Salesforce: With AI Adoption Surging, Shopping Behavior Is at an Inflection Point

Consumer shopping behavior is undergoing its most dramatic shift since the rise of ecommerce - and it's because of AI.

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• According to Salesforce's Connected Shoppers Report, 39% of consumers - and over half of Gen Z - are already using AI for product discovery.
• A separate Capgemini survey found that nearly three in five consumers have begun replacing traditional search engines with generative AI, with two-thirds of millennials and Gen Z turning to tools like ChatGPT for product recommendations.

Salesforce perspective: This shift presents both an opportunity and a challenge, according to Caila Schwartz, Director of Industry Insights at Salesforce. While conversion rates are promising, AI-powered discovery requires retailers to change how they present product information. Unlike traditional SEO, which focuses on keywords and metadata, optimizing for AI discovery means anticipating solutions rather than searches.

• "AI-driven discovery traffic behaves more like social traffic," said Schwartz. "Sessions tend to be short, but when a shopper does land on the right product, they convert at a much higher rate."

How retail is adapting: The challenge is ensuring products show up effectively when consumers turn to AI tools for recommendations. This requires a fundamental shift in content strategy, moving from keyword optimization to solution-oriented product descriptions and rich, contextual data that AI systems can understand and recommend.

Those who master this transition early will have a significant advantage as AI-powered discovery becomes the norm rather than the exception.

What's next: The implications extend beyond marketing copy. Retailers must consider how AI systems will interpret product catalogs, customer reviews, and even inventory data.

• "The best-performing content anticipates what a shopper is trying to solve, not just what they're searching for," said Schwartz.

Between the lines: By offering agentic AI solutions that help companies scale their marketing teams with digital labor, Salesforce is offering a new path for retailers to take on this transition.

Customer perspective: Luxury retailer Saks Fifth Avenue is enhancing its personalization strategy by utilizing first-party data and AI to create a highly customized shopping experience across digital, mobile, and in-store touch points, transforming the luxury shopping experience and fostering loyalty.

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