Traffic from AI platforms like ChatGPT converts eight times better than social media, Salesforce’s Cyber Week report shows.
What’s happening: Australian online sales grew 7% year-over-year during Cyber Week whilst site traffic declined 2%, according to Salesforce data analysing 1.5 billion global shoppers.
Why this matters: The shift signals a fundamental change in consumer behaviour, with traffic from AI platforms like ChatGPT converting at eight times the rate of social media traffic.
Australian shoppers have embraced artificial intelligence during Cyber Week, driving a seven percent increase in online sales despite visiting fewer retail sites.
The shift reveals a fundamental change in purchasing behaviour, with consumers using AI platforms to research products before buying, resulting in higher conversion rates and more purposeful shopping patterns.
According to 2025 Cyber Week data from Salesforce, Australian online sales grew 7% year-over-year during the shopping period, which incorporates Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The figures mirror overall global trends tracked across 1.5 billion shoppers and 1.5 trillion page views.
Timothy Waters, Regional Vice President for Retail at Salesforce, said AI agents are reshaping the holiday shopping season.
“AI agents are redefining the holiday shopping season in Australia and New Zealand; consumers are more engaged and more empowered to make more intelligent decisions,” Waters said.
“The businesses that will win this holiday season are those that will be able to capitalise on this rapidly changing consumer behaviour, ensuring that shopping across every channel is easy and fun, while still ensuring control of brand voice and powering greater productivity and scale.”
Conversion over traffic
Traffic to Australian retail sites dipped 2% year-over-year, yet sales revenue climbed 7% and order volume grew 2%. The divergence highlights a distinct trend towards efficiency over casual browsing.
Whilst Australians visited fewer sites, they demonstrated significantly higher conversion rates upon engagement. Average discount rates in Australia reached 23%, a four percentage point increase from the previous year, providing compelling pricing that drove purchase decisions.
In contrast, New Zealand shoppers showed more restraint. Sales growth was flat at 0% year-over-year and order volume shrank by 1%, despite retailers offering 14% deeper discounts than last year.
AI platforms triple reach
Traffic from third-party AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Perplexity has tripled year-over-year, signalling a fundamental change in how consumers discover and buy products.
Salesforce data shows traffic originating from AI platforms converts at eight times the rate of social media traffic. The dramatic difference helps explain why Australian e-commerce sales volumes are rising even as overall site traffic declines.
Rather than browsing casually, consumers are increasingly using AI agents to research products and make purchase decisions before they visit a retailer’s site. By the time they arrive at checkout, they know exactly what they want, transforming casual browsers into high-intent buyers.
Global figures from this year’s Cyber Week support the pattern. AI and agents drove up to $67 billion in sales, influencing 20% of all purchases through personalised product recommendations and conversational customer service.
Quality over quantity
The shift towards purposeful, AI-powered purchasing reflects broader global patterns in consumer behaviour. Australian shoppers are leading this transition, demonstrating measurably higher purchase intent compared to traditional browsing patterns.
The Salesforce Shopping Index, powered by the Agentforce Platform including Agentforce Commerce, Agentforce Service, and Agentforce Marketing, tracks activity across global retail sites to identify emerging trends in digital commerce.
Purchase behaviour during Cyber Week highlighted efficiency as the defining characteristic. Shoppers conducted more research before visiting sites, arrived with clear purchase intent, and converted at higher rates than in previous years.
The data suggests retailers who can capitalise on AI-assisted shopping behaviour, whilst maintaining brand voice and ensuring seamless experiences across channels, will be best positioned to capture holiday season demand as consumer purchasing patterns continue evolving.
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