Salesforce sales data shows record $1.29T for retailers

Salesforce reported record online holiday sales (Nov. 1 – Dec 31) for 2025. The company said sales reached $1.29 trillion globally and £28 billion ($38 billion) in the UK, with global sales up 7% and UK sales up 5.5% year-over-year. AI and agents drove 20% of all retail sales, generating $262 billion through personalised recommendations and customer engagement. UK shoppers were notably resilient, contributing to a 12% global sales surge in late December, outpacing growth earlier in the season.

2025 holiday shoppers embrace AI and agents

This year marked a turning point for the next wave of AI-powered search. The share of global traffic from third-party AI search channels like ChatGPT and Perplexity doubled compared to last year. While these channels are still growing, they deliver an exceptionally high-intent shopper.

In fact, shoppers referred to retailer websites from AI-powered search channels converted nine times more often than those coming through social media referrals.

Retailers’ own branded agents also contributed to sales growth – while boosting their teams’ efficiency. Companies that deployed their own AI agents, like Salesforce customers Pandora, SharkNinja, and Funko, saw a 59% higher growth rate.

This averaged at 6.2% year-over-year sales increase versus 3.9%. Shoppers embraced this technology more than ever, using retailers’ AI and agents for customer service 126% more during the holiday rush than in the two months prior.

As the season peaked, AI agents became key to always-on customer service. December saw a 66% jump in the number of agentic AI-powered service conversations over November. Interactions during the week of Christmas and Boxing Day grew 12% year-over-year. In addition to responding to customer inquiries, these agents actively carried out tasks for customers, completing 142% more assignments compared to the previous two months.

Examples of these responsibilities include changing delivery addresses and starting return processes. Jobs that typically require significant time and effort from human representatives.

Go deeper: 2025 holiday shopping insights

• Stores remain a fixture of the shopping season: Nearly one in five orders this season was made via Buy Online Pick In-Store (BOPIS) or click and collect. However, as shoppers rushed to finish their last-minute gifting, that rate climbed to one in three during the final five days before Christmas.
  • BOPIS usage peaked on Monday, Dec 22, when 35% of all online orders were placed for in-store pickup.
• The rate of returns rises: More than $181 billion of global online purchases made between November 1 and December 31 have already been returned. This accounts for 14% of all purchases and marks a 10% increase in returns from last year.
  • Items purchased in-store during the final four days before Christmas face the highest likelihood of being returned in January.
• Consumer purchasing power trends toward the positive: Across the holiday season, the average selling price (ASP) increased 7% year-over-year worldwide. It was even higher in the UK, where prices jumped 9%. Consumers, however, were not dissuaded by higher prices — order volumes this season moderately increased 3% globally compared with last year.
• Consumers browse heavily before they buy: While this holiday season was defined by a resilient consumer, consumers did more research before converting. Online traffic grew 13% globally and 10% in the UK over last year’s volumes. Salesforce suggests this significantly eclipsed last year’s global growth rates of 1%.

Caila Schwartz, Director, Consumer Insights, Salesforce says, “This holiday season marked a definitive shift to an era of ‘agentic’ shopping. Shoppers remained resilient in the face of higher prices.

“However, the real story was how retailers leaned on AI and agents to navigate the holiday rush. Agents didn’t just drive $262 billion in sales through high-intent discovery; they became the operational heroes of the season. Handling a 142% surge in tasks like returns and shipping updates. This wasn’t just a bigger holiday season than last year; it was a more efficient, intelligent one.”

Enterprise Times: What this means for businesses

Things appear to be seriously shifting in eCommerce. 2025 was not only a bigger holiday season than last year; it was a more efficient, intelligent one. The data suggests UK shoppers showed remarkable resilience throughout the holiday season driving impressive year-on-year gains. This year marked a turning point for the next wave of AI-powered search. What is most notable from the data is the rise of third-party AI search channels.

Global traffic from AI search channels such as ChatGPT and Perplexity has doubled year-over-year. Although still developing, these sources attract highly interested shoppers, who convert at nine times the rate of social media referrals on retailer websites. It was inevitable that AI would have a massive impact on eCommerce and online shopping habits. What’s possibly surprising is that impact is taking place now and not in the future.

The post Salesforce sales data shows record $1.29T for retailers appeared first on Enterprise Times.