• Salesforce data and insights based on the activity of global shoppers reveal strong consumer interest in Cyber Week and the power of AI agents to maximise conversion
• AI contributed to 17% of global purchases in the last seven weeks

Salesforce reports that Cyber Week is expected to drive $311 billion in global sales as consumers eagerly await holiday deals, with the use of AI and agents set to influence up to 19% of those orders.

The Salesforce Shopping Index — which analyses data from 1.5 billion global shoppers, more than 1.5 trillion page views, and hundreds of millions of unique SKUs on the Salesforce Customer 360 platform — showed that since the start of October, digital retailers using generative AI and agents increased their average order value by 7% compared to those without the technology ($117 vs. $109).

AI and agents were also responsible for driving 17% of global orders through personalised recommendations, targeted promotions, and smarter customer service.

Retailers using AI-powered agents during this time frame also doubled customer service engagement, addressing complex cases faster as 30% of consumers prefer agents for speedier service.

“Agents have the potential to transform the holiday season by helping retailers provide personalised, timely, and efficient service to shoppers when they need it most,” said Zuko Mdwaba, Salesforce area vice president/Africa executive and South Africa. “There is a wide open opportunity for digital retailers to use AI for personal shopper agents that help consumers find exactly what they’re looking for and continue to make the path to purchase an easy one.”

Salesforce’s Cyber Week 2024 predictions: Reviewing real-time aggregate data stemming from Agentforce, Commerce Cloud, Service Cloud, and Marketing Cloud, Salesforce expects to see four major trends during this year’s most critical shopping week:

• AI steers the shopping cart: AI and agents will likely influence 19% of Cyber Week orders, accounting for $61 billion in global sales.
• Cyber sales surge: Cyber Week sales are expected to reach $311 billion worldwide, accounting for 23% of all holiday purchases in 2024, and $75 billion in the United States.
• Discount rates are expected to be attractive: Average discounts will likely peak at 28% globally and 30% for the U.S., fueling 5% YoY sales growth.
  • Top discounts rates globally are expected in:
    • Beauty & Makeup – 38%
    • Skincare –  33%
    • General Apparel – 33%
  • Mobile rules digital checkouts: Mobile orders will make up 70% of sales, driven by better on-the-go experiences in recent years, and presenting a new conversion opportunity with AI agents on mobile messaging apps.

Separately, a recent Salesforce survey found that 45% of global consumers are waiting to make purchases until Cyber Week, beginning November 26, to take advantage of the best deals of the season.

This points to an opportunity for retailers to capitalise on shoppers’ excitement and drive more conversions with discounts and agentic customer service experiences.

In addition, the Salesforce Shopping Index’s early holiday findings, captured between Oct. 1 and Nov. 14, showed:

• Global sales are growing: Global online sales dipped 1% year-over-year (YoY) during the last seven weeks, but rose 8% YoY in the first week of November, suggesting that consumer interest in holiday shopping is picking up pace.
• Highest-growing sales categories:
  • Makeup (+10% YoY)
  • Active Footwear (+9% YoY)
  • General Handbags and Luggage (+8% YoY)
• Consumers are interested in AI agents for faster customer service: Since early October, retailers who have invested in AI-powered service agents have seen double the rate of customer service engagement compared to those who have not invested in AI-powered agents.
• This growth is an early indicator that agents can take on a higher and more complex case load and adequately serve customer needs.
• Customers, meantime, seem open to engaging with agents. A full 30% of consumers said they would work with an AI agent if it meant faster service.

• AI and agents augment the shopping experience: While a relatively new technology, major retailers are already employing AI agents to help improve shopping experiences, including:

• Brands like Saks are using Agentforce to streamline routine tasks such as order tracking, enabling customer service teams to focus on delivering a highly customized shopping experience that drives conversion.
• Nearly one-fifth (24%) of consumers also said they’re already comfortable with AI agents shopping for them.

