A new report published this week by Salesforce shows that global online sales for the holiday shopping season surged to a record-breaking US$1.2 trillion this year, up by 3% from US$1.17 trillion in 2023. 

These findings are based on data from the LA-based company’s SalesForm platform, which gathered information about 1.5 billion shoppers and 1.6 trillion page views throughout November and December. The US market was responsible for US$282 billion in online sales, a 4% jump compared to 2023. 

Salesforce estimates that US$229 billion of this year’s holiday spending was influenced by retailers using AI-powered sales agents and customer service support tools, which recommended a wide range of products to consumers and promoted discounted merchandise. Shoppers are acclimating quickly to using these tech-driven services to enhance their purchasing experiences; the report highlighted a 42% increase in this behavior over last year. 

Despite these record-breaking online sales, a higher volume of returns will likely dampen retailers’ overall profits. Salesforce director of consumer insights Caila Schwartz says that more than US$122 billion in global purchases have already been returned, which is up 28% from 2023. This increase is attributed to several trending consumer behaviors, including viral “try-on haul” videos and purchasing multiple sizes of the same article of clothing online in order to find the best fit.