Salesforce's 5 Predictions for the 2026 Holiday Season

As the traditional customer journey fractures into a complex ecosystem of AI-driven discovery, social commerce, and hybrid physical experiences, retail brands must adapt their playbooks to capture shifting consumer dollars. Join Salesforce as we unveil exclusive 2026 holiday predictions backed by 1.5B+ shoppers. Discover how retailers are navigating a deeply polarized macroeconomic landscape and how leveraging Salesforce’s B2C Commerce enables businesses to scale digital labor, elevate performance, and drive measurable customer success.

Key Takeaways

• Predict What's Coming Before It Arrives: Discover exclusive data-driven predictions drawn from 1.5B+ shopper signals so you can proactively align your holiday strategy before the season is in full swing.
• Capitalize on Agentic Discovery: Understand the rapid shift toward AI assistants as the shopper’s first stop, and see how deploying trusted, site-specific shopper AI boosts purchase confidence and drives higher conversion rates.
• Bridge the Omnichannel Loop: Learn how to master the digital-to-physical handshake required to win the estimated 38% of holiday retail dollars flowing through "hybrid sales"—where mobile apps, online research, and in-store digital tools intertwine with the physical storefront to finalize the customer journey.