• Discounts and consumer demand are ramping up: Discounts peaked at an average rate of 20% in the first week of November – a 17% YoY increase, indicating that retailers are gearing up for a competitive holiday season.
  • Online orders have also seen a 4% YoY increase, signaling a positive shift following a year of reduced consumer spending.

• Chinese shopping marketplaces entice consumers with low prices: Sixty-seven percent of buyers who use apps like Shein, Temu, and TikTok Shop reported that they are planning to make holiday purchases on them this season.

• The top marketplace option for shoppers is Temu, with 40% of global consumers saying they’ve made between two and five purchases on this marketplace in the last year.

• Returns present a challenge and opportunity for retailers: Returns in October and November were 33% higher than the same time frame last year, forcing retailers to take a closer look at their retention strategies and return policies to avoid losses.

Be flexible in your execution

The real value you’ll receive from planning is sharpening your thinking and organizing your action steps. And with it, you can create a clear action plan with defined steps, timelines, and deliverables. This is where timely execution comes in.

Planning does not need to provide you with all the answers but it can help you to identify key enterprise metrics you must pay attention to from time to time, and how to profitably and sustainably meet the growing market needs.

Planning is an ongoing process of setting your business goals, deciding when and how to accomplish them, and determining how best to accomplish them. Whatever your plan is today, it may probably change tomorrow due to several market forces that you can’t control.

So, you have to stay flexible and adaptable in your approach to realizing your plans in today’s fluxy marketplace. The business plan that you have right now will likely not be the one that will make your business succeed. While executing the plans, keep an open mind.

Pivoting could be an option

Most successful businesses change their products, services, and business models multiple times from the start of the business to the point where they are successful and making a big difference in the marketplace.

Factors such as government policies, changing customers’ needs, technological advancement, economic downturn, and unforeseen situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic could necessitate that you don’t just iterate but pivot.

This year may demand that you pivot. Pivot means to change the direction of your business. This change, however, can be total or partial depending on your primary purpose of pivoting.

It could be to assist your business to survive, improve revenue, or navigate through the difficult and changing business environment, and thrive.

Pivoting is not new in the business world

A couple of companies and enterprises had found themselves in a situation that warranted that they pivoted. It might interest you to know that BMW began as an aircraft manufacturer (that’s why its logo is an airplane propeller with the blue part representing the sky) before moving to motorcycles and then cars.

Wrigley started off selling soap and baking powder before getting into the chewing gum business. Why? Because the market forces said so, and it had the capacity and capabilities to fill the needs.

Even here in Africa, Gokada, a bike-hailing company, shifted to logistics, food delivery services, and transportation following the ban on commercial motorcycles in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.

Let market feedback guide your plan

If your market isn’t patronizing you as they should, please find out why. And from the feedback, you could modify your business model. True entrepreneurs know when to iterate or pivot their ideas away from their original plans and toward the areas that provide better opportunities.

So, it isn’t so much what you know when you start that matters but what you learn and put to use after confronting the market that does. So, you have to listen to the market with your ears, eyes, heart and data. If you are willing to adjust, iterate or pivot, the opportunities are boundless.

About the Author:

Tony Ajah is a Business Growth Strategist, and the author of BUSINESS SENSE, and ON BECOMING AN ENTREPRENEUR. He maintains a personal blog, where he shares proven business ideas and principles for SMEs.

ECommerce businesses typically have one owner and one business model — they sell all of their products through a standalone website, operating outside of existing marketplaces like Amazon, which is considered an example of an e-tailer. 

On the other hand, Marketplace businesses are more like multi-brand retailers: multiple companies share costs for advertising, logistics and other expenses associated with selling online. They may also give promotional offers such as free shipping or discounts in order to drive additional traffic and sales for themselves (C2C), but not take any financial stake in specific transactions occurring through the platform

The difference is primarily in the target audience.

The difference between ECommerce and Marketplace is primarily in the target audience.

ECommerce is product-focused, while the marketplace is customer-focused. It’s also important to note that while eCommerce can be used to sell one particular brand of products or services, a marketplace allows multiple brands to exist side by side on the same platform.

