Salesforce’s initial 2024 holiday predictions indicate an interesting season ahead for retailers, as they navigate the shifting preferences of shoppers worldwide.
Though the Canadian economy is predicted to be stable into late 2024, retailers will still be faced with anticipating a myriad of other factors influencing shoppers, from convenience to the novelty of AI in their purchasing journey, said Salesforce.
The report said Chinese shopping apps will take market share as 63 per cent of Western consumers plan to purchase from Chinese shopping applications during the upcoming holiday season.
Also, shoppers will embrace AI to search for the perfect gift. This year, 53 per cent of shoppers are interested in using generative AI for gift inspiration. Salesforce predicts search will drive a nearly 3x better conversion rate compared to traffic not engaging with site search.


Caila Schwartz, Director, Consumer Strategy & Insights for Salesforce, said shoppers are taking on more debt. According to Salesforce research, 37 per cent of global shoppers say they’re using their credit cards more today than they were a year ago, while 32 per cent report using alternative credit services like “buy now, pay later” more frequently.
And, 43 per cent of consumers are carrying more debt compared to 2023.
“According to the Salesforce Shopping Index, online order volumes have been falling since 2022 and decreased by two per cent year over year in the first quarter of this year. In fact, 47 per cent of shoppers say they are buying the same amount, while 40 per cent are buying less compared to last year,” she said.
“When they do buy, they’re trading down, buying discounted merchandise, and seeking private labels. Only 15 per cent of consumers reported making no tradeoffs based on price. Consumers’ credit balances are increasing because they’re offloading inflation onto high interest credit cards.
“To balance this risk, consumers are saving more than ever. When asked to rank where their disposable income is going, most consumers said savings is their top priority, followed by physical goods, with experiences coming last. This is in marked contrast to last year when savings ranked last behind physical goods and experiences.”
Schwartz said consumers today are very price conscious and they’re making decisions based on prices and this is across all economic levels.
“It’s really hitting everyone,” she said.
“They’re feeling the pinch and with interest rates so high that feels even more burdensome to them. So we see that consumers are making tradeoffs.”

Schwartz said consumers are looking for the best deal and this environment is primed for a takeover by Chinese shopping applications.
“In the last six months, two-thirds of consumers from Western markets made at least one purchase on Aliexpress, Cider, Shein, Temu, or TikTok. Why are they choosing these platforms? According to 58 per cent of consumers, these shopping applications offer the lowest prices,” she said.
“Which application beats the rest in the West? Temu is the clear winner, with 43 per cent of Western shoppers purchasing on this platform within the last six months. But for Gen Zers, Shein is the top destination, with half of this group placing an order recently. Retailers must pay attention: 63 per cent of Western consumers plan to purchase from Chinese shopping applications.”
Discount stores and retailers like Walmart are benefiting in this challenging economic environment.
“Walmart in their Q1 earnings talked about how they’re actually doing very well right now and it’s because they’re seeing the high income earner trading off and picking Walmart over other retailers, especially for those essential items,” said Schwartz. “Those lower priced or lower tier providers and retailers are doing quite well because the price conscious environment is hitting every single consumer.”

She said based on what Salesforce is seeing in the data and what the current macroeconomic conditions indicate, unless there’s significant changes to interest rates and prices do not continue to rise at the rates that they’re continuing to rise at, the expectation is that we will continue to see “this level of pain for the consumer beyond the holidays.”
Retailers continue to face logistics challenges with costs but Schwartz said they shouldn’t push the shipping expenses back on shoppers. Free shipping offers are a top-three reason why consumers choose to make a purchase from a particular brand or retailer. And with shoppers focused on cost this year (rather than shipping times and return policies), discounted and free shipping are table stakes for the industry. In fact, over half of shoppers say they are more likely to purchase online than in store if delivery is free.
“For many years now, product recommendations and chatbots powered by AI have made merchandise discovery and issue resolution faster and more personalized for shoppers. And consumers have leaned in: Last holiday season, 17% of online purchases were influenced by AI – both predictive and generative. That totalled a whopping $199B of onlines sales worldwide in November and December. This year, consumers will increasingly leverage AI – knowingly or not – to search for the right gift at the right price,” explained Schwartz.
“In fact, 53 per cent of shoppers surveyed said they are interested in using generative AI for inspiring the perfect present. This holiday, generative AI search is poised to bring significant changes to consumer expectations and experiences thanks to big tech platforms. For example, as Google embeds Generative AI into its search product, consumers will adopt and act in more conversational ways when they search online. This means retailers can transition from keyword searches to natural prompts to find products on their websites. Brands like Instacart are already embedding generative AI into their search functionality, making the shopping experience more natural and intuitive. “