New results are in from September activity in the Baird/Digital Commerce 360 Ecommerce Stock Index. All four categories tracked by the index fell during the month, as the overall index underperformed the S&P 500.
Still, seven companies’ share prices went positive for the month, with Commerce.com, Xometry, Wayfair and eBay among them.
September takeaways from the Baird/Digital Commerce 360 Ecommerce Stock Index
- The Baird/Digital Commerce 360 Ecommerce Stock Index fell 8.1% in September, with each category that it tracks ending the month negative.
- September index leaders included Commerce.com (+31%), Xometry (+11%) and Global-E (+6%).
- Wayfair (+3%) and eBay (+2%) also saw gains in an otherwise difficult month for technology stocks and a flat S&P 500.
This index is a collaboration between Digital Commerce 360 and the financial advisory, capital markets, asset management and private equity firm Baird. It intends to provide perspective into how public markets value companies and technology providers that power digital commerce. The index contains four categories capturing activity extending throughout the Americas and China:
- Online Marketplaces
- Online Retail
- Ecommerce Technology
- International Companies
Readers should note that this index complements insights from Digital Commerce 360’s Top 2000 Database. The market research tool specifically tracks North American online retailers and their web sales.
The Baird/Digital Commerce 360 Ecommerce Stock Index, meanwhile, covers both B2C retail and B2B ecommerce companies, in addition to the technology vendors that serve them, with a broader focus on global activity. All commentary and reporting is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to be financial advice.
Click here to read August’s ecommerce stock index results.
September ecommerce stock index results
“The Baird/Digital Commerce 360 Ecommerce Stock Index in September retraced recent monthly gains, declining 8.1% from August and underperforming the S&P, which was 0.5% lower for the month,” said Colin Sebastian, Baird’s managing director and senior research analyst covering internet/ecommerce.
As with previous swings in share prices over the past year, September’s downward pressure accompanied new developments in AI as markets reacted to agentic features, where technology companies pitched use cases for their latest models, apps and features.
“We believe the bulk of the pressure on Ecommerce stocks was due to increasing investor concerns over the impact of agentic commerce on legacy companies, as personal assistants such as Muse (Meta) and Instinct showed off their shopping and travel booking capabilities,” Sebastian noted. “As such, Online Retail and Marketplaces subsectors were hit hardest in September, down 14% and 9%, respectively, while Ecommerce Technology stocks were flat, as some of those platforms may even benefit from agents shopping on behalf of users.”
Nevertheless, some of September’s strongest performances came out of the Marketplaces and Technology sectors.
Top-performing ecommerce stocks in September
Leading the index in September, ecommerce platform Commerce.com (formerly BigCommerce) reversed its decline from August. The company’s share price finished September 31% higher than its August close as investors grew more confident in the company’s potential to benefit from ecommerce activity following cost reductions.
Next, digital manufacturing services company Xometry followed, up 11% from its August finish. The cross-border ecommerce platform Global-E was up 6%.
Meanwhile, Wayfair (+3%) and eBay (2%) also went positive for the month. Growth for eBay came in the aftermath of the online marketplace’s fiscal Q2 earnings results in August. The report showed that eBay gross merchandise volume (GMV) rose 26% year over year.
“Conversely, weakest performers during the month included online retailers 1-800-Flowers (-32%), Bed, Bath & Beyond (former Overstock business), which was down another 25%, and Chewy (-24%),” Sebastian stated. “Nonetheless, our checks still suggest ongoing healthy ecommerce trends across North America, and we expect solid Q4 ‘Holiday period’ online spending with potential upside to our initial 6% year-over-year industry growth forecast for 2026.”
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