Salesforce's Cyber Week 2023 figures reveal a 6% YoY global sales increase, with total sales reaching $298 billion. U.S. sales also saw a 5% YoY growth, hitting $70.8 billion. Interestingly, AI played a significant role, influencing $51 billion of online sales during the week.

Black Friday maintained its position as the largest U.S. online shopping day, generating $16.4 billion in U.S. sales and a whopping $70.9 billion globally. Mobile phones were the preferred shopping device, accounting for 79% of ecommerce traffic, a slight increase from 76% in 2022.

Marketing campaigns also experienced a shift. There was a 37% growth in messages sent via push notifications, SMS, and streaming services, dwarfing the 9% growth for traditional email. Discount rates rose to 27% globally and 29% in the U.S. throughout Cyber Week.

Single-brand retailers saw about double the online growth compared to retailers carrying multiple brands. This trend was accompanied by an increase in the use of alternative payment methods like Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) and mobile wallets in the U.S.

Chatbot messages across the Cyber weekend saw a 79% YoY increase globally. Salesforce's Commerce Cloud powered nearly 50 million orders on digital storefronts across Cyber Week with 100% uptime. Over 53 billion marketing messages were sent via Salesforce's Marketing Cloud this Cyber Week, marking a 7% increase YoY.

Salesforce's Service Cloud helped customers field and resolve over 3.7 billion case interactions, and observed a 10% YoY increase in AI-powered chatbot sessions. More than 49 billion AI-powered product recommendations were made across Cyber Week.

Rob Garf, VP and GM of Retail at Salesforce, commented on the trends, saying, 'Executives are realising that you can’t spell holidays without AI. Retailers are embracing this innovative technology to personalise shopping experiences and increase customer profitability during the holiday season and beyond.' He added, 'The mobile phone has been the remote control for holiday shopping. Consumers are embracing mobile wallets to break down friction between discovering on social and purchasing on mobile.'