In an eCommerce store, you’ll find yourself dealing with only one company — your own — and its associated brands (if any). This means that if you want your website visitors to make purchases from you, then whoever created it will have complete control over what happens there: what type of content goes up on their pages; which products are offered within them; how those products look when presented as part of an online shopping cart page or search engine results page; etcetera ad infinitum…

ECommerce: product-focused, single brand

ECommerce is a single brand focused on products, whereas marketplace is more of an umbrella term that refers to all kinds of online marketplaces.

ECommerce: A single brand that sells a singular product or service.

Marketplace: An online platform where people can buy and sell goods and services from other sellers (like eBay).

Marketplace: customer-focused, multiple brands

The major difference between ECommerce and Marketplace is that marketplace merchants are customer-focused. These businesses focus on providing a high level of customer service, and therefore have an interest in satisfying their customers’ needs. ECommerce merchants, on the other hand, may not be as concerned with ensuring that their buyers are happy with their product or service after purchase.

Again, marketplaces tend to allow multiple brands within them: if you want an affordable bed from Target but can’t find it on Amazon because they don’t sell it as part of a bundle deal with other items like laptops or cameras (like how Shopify does), then you’d probably go for Target over Amazon since its competitors have no problem offering discounted bundles alongside their products. On top of this convenience factor comes another benefit: Marketplace sellers can offer price-matching guarantees if they see another retailer selling lower prices somewhere else online!

ECommerce: A single company sells all of their products on a standalone site, operating outside of existing marketplaces.

ECommerce is when a company sells products directly to consumers. It’s not a marketplace, which is where you buy and sell things through third-party vendors.

The most obvious difference between these two types of businesses is that eCommerce sites are usually run by one company (or an individual). A marketplace, on the other hand, is often owned by multiple people who work together as an independent entity within their community or industry.

Marketplace: Multiple companies sell their brand’s products on a single website, which acts as a sales portal for multiple firms.

For example, if you have a business selling clothes online, you could list your products on Amazon and also directly through your own website. You may even want to do both so that consumers can see all of the different options they have when searching for what they need or want.

ECommerce can be B2C (business to consumer) or B2B (business to business).

ECommerce is the buying and selling of goods or services through an online platform. ECommerce sites are typically used by businesses, but they can also be used by consumers.

Another difference between eCommerce and marketplace is that while a marketplace offers one-to-one transactions between buyers and sellers, an eCommerce site allows multiple users to interact with each other through purchasing and selling products/services.

Marketplace (C2C) is consumer to consumer eCommerce. It’s a platform that connects buyers and sellers who exchange goods and services directly with one another.

There are two common types of marketplace:

Open-source marketplaces, which allow anyone to create an account on the site and post items for sale; this type of marketplace differs from closed-source ones in that there is no membership fee or subscription required for access. There are also no requirements for membership except having your own website (if you want people to find your content), but it may still cost money if you want other features such as selling tickets through Ticketmaster’s ticketing service or shipping products through Amazon Seller Central

ECommerce businesses typically have one owner and one business model.

ECommerce businesses typically have one owner and one business model. This can be a huge benefit, since it allows you to focus on your strengths instead of trying to juggle multiple roles. In addition, you’ll likely have better understanding of your customers’ needs and how they want their products or services delivered to them; this in turn leads to better service for both parties involved.

If this sounds like something that would work for your business, contact us for more information about how we can help!

Marketplaces frequently have different sellers with their own shipping rates and logistics models. Marketplaces typically charge sellers a listing fee and other fees to use the platform, but don’t take any financial stake in the specific transactions that occur through the platform.

A marketplace is a platform for sellers. The marketplace acts as an intermediary between buyers and sellers, taking a commission from both sides. Marketplaces frequently have different sellers with their own shipping rates and logistics models. Marketplaces typically charge sellers a listing fee, but don’t take any financial stake in the specific transactions that occur through the platform.

