As we reflect on 2025 at Connexity, the year was marked by impressive growth and the effective deployment of granular strategies that prioritise our partners’ success. In this deep dive, we chatted with Giles Longhurst, Managing Director for EMEA & APAC for his expert analysis of the past year. We explored key wins, shifts, and market trends while looking ahead at how to best prepare for a prosperous 2026.
2025: the big picture
This year was clearly defined by our merchants’ strategic focus on profitability and efficiency while constantly looking to evolve their supply mix. 2025 became the year we shifted our approach to focus on our clients’ profit metrics and deploy campaign strategies that enable granular segmentation of merchants’ product catalogues to drive visibility and efficiency.
On the publisher side, we accelerated our diversification into high-growth sectors with a focus on integrated shopping tools, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) players, and our ShopYourLikes influencer platform, positioning us to capture the expanding social commerce opportunity. This also aligns with a growing trend for senior marketing teams in driving strategies for increasing new customer rates, which is something we have been able to support through our new channels and will continue to focus on in 2026.
Impressive growth from a hyper-focused strategy
One of the biggest surprises this year has been the sheer scale and speed of client growth that is achievable through hyper-focused strategy. As an example, we scaled a specialist German lighting retailer, which jumped from one of our top 50 clients in 2024 to a top 10 retailer in just six months through intensive account management, campaign optimisation, and market expansion. This reinforced a crucial lesson: when we have persistent day to day personalised engagement with our partners, paired with a coordinated team effort internally that uses the latest product and automation enhancements, we can achieve great results.
Samsung campaign produced huge results
We were able to deliver a series of supplier funded campaigns for Samsung focusing on select SKUs within their premium range of 55”+ televisions facilitated through Connexity’s Comparison Shopping Service. This initiative was designed to run alongside John Lewis’s existing Google Shopping campaigns, aiming for additional visibility and market share without creating competition or affecting the retailer’s established cost structure. By capturing an additional 42% impression share for Samsung, the campaign successfully maximised brand visibility and market presence within highly competitive segments. This expanded reach translated into a consistent 2.1% conversion rate, demonstrating that the high volume of traffic was well-targeted. This efficiency culminated in a massive 10x ROI, proving that the strategy not only drove significant scale but did so with exceptional profitability. This success set a new benchmark for the level of collaboration and innovation possible on a shopping campaign.
Diverse channels offer paths to incremental performance for advertisers
We’re fortunate to work with a diverse mix of partners and four stand out in particular as opportunities for 2026:
Wishlist & Shopping Tools – This channel experienced a tremendous surge throughout 2025, reaching significant peaks during key gifting periods as consumers became more intentional with their purchases. This growth was largely fuelled by a shift in behaviour, with shoppers increasingly embracing digital planning and social sharing tools to organise their preferences and share ideas with their networks.
BNPL/Closed User Group Apps – Growth in this sector remained strong, driven primarily by a continued consumer demand for flexible payment solutions and value driven shopping environments. Connexity’s success here was further enhanced by our dedicated approach to providing customised tools and optimised user journeys.
Search Engine Traffic – We saw robust growth across search engines, a direct result of shifting toward profit-focused KPIs and more purposeful data application. By implementing advanced segmentation strategies, we were able to elevate the visibility of top-performing products, ensuring our search traffic was both high volume and high intent.
Social Channels – We increased our investment in social channel growth to ensure more comprehensive, full funnel brand exposure for our partners. This focus has proven highly effective and as a result, we will be doubling down on our social initiatives heading into 2026.
Advice for performance marketers
Looking ahead to next year, our biggest piece of advice for performance marketers is to challenge your KPIs now. Evolution toward profit-based metrics creates the foundation for aggressive yet secure investment in new and existing channels. The quieter period of Q1 is your opportunity to test, learn, and position for sustainable bottom-line growth throughout 2026. If you make the most of this period, you’ll be positioned to capitalise on consumer trends and AI-driven transformation throughout 2026.
2025 proved that focused execution drives disproportionate returns. From scoring big wins with major brands to helping our clients achieve major growth over the past year, Connexity has had an eventful and impactful 2025. With 2026 around the corner, we aim to continue to expand and grow with a focus on diversification, allowing us to deliver even better results for our customers.
We’re excited to partner with you on this journey!
