Implementing or expanding artificial intelligence has become the top priority for UAE commerce leaders this year, ahead of customer growth and adapting to changing buyer behaviour, according to Salesforce’s fourth State of Commerce report.
The findings point to a shift in how shoppers begin their purchasing journeys. Globally, agentic search as the first step in shopping grew 200% year over year, while traffic referred from AI chats increased by between 150% and 428% across the measured quarters.
UAE businesses are already adjusting to the change. The report said 62% have created or optimised content for conversational queries, while 61% have improved product content and the same share have increased their presence across third-party sources. Another 58% have submitted data feeds to AI search platforms.
Businesses with unified customer data reported stronger outcomes, including improved AI and automation results, better alignment between sales and marketing teams, and higher conversion and retention rates.
However, omnichannel gaps remain. Siloed ordering systems affect 44% of UAE B2B organisations, while 37% struggle with real-time inventory data. Only 1% of multichannel organisations reported no significant breakdowns, the report said.
Source: Zawya
