M+E Connections
Salesforce: Holiday Digital Sales Hit $723B
Story Highlights
CRM specialist Salesforce has released its 2019 Holiday Shopping Report, showing an 8 percent increase in digital spending to $723 billion in digital revenue worldwide, with 10 percent of digital orders during the holiday season powered by artificial intelligence.
Brands and retailers saw 56 percent more active shoppers in the five days leading up to Christmas, and 18 percent more digital revenue share after shipping cutoffs, according to the research.
AI-powered search and product recommendations accounted for additional revenue for retailers this holiday season, as 10 percent of digital orders and 5 percent of digital revenue came from AI-powered recommendations.
“Throughout the 2019 holiday shopping season, retailers saw success with mobile commerce, store pick up and personalization via artificial intelligence and social engagement, removing friction in the ways shoppers browsed and purchased,” said Rob Garf, VP of industry strategy for retail for Salesforce. “Mobile certainly catered to people on the go this holiday season and in 2020 brands should be looking for ways to integrate this experience into physical stores for a true omnichannel shopping journey.”
Cyber Week 2019 broke records, with global digital revenue growing 15 percent to $143 billion, and Black Friday continued to be the No;. 1 global digital shopping day. Thanksgiving Day saw sales grow 24 percent to $20 billion.
Mobile was the No. 1 device driving digital traffic and orders, with Christmas Day seeing up to 80 percent of digital traffic and 65 percent of digital orders come through a mobile device.
Customers of Salesforce’s Commerce Cloud saw 28 percent growth in digital orders placed and global brands and retailers saw 22 percent overall digital revenue growth during the shopping season. Brands and retailers also enjoyed a 28 percent overall traffic increase. Salesforce Marketing Cloud sent more than 162 billion emails, mobile SMS and push notifications for the entire holiday season, a 15 percent year-over-year increase in email sends and 17 percent year-over-year increase in messages.
