There's a new way to grow in e-commerce.

And it doesn't involve ads. This report draws on data from 15,000+ Shopify & WooCommerce stores to uncover the new growth model quietly replacing paid acquisition.

What is collaborative commerce?

Collaborative commerce is when online stores team up to share inventory, audiences, and trust — creating growth that they couldn't achieve alone.

Key findings

It’s already working.

58%

of surveyed merchants have already used collaboration to expand their customer base and increase sales without ads.

It offers the lowest-risk path into a new market.

42%

of stores have used cross-store partnerships to test new geographies through retailers who already have the local audience.

But trust is the biggest blocker (and opportunity).

52%

of merchants cite trust as the biggest barrier, which means there’s a structural advantage for stores that solve it first.

What’s inside

What is collaborative commerce?

Three models real stores are using to grow together, and what separates partnerships that compound from ones that quietly fall apart.

What merchants are actually getting out of it

Real outcomes from real stores: customer growth, market entry, and where the biggest barriers still sit.

The dropshipper is becoming the curator

Why high-volume dropshipping is losing ground, and how collaborative commerce is transforming it.

What makes collaborations actually convert

The three things every high-performing partnership has in common, with case studies from IKEA × LEGO, Nike × Apple, and more.

Going global

Where merchants are actively seeking partners right now — US, UK, France, Australia — and what to watch out for in each market.

What’s next

Agentic commerce, subscription bundling, social commerce, and the forces reshaping collaborative commerce over the next three years.

“

A lot of us in the e-commerce space are smaller businesses trying to compete against much bigger players. When small brands can come together to support each other and form thoughtful partnerships, it can be transformative for our growth.

Pascal Keane Founder — Niccolò P.

Access the Collaborative Commerce 2026 report

Find out how the fastest-growing stores are using cross-store partnerships to grow their customer base, enter new markets, and reduce dependence on paid media.

About this report

Syncio has been powering collaborative commerce since 2018. This report draws on data from over 15,000 stores in our network — merchant surveys and interviews from 2023–2026, search data from Syncio Marketplace, and platform usage data spanning eight years.