Salesforce has launched Agentforce for Consumer Goods, the latest addition to its growing lineup of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools.
Announced on April 17, the platform allows consumer goods companies to deploy AI agents across sales, key account management, retail execution and customer service, according to Salesforce. AI agents are autonomous digital assistants that can complete tasks, make decisions, and interact with data or users without constant human oversight.
The release builds on the September unveiling of Agentforce, a layer on the Salesforce Platform designed to help companies — including online retailers — deploy AI agents that handle business tasks independently. Since then, Salesforce has rolled out industry-specific versions, including Agentforce for Retail and Agentforce for Field Service. The newest version extends that functionality to consumer goods brands.
In North America, 76 of the Top 2000 online retailers use Salesforce as their ecommerce platform. In 2024, those 76 online retailers combined for more than $136.116 billion in web sales. The Top 2000 is Digital Commerce 360’s database ranking North America’s largest online retailers by their annual ecommerce sales.
Agentic AI meets the moment for consumer goods
Salesforce says brands including Saks, SharkNinja and alcohol distributor RNDC are already using Agentforce to boost productivity and streamline operations.
“With AI specifically developed for consumer goods brands, you can deliver agents to your workforce faster,” said Achyut Jajoo, Salesforce’s senior vice president and general manager of manufacturing, automotive, and consumer goods, in a company blog post.
Citing Salesforce data, Jajoo said 32% of consumer goods executives have fully integrated generative AI into their operations. Meanwhile, another 34% are scaling its use. He noted that agentic AI — powered by retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), machine learning, and natural language processing — can automate tasks like product recommendations, sales outreach, and customer support without human involvement.
The goal, Jajoo wrote, is to reduce operational costs and free up employees to focus on more strategic work. According to research from the Workforce Lab at Slack, a Salesforce company, desk workers report spending 41% of their time on tasks that are “low value, repetitive or lack meaningful contribution to their core job functions.”
“By automating routine tasks, agentic AI frees up your employees to focus on more complex and value-added activities across the entire route to market,” Jajoo said. “This can reduce operational costs, which is increasingly important if you want to build a more resilient operating model that can withstand ever-changing macroeconomic conditions.”
He also pointed to broader industry challenges as key drivers of AI adoption. Among them: tariffs, shifting trade policy, supply chain disruptions and workforce shortages. Some retailers have already announced price increases tied to the recent U.S.-imposed tariffs, as Digital Commerce 360 recently reported. As prices climb, 85% of shoppers are trading down to lower-cost products, Salesforce data shows.
To help address these challenges, Salesforce says Agentforce for Consumer Goods equips brands with AI agents tailored to four core areas:
- Sales
- Key account management
- Retail execution
- Customer service
AI agents for sales
Agentforce for Consumer Goods enables brands to build AI agents that streamline the sales process by automating key tasks — from lead engagement to account analysis — according to Salesforce.
Sales managers and reps often juggle large volumes of data from multiple sources, Jajoo said. AI agents can manage early-stage lead nurturing, answer questions, handle objections, and schedule meetings using data from CRM systems and external inputs. When it’s time to hand off a lead, the agent summarizes recent activity and performance to support consultative selling, he said.
“Expanding its capabilities, Agentforce for Consumer Goods now identifies sales agreement deviations, empowering agents to create targeted action plans,” Jajoo said in the blog post.
He added that companies can also build agents to act as sales coaches, offering real-time feedback, onboarding support, and personalized training based on historical sales data. These agents can also train reps on new product launches and promotions to support upselling and adoption.
AI agents for key account management
Agentforce also supports key account management by automating outreach, monitoring account health, and surfacing actionable insights, according to Salesforce.
Jajoo said agents analyze CRM and transactional data to help sales teams engage more strategically with top accounts. They can also enhance negotiations by offering predictive analytics and identifying customer pain points and sales opportunities.
“This data-driven approach helps your team negotiate more favorable terms and conditions, leading to stronger, more profitable relationships with key accounts,” Jajoo wrote.
In addition, brands can build agents to manage trade promotions, creating and adjusting offers based on campaign performance and customer data. Jajoo said this allows teams to focus investments on strategies that drive results.
AI agents for retail execution
Agentforce helps field reps and sales managers save time on retail execution tasks through automation, Jajoo wrote.
Visit management agents can:
- Schedule appointments
- Provide pre-visit briefings
- Generate post-visit summaries
This allows reps to focus more on in-store relationships, he said. Agents also monitor inventory trends and trigger reorders based on purchasing patterns and demand.
Retail teams can also use Agentforce to receive data-driven recommendations tied to store performance and layout. RNDC, a wholesale alcohol beverage distributor, is using the technology to improve compliance and sales outcomes.
“For newer sales reps, coming up with their game plan for achieving compliance can be challenging,” said Bosman du Plessis, RNDC’s CRM director, in the blog post. “Now they can simply ask a question in natural language and get clear direction, based on the data foundation we’ve built in Salesforce, for how to achieve compliance with their customers.”
AI agents for customer service
Salesforce says 43% of consumer goods brands identify customer service as their top generative AI use case.
Agentforce for Consumer Goods enables companies to deploy AI agents that offer 24/7 support. Jajoo said agents handle high volumes of inquiries. They resolve tasks like order tracking and returns — and escalate complex cases to human reps with full context.
Integrated with CRM systems, the agents can tailor responses based on service history, improving resolution speed and customer experience, he wrote. SharkNinja, which manufactures domestic appliances, uses Agentforce to deliver real-time answers and support across 36 product categories, Salesforce said.
“Innovation is the driver behind every product SharkNinja creates across our vast portfolio, so it was really important to find a tool that could give us the capabilities needed to be just as innovative across every consumer interaction,” Velia Carboni, chief information officer at SharkNinja, said in a January 2025 press release from Salesforce.
Agentforce also supports telesales. Jajoo said agents can recommend products, highlight promotions, and pass along account summaries for a smooth handoff to a human rep. The capabilities, he added, not only enhance service but also help drive revenue by enabling personalized upselling. Meanwhile, the agents handle repetitive backend tasks like data entry and order processing.
Salesforce’s ecommerce footprint
Salesforce says thousands of companies now use Agentforce, including Saks, which announced its adoption of the platform during Salesforce’s Dreamforce event in October 2024. The retailer is leveraging Salesforce’s Customer 360 suite — including Commerce Cloud, Slack AI, Agentforce, and Data Cloud — to personalize marketing, streamline service, and unify customer data across channels.
“With Salesforce’s expertise in leveraging the power of data and AI, we will be better equipped to serve luxury shoppers with seamless experiences tailored to their individual preferences,” said Marc Metrick, CEO of Saks Global, during the October 2024 announcement.
Saks’ parent company, Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC), ranks No. 26 in the Top 2000. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of North America’s largest online retailers. There, Digital Commerce 360 categorizes it as an Apparel & Accessories retailer.
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