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Salesforce has released its latest State of Commerce report with insights from 2,700 e-commerce practitioners across 15 countries, including 200 from the UK, as well as a global analysis of the buying behaviours of over 1.5 billion B2B and B2C customers.
Even before we get to the rising popularity of AI, e-commerce was in the midst of a revolution as channels multiplied. No longer limited to web or a mobile app, transactions now occur across a myriad of owned and third-party channels.
Case in point: A recent study of the retail sector found that 59% of shoppers have completed a transaction over social media — a meteoric rise from the 15% who reported having done so in 2021.
During the 2023 holiday season, Salesforce data shows that 10% of all traffic to digital storefronts came from social media.
Cross-functional commerce touchpoints — known collectively as “embedded commerce” — are proliferating.
Sizable pluralities, if not outright majorities, of companies have implemented such capabilities across sales, customer service, and social media touchpoints, among others.
Commerce on cusp of mass AI adoption
Only 3% of commerce organizations have no AI plans, although adoption is nascent. Nearly one-third (29%) of teams have fully implemented AI in their workflows so far, and that group reports notable benefits to internal processes and productivity.
In fact, commerce professionals using AI credit the technology with an average time savings of 6.4 hours per week.
Commerce organizations across industries vary in AI adoption, with automotive leading the way in full implementation (42% of organizations) and media and communications trailing behind (23% of organizations).
Even if most commerce organizations haven’t fully embraced AI, the majority are poised to in the near future. Forty-eight percent are experimenting with AI, and 20% are evaluating how it will fit into their operations.
The report highlights key trends on topics such as payment types, global expansion efforts, and e-commerce functionality across customer touchpoints, as well as insights on organisational plans for the adoption and implementation of artificial intelligence (AI).
Key insights from State of Commerce report:
E-commerce stands at the cusp of mass AI adoption. 75% of e-commerce organisations in the UK already use AI, with 24% having fully implemented it and 51% experimenting. An additional 22% are evaluating if and how AI can fit in their operations.
Digital wallets surge as a payment type of choice. According to Salesforce Commerce Cloud data, worldwide use of digital wallet payments like Apple Pay and Google Pay grew 56% in Q3 2023 versus a year earlier. In the UK, 71% of organisations accept Apple Pay.
Commerce is increasingly embedded across the customer journey. No longer limited to digital storefronts or mobile apps, commerce functionality is being embedded into other pre- and post-purchase customer touch points. For example, 50% of organisations in the UK have payment capture functionality in marketing emails, and 94% see incremental revenue from customer service channels.
“Commerce businesses are focused on driving efficiency and growth with new built-in and AI-powered innovations that enable a faster path to purchase and greater customer satisfaction,” notes Michael Affronti, GM and SVP of Commerce Cloud.
“The companies that can leverage their customer data effectively to build these new connected commerce experiences will enable strong customer loyalty and profitability in the years to come.”
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