After phone calls, online chat is consumers’ preferred way to contact customer service. Schwartz said agents can improve that experience, while also introducing customers to what agents have the ability to help them with. Three in ten consumers said they would use an AI agent if it gave them faster service.

And even those who haven’t been convinced of the merits of AI in their customer experience may unwittingly benefit from the work of agents. Several technology providers have launched internally focused agents throughout the year. With this in mind, a human customer service agent may be able to ask their AI agent which product to recommend to a buyer when they call for help with an existing order.

Data from Salesforce shows that retailers using AI agents in their customer service roles saw engagement on their chat features increase at twice the rate of their counterparts using traditional chatbots or other forms of technology for customer service. Schwartz said this indicates the direction consumer preferences are heading.

“Consumers are turning to AI agents for better and faster service,” Schwartz said. “(This is) a first indicator that agents are actually capable of handling a higher volume of cases; they are more efficient and better able to respond directly and adequately to customer needs.

One of the retail-specific problems that might be best positioned to solve this holiday season is returns. Throughout October and early November, returns increased 33% year-over-year, a trend that could lead to serious margin losses for retailers and customer dissatisfaction.

Schwartz said Salesforce doesn’t yet know why the returns rate increased so quickly this year compared to the same period in 2023. In 2021 and 2022, returns have also proven to be a major pain point for global retailers — and at At the time, Salesforce assigned it. to consumers who purchase items, then return and purchase them again after seeing a lower price during Cyber ​​Week.

Whatever the reason for returns, retailers know they will need to reduce the impact of unwanted products, both on their own bottom line and the environment. Schwartz said such a problem could be viable for an AI agent.

“(Retailers) are going to try to find creative ways to reduce that impact, and this is just another opportunity for AI and agents to not only streamline the returns process, but also improve it and to reduce costs,” she said.