviews before seeking out a brand directly. Discovery here is often practical and comparison-led, rather than inspirational.
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Community and peer recommendation: Forums and community groups on Facebook and WhatsApp can heavily influence discovery through trust and shared experience. Recommendations in these spaces often carry more weight than traditional marketing as they come from like-minded, trusted peers.
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AI-assisted discovery and research: AI tools are beginning to shape how shoppers research and compare products. Instead of navigating multiple ecommerce websites, customers increasingly expect summarised insights, recommendations and comparisons from AI Overviews within search engines or within AI-powered tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini. Shoppers then arrive on ecommerce sites more informed and with higher expectations of clarity and relevance.
Why ecommerce websites still matter
Even as discovery and purchasing move into social platforms, the ecommerce website remains a crucial part of the holistic online shopping experience. For many consumers, an ecommerce website is still the place they trust most, providing reassurance, depth of information and brand credibility that social platforms often cannot. Customers arriving from social media channels expect continuity, which is why messaging, pricing, product information and brand positioning must align with what they've already seen. When this consistency is missing, confidence quickly drops. Website navigation, content and UX continue the discovery journey by helping shoppers validate their decision or explore products further.
What successful ecommerce brands are doing differently
Successful ecommerce brands treat discovery as an ongoing challenge rather than a linear path. They understand how social platforms, in-app shopping, marketplaces and websites all work together, rather than focusing on how they compete with each other. They design ecommerce experiences that assume customers have already seen the product somewhere else and focus on validation, clarity and confidence rather than first-time persuasion.
The ecommerce funnel has not disappeared, but it has definitely changed shape. Discovery now happens everywhere, including directly within social platforms where purchase can happen instantly. Brands that understand this are able to build stronger, more flexible ecommerce experiences that support modern shopping behaviour rather than trying to force outdated journeys on their customers. Understanding how shoppers discover brands today is essential to designing ecommerce that actually performs.
Need a helping hand with your ecommerce funnel? Don't hesitate to get in touch!
