Online spending during the holiday season surged to a record $1.2 trillion globally, as retailers tap artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous agents to increase profit margins and enhance the holiday shopping experience.
This is one of the key findings of the latest Salesforce holiday retail sales report, which shows holiday retail sales (November 2024 to first week of January 2025), surged to a record $1.2 trillion globally.
Sales were boosted by mobile and social commerce alongside increased consumer spending after months of saving in the first half of 2024.
The Salesforce data is based on an analysis of 1.5 billion shoppers and 1.6 trillion page views across the Salesforce Cloud Platform, which highlights shopping trends that shaped the holiday season.
According to the report, both consumers and retailers leaned into the use of AI and agents to enhance holiday shopping experiences through product recommendations, personalised order support, targeted offers, and conversational customer service support, contributing to $229 billion in sales – or 19% – of all online orders within the Salesforce ecosystem.
Retail use of generative AI features like agents increased 25% during the holiday season compared to September and October in 2024.
Shoppers used AI and agent-powered chat for customer service 42% more than they did during the 2023 holiday season, notes the report. This represents a 3% global year-over-year (YOY) increase.
However, shoppers have already sent back $122 billion in returned merchandise bought online.
“Retailers had a robust holiday season, but a 28% rise in the rate of returns compared to last year is a cause for some concern,” says Caila Schwartz, director of consumer insights at Salesforce.
“Retailers who have embraced AI and agents are already seeing the benefits, but these tools will be even more critical in the New Year, as retailers aim to minimise revenue losses on returns and reengage with shoppers.”
According to Salesforce, the increase in returns is partially due to trending consumer behaviours like “try-on hauls” and bracketing (buying an extra size above and below your standard size).
Salesforce projects that retailers will likely see the number of returns grow to $133 billion – presenting an important opportunity for brands to use agents to make the returns process easier and more tailored to specific customer needs.
Social commerce grew its influence on shoppers – with more consumers opting to either buy directly through social media platforms or indirectly, through products advertised via social media platforms.
Social commerce can be defined as the use of social networking websites such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Instagram as vehicles to promote and sell commercial products and services.
According to the report, retailers using social commerce strategies saw 20% of global holiday sales generated through platforms like TikTok Shop and Instagram.
“Social media, as a traffic-referring channel, also grew 8% YOY, driving 14% of all traffic to e-commerce sites during the season,” notes the report.
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