Salesforce study: majority want to spend less on Black Friday & Co.
People in Switzerland plan to spend less on promotional days such as Singles Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. These are the findings of a representative survey conducted by YouGov Switzerland on behalf of Salesforce Switzerland.
While around a third of the population generally buy less compared to last year, the majority say they consume the same amount and only a few buy more. Purchases on special offer days are primarily driven by pragmatic considerations: Many respond to particularly good offers or use promotion days for Christmas shopping, while others are held back by increased fixed costs such as rent and insurance costs. Although AI-based tools for searching for offers and automated purchases are arousing interest, they are largely met with skepticism by consumers in Switzerland.
Consumer confidence remains at a moderate level, people are waiting for the best deals
Of those surveyed, 33 % buy fewer non-everyday items such as furniture, electronics and clothes than last year, 52 % buy the same amount, and only 13 % buy more. The use of the campaign days themselves also appears to remain subdued: Around two-thirds of the population said they did not buy anything on the campaign days last year, and most of them are not planning to be active this year either. Among last year's shoppers, 35 % want to buy less, 45 % want to buy the same amount and only 8 % want to buy more. The only exception is Generation Z: over a third (38 %) of 15-29-year-olds shopped on the campaign days last year, and part of this group is also showing a greater willingness to spend this year.
«The study shows that many consumers in Switzerland are cautious with their spending,» says Luca Pastorino, Area Vice President Data & AI at Salesforce Switzerland. «Our internal data, on the other hand, indicates that many larger or more expensive purchases are postponed until the campaign days in the expectation of getting the best deals. With the help of AI agents, companies can identify these patterns and drive more effective personalization strategies with their offers - provided they have a good quality database.»
Promotional days for Christmas shopping popular, slowed down by economic situation and reduced demand
The most important reasons why consumers shop on sales days are clear: around 40 % state that this is when the best offers are available, and 33 % use the opportunity specifically for Christmas shopping - particularly strongly in Ticino (41 %) and French-speaking Switzerland (39 %), where Christmas shopping is the top priority. A further quarter cite increased fixed costs as a motivation to compensate.
On the other hand, the obstacles are just as clear: 38 % do not currently need any new products, 31 % feel held back by a tighter budget due to increased fixed costs, a further 31 % generally want to consume less and 25 % receive attractive offers throughout the year.
As before: German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland prefer electronics, in Ticino fashion is most popular for bargains
Electronics clearly remain the most popular category on promotion days (60 %), followed by fashion (36 %) and sporting goods (20 %). However, there are regional differences: In Ticino, the focus is on clothing and accessories, while German-speaking Switzerland prefers electronics (63 %). In French-speaking Switzerland, the two product categories are practically equally popular, with 52 % of French-speakers opting for electronics and 51 % for fashion. Sporting goods come in third place in all three language regions.
AI opens up new avenues for companies
27 % of respondents have already used AI-based tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot to find offers. Young adults (15-29 years) in particular do this regularly (16 %). In a regional comparison, French-speaking Switzerland (36 %) and Ticino (30 %) use AI to search for offers much more than German-speaking Switzerland (24 %).
However, the willingness to allow AI to automatically make smaller purchases as soon as certain items are discounted is low: 71 % of French-speaking Swiss, 62 % of German-speaking Swiss and 56 % of Ticino residents reject this. In terms of gender, 92 % of women and 80 % of men would not allow such automated purchases.
«The potential is clear, but trust and transparency are crucial,» explains Pastorino. «Companies can use AI to scale offerings in a targeted manner, relieve the burden on customer services and improve the customer journey. Consumers often come into contact with AI indirectly or without realizing it, but retain control over their decisions. In the future, however, there will probably be more scenarios in which AI agents interact directly with each other - this opens up exciting opportunities for both the business and the customer.»
Another study recently published by Salesforce came to the same conclusion: according to the findings, AI and agents are expected to account for 21 % of all global Christmas orders, equating to $263 billion in sales, with traffic from AI assistants increasing by 119 % year-on-year.
