Salesforce has today released its latest State of Commerce report in collaboration with the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) revealing four in five Australian e-commerce businesses are already harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI).
The State of Commerce report features insights from 2,700 ecommerce practitioners, as well as a global analysis of the buying behaviours of over 1.5 billion B2B and B2C customers.
The report highlights key trends on topics such as payment types, global expansion efforts, and ecommerce functionality across customer touchpoints, as well as insights on organisational plans for the adoption and implementation of artificial intelligence (AI).
Key insights from this year’s State of Commerce report include:
Ecommerce stands at the cusp of mass AI adoption. 80% of ecommerce organisations in Australia already use AI, with 33% having fully implemented it and 47% experimenting. An additional 14% are evaluating if and how AI can fit into their operations.
Digital wallets surge as a payment type of choice. According to Salesforce Commerce Cloud data, worldwide use of digital wallet payments like ApplePay and Google Pay grew 56% in Q3 2023 versus a year earlier. In Australia, 60% of organisations accept Apple Pay.
Commerce is increasingly embedded across the customer journey. No longer limited to digital storefronts or mobile apps, commerce functionality is being embedded into other pre- and post-purchase customer touch points. For example, 49% of organisations in Australia have payment capture functionality in marketing emails, and 92% see incremental revenue from customer service channels.
Comments on the news:
- “Commerce businesses are focused on driving efficiency and growth with new built-in and AI-powered innovations that enable a faster path to purchase and greater customer satisfaction. The companies that can leverage their customer data effectively to build these new connected commerce experiences will enable strong customer loyalty and profitability in the years to come.” – Michael Affronti, GM and SVP of Commerce Cloud
- “With intense competition in today’s retail sector, integrating technology and customer experience isn’t just a trend-it’s a survival strategy. AI innovations have potential to streamline operations and improve customer-brand interactions across the retail value chain. As the industry shifts towards ever-increasing technological innovations, AI’s role is set to grow.” – Paul Zahra, CEO of the Australian Retailers Association
Methodology
Salesforce conducted a double-blind survey of 2,700 professionals in ecommerce, customer service, information technology, marketing, operations, and sales/business development roles whose job duties include ecommerce strategy and execution. Data was collected between October 6 and November 8, 2023. Respondents were sourced from Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Additionally, Salesforce analysed buying activity of over 1.5 billion shoppers across 64 countries occurring between Q3 2022 through Q3 2023 on websites operating on Salesforce Commerce Cloud. To qualify for inclusion in this analysis, sites were required to meet a monthly minimum visit and order threshold. Additional data hygiene factors were applied to ensure consistent metric calculation.
