Omnisend’s latest survey of 170 U.S.-based SMB ecommerce owners paints a blunt picture of selling online in 2025: rising tariffs are hitting small retailers where it hurts—already razor-thin margins—and forcing moves that shoppers will feel almost immediately.

More than half (54%) of respondents say tariffs have pushed them to make “significant changes” to their businesses. Those changes aren’t subtle. Nearly four in ten (39%) have raised retail prices, 29% have switched suppliers, and 19% have cut down their product selections. It’s the kind of belt-tightening that larger retailers can often buffer with volume or cash reserves, but SMBs simply can’t.

Most Retailers Went Straight to Price Hikes

Among the retailers who’ve already adjusted their prices, the increases reflect a spectrum of necessity rather than strategy:

• 27% raised prices by up to 5%

• 52% raised prices by 5–10%

• ~20% raised prices by more than 10%

For many small ecommerce brands, absorbing rising import costs just isn’t an option. Consumers are already noticing higher price tags and fewer perks, while retailers quietly prune slow-moving SKUs to keep margins alive.

“Tariffs are coming on top of already higher costs for shipping, labor, and marketing, and most online retailers don't have the same cushion big-box chains do,” says Marty Bauer, ecommerce expert at Omnisend. In other words: when the pressure hits, SMBs don’t get to play defense for long—they have to move.

If Costs Rise Again, Most Expect Shoppers Will Pay

Omnisend pushed the scenario further by asking how businesses would handle a sudden 10% increase in costs—a realistic possibility given ongoing tariff swings and unpredictable global supply chains. The resulting picture is even starker:

• 46% would raise product prices

• 16% would increase shipping fees

• 16% would cut discounts

• 10% would reduce product variety

• Only 5% would consider layoffs

About 78% of SMB retailers would make shopping more expensive before touching staff or operations—proof that for many small ecommerce companies, labor isn’t the first lever to pull; pricing is.

This lines up with broader ecommerce trends over the past two years: customers are becoming increasingly price-sensitive, brand loyalty is thinning, and marketplaces like Amazon continue to condition shoppers to expect rock-bottom prices and fast delivery. That makes any increase—no matter how justified—feel riskier for independent retailers.

“When prices keep moving, shoppers change how they buy,” Bauer explains. “They switch to whoever offers the best value at that moment. That puts smaller retailers in a tough spot—they have to raise prices to stay alive, but every increase makes it harder to keep customers.”

The Broader Implication: Flexibility Is Now a Survival Skill

For SMB ecommerce operators, this environment demands real-time adaptability—dynamic pricing, diversified suppliers, and tighter product curation. The rise of AI-driven forecasting tools may offer some buffer, but the fundamental truth remains: tariffs and cost spikes don’t hit everyone equally, and smaller players are absorbing the hardest blows.

As tariff policy continues to evolve through 2025, the competitive gap between big-box giants and independent merchants could widen even further. If the market doesn’t stabilize soon, expect more retailers to cut down on SKUs, restructure fulfillment perks, or rethink their sourcing entirely.

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