Global retail ecommerce is forecast at roughly $6.9 trillion in 2026 (eMarketer, broad definition). The size matters less than what sits behind it: buying online is now ordinary behaviour in every age group and almost every country.

Three shifts make 2026 a particularly good time to start.

First, shopping happens on phones. Roughly two-thirds of ecommerce orders are placed on mobile (industry benchmarks, 2026). A new store on a modern platform is mobile-first out of the box, on equal footing with brands that spent years retrofitting their sites.

Second, shopping happens inside social apps. Social commerce is forecast at around $2 trillion in 2026 (Mordor Intelligence). A short video, a creator’s recommendation or a tagged product in a feed can send buyers straight to your checkout. You do not need a big ad budget to be found; you need a product worth talking about and a channel connected to your store.

Third, shopping is starting to happen through AI assistants. In January 2026 Shopify launched its Universal Commerce Protocol, which lets assistants such as ChatGPT, Google’s AI Mode and Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Meta’s AI read a store’s catalogue and, in some cases, complete a purchase. It is on by default for Shopify stores, US-first at the time of writing, and spreading. Small brands with clean product data can appear next to household names in an AI answer; Chapter 22 shows how to get ready.

According to Shopify’s BFCM 2025 data, more than 15,800 merchants made their first-ever sale over that single Black Friday to Cyber Monday weekend. Each of those stores started where you are now.