Ongoing uncertainty about the U.S. tariff landscape has caused concern and volatility for many e-commerce businesses in 2025, but ROI Revolution is helping our clients turn challenges into opportunities for strategic shifts. The marketing strategy experts on our Business Intelligence team share how real e-commerce businesses are being impacted and what brands can do now to navigate these changes.
Understanding the Current Tariff Landscape
The e-commerce landscape is shifting rapidly, and one of the most pressing challenges facing businesses today is the impact of newly implemented tariffs. With the U.S. imposing higher tariff rates – most notably, a 124% average effective tariff rate on Chinese goods – and the expiration of the $800 de minimis exemption on May 2, many retailers are grappling with rising costs, supply chain disruptions, and increased competitive pressures. For businesses that rely heavily on overseas sourcing, these changes could significantly impact profit margins, pricing strategies, and overall operations.
The Budget Lab from Yale released a summary of current tariffs in place (as of 4/15) along with predicted effects. While the broad tariffs on most countries have been delayed until at least July 8th, there are still tariffs in place on certain goods and raw materials, regardless of country of origin.
What to Expect: Potential Impacts on E-Commerce Businesses
- Higher tariff rates increase the cost of goods sold (COGS), especially for businesses that are heavily dependent on imports from China.
- Increased prices can lead to lower conversion rates if businesses pass these costs on to their customers.
- Tariff changes may result in supply chain disruptions, like fulfillment challenges, higher shipping costs, and out-of-stock issues.
Have Tariff Changes Affected Consumer Purchasing?
Retail sales rose 1.4% in March, the largest YoY increase in more than two years. Increased auto sales led the general increase, indicating that customers were trying to make larger purchases before tariff changes became effective and those same purchases became more expensive. An April poll from Redfin showed that 17% of Americans are planning or have already made a major purchase sooner than expected, and 56% are either delaying or cancelling their plans for a major purchase because of prices and/or uncertainty.
Who Has Been Most Impacted by the 2025 Tariffs?
ROI Revolution’s e-commerce clients felt the March bump in consumer purchasing behavior, followed by a slight slump in the beginning of April; our clients drove 6% fewer sales the first three weeks of April compared to the prior three weeks in March. However, there was a rebound at the end of April, with session and conversion volume returning to March levels.
Among our clients, B2B businesses had an uptick in March and conversion volume was steady throughout April, while there’s been much more volatility for our B2C clients.
Navigating the Challenges: E-Commerce Marketing Strategy Shifts
ROI’s clients are impacted by tariffs to varying degrees. For those heavily affected by tariffs, particularly those concerning China, strategy has shifted around margin. At a very general level, our clients are prioritizing higher margin products and, for the time being, being more intentional with tracking around products whose margins are changing. Our clients have also been much more explicit in pricing messaging – highlighting products made in America (and why that’s important right now), calling out when prices are about to rise for imported products or products with imported materials, and allowing filtering capability on-site for USA-made products.
Examples of How ROI Clients Are Pivoting Their Strategies:
An India-based manufacturer of custom banners and signs is increasing their advertising on product-based channels as they expect to be more price competitive compared to competitors who source a majority of their goods from China.
A luxury watch and apparel retailer, who imports most of their products from luxury fashion brands, advertised a pre-tariff sale on site, through email, and through their app. They were honest and explicit with customers that prices would be rising if tariffs stayed in place. While a majority of the tariffs were paused, the sale was still successful; they plan on running a similar sale as the 90-day extension deadline approaches.
A retailer of tractor and agricultural equipment parts analyzed new margins after tariffs and found that their Chinese-imported products would be much less profitable. However, they also have more inventory for these products than their competitors. Instead of pushing their lower-cost inventory in the short term, they expect in the future to be able to sell at a much lower price than competitors, helping bring more customers to the site to buy these – and other – products.
What E-Commerce Businesses Can Do Now
- Import cost of goods sold (COGS) into Google Analytics. ROI’s Enhanced Profit Tracker (EPT) allows us to create a secondary Google Analytics profile that subtracts item-level cost from revenue. In this way, we can view gross profit alongside tracking top-line revenue in the main profile. This allows our clients to track how margin percentage changes over time as they introduce different product strategies.
- Watch competitor pricing closely. Tracking product prices from competitors and how they change with newly instituted tariffs will help brands understand where their competitors source inventory and how much of it they usually keep on hand.
- Be explicit with pricing messaging. Consumers value transparency. If prices are set to increase, telling customers isn’t just a strategy to drive pre-increase sales – it lets customers know it’s not just an arbitrary change.
- Communicate the value of the brand, not just the products. Even if all the companies in a vertical increase their prices, those who competed on price will be affected the most since their core customer will be more averse to price increases. Businesses should focus on communicating the value of their brand, showing that they offer more than just the price of a product.
ROI Revolution is Turning Tariff Challenges into E-Commerce Opportunities
While these challenges are real, times of uncertainty also create opportunities for those who are prepared to adapt. As competitors face similar pressures, businesses that take proactive steps to address these changes can gain a competitive edge. Whether it’s refining the product mix, enhancing value propositions, or leveraging data to optimize marketing spend, the right strategies can help businesses not only weather the storm but also thrive in this new environment.
At ROI Revolution, we understand the complexities of navigating these challenges, and we’re here to help. With years of experience supporting e-commerce businesses through unpredictable market conditions, including the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen firsthand how strategic planning and agile marketing can drive growth even in the toughest times.
Contact our team today to learn how our experts can help you develop and execute actionable strategies to help your business stay ahead of the curve.
