Oscar Rundqvist from eComID – the Shopping Passport for the internet

Who is Oscar? Can you tell us a bit about your journey into e-commerce and what initially drew you to this space?

I’m the CEO and co-founder of eComID, which I started in 2023 with some of the most talented people I’ve worked with. Before that, I led global digital customer experience at H&M. Working at that scale gave me a clear view of how eCommerce really functions - and where it fails. What stood out most was how fundamentally broken online shopping still is. The industry’s return rates aren’t just an operational issue - they’re proof that we’re asking customers to make decisions without enough context or personalization. That’s why we founded eComID. We’re building a shopping passport that gives online shopping memory. When the industry understands shoppers better, we reduce returns, improve experience, and create a more sustainable model for growth.

For those unfamiliar with eComID, what problem in e-commerce are you solving?

We enable smart shopping from the very first visit. Today, personalisation attempts are limited to platforms with massive amounts of data. We want to democratise that - bringing intelligent, agentic commerce directly to brands’ own websites. By giving shopping memory across brands, we help customers make better decisions, reduce returns, and create a smarter foundation for eCommerce.

What kind of conversations with clients have changed your perspective the most?

The conversations that have changed me the most are the ones questioning how we define success in eCommerce. For years, the industry has optimised for conversion rate and AOV. But those metrics don’t say much about long-term resilience. A sale that comes back as a return isn’t real growth. What really matters is retained value - purchases that customers love and keep. When brands start looking at it that way, the entire strategy shifts. That’s exactly the transition we’re helping accelerate at eComID. We’re fully on the brands’ side, building for sustainable growth, not short-term spikes.

What made you realise this was a real, scalable opportunity to start eComID?

What made it clear was that the incentives are finally aligned. When shopping becomes more informed, everyone benefits - brands improve margins, customers make better decisions, and the planet carries less unnecessary waste. Opportunities where value creation and sustainability point in the same direction are rare. That’s when we knew this wasn’t just a feature. It was infrastructure. And infrastructure scales.

Why is identity and customer login becoming a bigger strategic topic now compared to a few years ago?

Because identity is the foundation of personalization. A few years ago, login was mainly about loyalty programs or CRM. Today, it’s becoming strategic infrastructure. Without identity, there’s no memory - and without memory, there’s no real personalization. As customer acquisition becomes more expensive and margins tighter, brands can’t rely on anonymous traffic and short-term optimization. They need long-term relationships. Identity enables that. And real personalization is what unlocks a more informed era of shopping - one built on relevance instead of guesswork.

What are the most common mistakes you see brands make around login, checkout, and customer identification?

The biggest mistake is designing for old truths. Many brands still treat login, checkout, and identification as friction to minimize rather than infrastructure to build on. But eCommerce is evolving fast. The tech stack is getting new layers - AI, agentic experiences, predictive sizing, smarter search - and all of them depend on identity. If you only optimize for speed in checkout without thinking about long-term recognition and memory, you’re building for yesterday’s model. The brands that get it right see login and identification not as a barrier, but as an enabler for smarter pre-purchase experiences and more resilient growth.

Looking 3–5 years ahead, how will customer identification in e-commerce evolve?

Customer identification will move from being brand-specific to becoming more collaborative. Today, every brand tries to build its own isolated view of the customer. That model doesn’t scale in a world of AI and agentic commerce. Intelligence improves with context - and context grows when insights can move with the customer. I believe we’ll see the emergence of a shared identification layer - a collaborative AI infrastructure that benefits all connected brands while still respecting privacy and control. That’s the direction we’re building toward at eComID.

From your perspective, which trends are overhyped and which are underestimated?

I think virtual try-ons are slightly overhyped - at least from a sizing perspective. They’re visually impressive, but an accurate fit is incredibly difficult to simulate without structured, reliable product data. And that foundation is still missing in much of the industry. Without that layer, it risks becoming more entertainment than true decision support. On the underestimated side, I’d point to conversational commerce. Not because it’s invisible - but because we’re still early in understanding how much it can reshape behaviour. When conversational interfaces are combined with visual inspiration and strong product intelligence, especially in fashion, it changes the way people discover and decide. It makes shopping feel more guided and less transactional. That shift will be bigger than many expect.

You work closely with Grebban and share many brands on the client list. What would you say is Grebban’s primary strength as an ecom agency?

Two things stand out to me: the long-term mindset and the commitment to design. Grebban builds relationships, not just projects. In this AI-driven era, great design becomes even more important. Grebban has a strong instinct for that - creating digital environments that feel intentional, premium, and cohesive. That alignment around design thinking is something we really appreciate at eComID as well.

How do you personally stay ahead in such a fast-moving industry?

I follow a lot of newsletters and podcasts from people I respect - that’s table stakes. But what matters more is creating space to think. In a fast-moving industry, it’s easy to confuse noise with progress. I try to constantly separate hype from actual shopper value. For me, the filter is simple: does this genuinely make the customer’s decision easier, smarter, or more confident? If not, it’s probably just a trend. Staying grounded in the shopper’s perspective - especially when everything feels exciting and disruptive - is more important than ever.

And finally, tell us more about Oscar outside of eComID. What makes a perfect weekend?

Time outside in the sun with friends and family - ideally near water. I love fishing. There’s something about the patience and stillness that balances the pace of startup life. And if it’s not outdoors, you’ll probably find me watching ice hockey. I follow Linköping Hockey Club - which builds character, given the results lately. But loyalty matters more than short-term wins.