EARLY AI SIGNALS FROM HOLIDAY SALES

Summary from the TLDR Marketing newsletter

Direct AI-driven ecommerce traffic remained small despite fast growth last year. US online holiday sales hit $257.8B, up 6.8%. Salesforce estimated that AI influenced 20% of Christmas retail spending. Adobe reported a 693% jump in AI-driven traffic, but the gains came from small baselines, and it did not share AI's share of total traffic or revenue. Most AI referrals came from desktop at 73% and concentrated in research-heavy categories like electronics and appliances. AI is affecting consideration more than clicks or final purchases.