The Salesforce Q1 2020 Shopping Index uncovers the true shopping story through analyzing the activity of more than one billion shoppers across more than 34 countries powered by Salesforce Commerce Cloud, with a focus on key 10 markets: US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Japan, Netherlands, Australia/New Zealand, and the Nordics. This battery of benchmarks provides a deep look into the last nine quarters and the current state of digital commerce. 
The Q1 findings illustrate how shoppers are practicing social and physical distancing by leveraging digital commerce channels to adapt to the new norm. The COVID-19 pandemic will significantly drive the adoption of e-commerce by both consumers and businesses around the globe. 
Here are some of the key findings of the Q1 2020 Shopping Index, compared to Q1 2019: 

Digital Mobile traffic growth across all industries and in the US

  1. Six percent of shoppers engaged with artificial intelligence-powered applications with product recommendations 6. AI product recommendations had a 26% AOV impact – average lift in average order value (AOV) from shoppers that purchased a product as a result of an AI product recommendation
  2. Mobile phones represented 56% of total order share for Q1 2020 8. Mobile phones represented 71% of total traffic share for Q1 2020 9. Q1 2020 e-commerce conversion rates varied from 0.75% (apparel luxury) to 3.69% (health and beauty)
  3. Q1 2020 average order value (AOV) was $112.89 and the average discount rate of 22% (compared to 21% in Q1 2019. Discount rates in the US surged to 34% in mid-March – higher than even the average 31% discount rate consumers enjoyed over Cyber Monday.  11. Global e-commerce cart abandonment rate for mobile devices was 88%
  4. Social media represented 8% of total traffic share with mobile phones and tablet usage on the increase 
    The Q1 Shopping Index summary is an aggregate view of over one billion shoppers, 1,047 digital commerce sites, nearly two billion visits across 34 countries represented. Visit Shopping Index dashboards to dive deeper into the data and explore how this new normal will change consumer behavior even after the pandemic and the new norm. 
    Consumers will likely continue to operate in a risk-averse mode once shelter-in-place mandates are lifted. Consumers and business buyers are likely to significantly grow their use of e-commerce in 2020 and beyond. A lesson in 2020 is that every business is a digital business and adoption of e-commerce is a critical success factor for all businesses, in all sectors and geographies.