A marketplace is a great way to promote your brand and reach new customers.

Marketplaces are a great place to sell products that you already have in stock, but don’t want to keep on hand at all times. For example, if you run an office supply store, it’s likely that there are plenty of people who need pens and pencils in their offices but don’t know about any online shops where they can buy them directly from the manufacturer. You could put together an online store offering these items at wholesale prices with free shipping—and then sell them through your website or social media channels!

Marketplaces can also help build relationships with suppliers by letting them know when someone wants something specific so they’ll be able to fill those orders quickly without having too many things going out at once (which would mean delays).

Top 10 eCommerce websites in Nigeria to watch in 2022

Knowing how your eCommerce platform fits into your marketing strategy is key.

When it comes to marketing your eCommerce business, you need a clear understanding of what each platform offers. In the following conclusive sections, a summary of how these platforms differ and how to best leverage their features for maximum impact.

ECommerce: The most common way of selling products on the internet is through an online storefront that allows customers to browse product listings and place orders. This model usually involves a merchant account with payment processing services like PayPal or Stripe (which handles credit card processing).

Marketplace: A marketplace allows sellers from around the world—including local businesses—to list their goods for sale in one central location where buyers can find them easily without having to register separately with each individual seller. It also allows sellers who have similar products but don’t have an online storefront yet another way of reaching potential customers while they’re browsing through thousands of different listings instead of just one site where only certain things appear unless otherwise specified by someone else (like Amazon).

Conclusion

In short, eCommerce versus marketplace is a matter of what you’re selling. Marketplace sellers are likely to have more flexible products, multiple brands and services. ECommerce businesses often have one owner and one business model, but they can also be B2B (business to business) or B2C (business to consumer). Marketplaces frequently charge sellers a listing fee and other fees to use the platform, but don’t take any financial stake in the specific transactions that occur through the platform.

Your market matters

Your primary duty in business is to sell your solution to your target market. If nobody is buying your offering (product or service), you will fail in business faster than any other reason. Your market is your business, and your business is your market.

It’s vital to carefully study your industry to understand your total addressable market before you step in.

The first thing you must consider before taking your product or service to the marketplace is knowing what the market wants.

There is no way you can create a solution that the market loves when you are blinded to its desires, feelings, emotions, fears, passion, wants, and needs.

It’s the market that determines the validity of your business. Who buys your product is as important as your product or service.

There is a market in desperate need of your solution, and you need to find it. So, what are the things to look out for before you choose you market?

1. Is there a demand that needs your supply?

Let me begin with this story about a marketing professor who asked his students, ‘If you were going to open a hotdog stand, and you could only have one advantage over your competitors . . . which would it be . . .?’

‘Location! …Quality! …Low prices! …Best taste!’ The students kept going until eventually they had run out of answers.

They looked at each other waiting for the professor to speak. The room finally fell quiet. The professor smiled and replied, ‘A starving crowd.’

You could have the worst hot dogs, terrible prices, and be in a terrible location, but if you’re the only hot dog stand in town and the local college football game breaks out, you’re going to sell out. That’s the value of a starving crowd (and demand).

At the end of the day, if there is a ton of demand for your product or service, you can be mediocre at business, have a terrible offer, and cannot persuade people, and you can stillmake money.

The law of demand and supply best summarises what happens in the marketplace anywhere in the world.

The market demand is a sign that market need exists, and the simplest way to create demand is to look at what needs fixing, changing, or solving. Put in another way, anywhere there is a demand, there’s a supply need, and an army of a starving crowd waiting.

To sell anything, you need demand. Mind you, you can’t just createdemand and then provide a supply. If you don’t have a ready demand for your offer, you have no market.

Period. After all, you don’t actually want to be selling ice to Eskimos. Where there is no demand, there is no market.

About the Author:

Tony Ajah is a Business Growth Strategist, and the author of BUSINESS SENSE, and ON BECOMING AN ENTREPRENEUR.

He maintains a personal blog, where he shares proven business ideas and principles for SMEs.