Salesforce’s 2025 Cyber Week analysis points to a decisive shift in how AI is powering retail sales and service. Global sales during the November 25–December 1 period reached $336.6BN, up 7 percent year over year, with AI agents directly influencing $67BN in purchases.
As one in five orders worldwide involved agent-driven product recommendations or conversational customer service, the data shows AI is now embedded deeply in shopping and service behaviors during retail’s most intense week of the year.
Retailers using Salesforce’s Agentforce 360, including brands such as Pandora, Shark Ninja, and Funko, posted sales growth 32 percent faster than peers without dedicated AI agents.
Recommendations delivered by AI agents generated higher conversion rates and helped shoppers navigate vast online selections more effectively. AI-guided customer service conversations climbed 55 percent week over week and agent-driven actions like address updates and return initiations rose 70 percent, reducing manual workloads for service teams.
Rather than acting as deflection tools, the agents handled concrete tasks at scale, easing workloads for human teams and trimming operational costs.
Josh Smiley, SVP and Global Head of Technology at Funko, underscored how AI agents shaped the collectibles company’s approach to scaling service during peak demand. “The holiday season represents our biggest opportunity to scale direct-to-consumer revenue, and agentic experiences are paramount to that success.”
“Leveraging the Agentforce 360, we have modernized our customer support model with AI-driven replies to drive higher productivity and operational efficiency. And by going live with our shopper agent, powered by Agentforce Commerce and conversational AI, we can secure new customers with a seamless, personalized shopping experience.”
Salesforce powered 61 million online orders and supporting infrastructure-wide spikes in marketing outreach, order management and data processing, according to the company. Agentforce Service helped resolve more than 4.2 billion case interactions, while Data 360 processed 1.26 trillion records, which was a 44 percent year-over-year increase and an all-time high, providing the intelligence required for personalization and post-purchase care.
Caila Schwartz, Director, Consumer Insights at Salesforce, summarized:
“We are seeing a consumer who is committed to spending, and the intent is expressed almost entirely through a mobile device — from browsing products on social platforms like TikTok and AI agent search channels like ChatGPT to making a final purchase via a mobile wallet. The message to retailers is clear: The modern shopper is digital-first, and their path to purchase is now dictated by convenience and speed.”
The growth in sales wasn’t confined to e-commerce. On Black Friday, which remains the biggest in-store shopping day of the year, accounting for 31 percent of all sales during Cyber Week, Salesforce’s retail POS volumes climbed 96 percent year over year. That indicated AI-enhanced customer journeys are increasingly connecting online behaviors with brick-and-mortar sales.
Black Friday drove a 6 percent year-on-year increase in global sales to $79BN, with a 3 percent increase in U.S. sales to $18BN. Cyber Monday accounted for $53BN in global online sales, up 7 percent year on year and a 6 percent year-on-year increase in the U.S. to $13.6BN.
A Growing Consumer Readiness for Agentic AI
Research from PSE Consulting in the UK reinforces the momentum behind AI-assisted shopping and highlights shifting consumer attitudes this holiday season. The study shows that 49 percent of UK adults now use AI tools regularly and 22 percent plan to use AI for holiday shopping. Among 18–34-year-olds, the intent rises to 42 percent.
A notable share of these consumers are ready to let AI take the final step in the purchase path, as 85 percent of those planning to use AI this season would trust it to place orders and process payments on their behalf, reflecting growing comfort with fully agentic transactions.
This aligns with broader industry predictions. Consulting firm McKinsey anticipates that automated agentic tools could influence up to $1 trillion in U.S. online spending by 2030, with global volumes reaching several trillion as AI systems expand from recommendation engines to autonomous shopping assistants.
“What’s remarkable is how quickly AI has moved from novelty to an integral part of shopping,” said Chris Jones, Managing Director at PSE Consulting. Jones added:
“AI is now becoming an active participant in the payment process. Systems designed for human-paced transactions are now under pressure to support high-frequency, autonomous agent-initiated flows. This has major implications for fintechs, merchants, and payment processors, especially around real-time authorizations, fraud detection, and liability management.”
Salesforce’s Cyber Week data and PSE Consulting’s UK consumer insights point to a rapid acceleration of agentic commerce and a growing expectation that AI will play a more active role in buying and service interactions.
