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Online spending rose 3% to $1.2 trillion worldwide during the holiday season, with sales in the US, in particular, growing 4% to $282 billion.
That’s it according to a new report from Salesforce, which combined data from its various cloud services, including Agentforce, Commerce Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and Service Cloud, to gain insight into the spending of 1.5 billion consumers in multiple countries from November 1 to December 31, 2024.
Overall, the numbers fall slightly short of what Salesforce predicted: it did he predicted during the holidays the growth of online sales is 2% ($1.19 trillion). Despite this shortage, the marquee dates saw a big show: Black Friday events increase 5% to $74.4 billion, right Cyber Monday Deals grew 3% to $49.7 billion. And Thanksgiving generated $33.6 billion in worldwide salesup to 6%.
There’s another way to lower these numbers though: higher-than-usual returns. Salesforce reported that consumers have already recovered $122 billion from products that have been returned to retailers. This has increased by 28% over the past year, a figure that could rise to $133 billion, according to the report.
That’s “worrying,” Salesforce director of consumer affairs Caila Schwartz says, though she adds that other forces could help offset the drag. Indeed, Salesforce is one of the many in the market Developing AI solutions for retailers – AI-driven marketing solutions lead to lower operating costs, as well as more personalized sales and customer marketing strategies. Salesforce says AI is assistants “Driven” holiday spending to $229 billion through targeted offers, personalized service, and product recommendations, up 6% year-over-year. AI-driven customer adoption, in particular, increased by 42%.
“Retailers who have adopted AI and assistants are already seeing benefits, but these tools will be critical in the new year, as retailers seek to reduce the loss of revenue in returns and reconnect with consumers,” said Schwartz.
