Online Holiday Sales Surpass Expectations in the U.S., Returns on the Rise - Salesforce

Investing.com -- According to data released by Salesforce on Monday, online sales during the holiday season in the U.S. from November 1 to December 31 reached $282 billion, an increase of 4% compared to last year, surpassing the company's estimate of $277 billion.
Globally, online holiday sales rose by 3% to $1.2 trillion. However, the report also highlighted an increase in returned products.
Shoppers returned $122 billion worth of products, marking a 28% increase from the previous year. Salesforce attributed this rise in returns to shopping trends such as "try before you buy" and "multi-size ordering."
The former refers to shoppers purchasing multiple items to try and then returning those they do not want, while the latter indicates customers ordering the same product in different sizes.
Caila Schwartz, Salesforce's director of consumer insights, expressed some concerns regarding the increase in returns. In a statement, she noted that the 28% rise in the return rate compared to last year is concerning due to its potential impact on profit margins.
The report also noted a significant rise in the use of artificial intelligence and digital agents by retailers. These tools, which offer product recommendations and customer service, influenced nearly 20% of holiday shopping.
This represents a 6% increase from last year and indicates consumers' growing engagement with AI and digital agents.