How Salesforce Commerce Cloud Cartridges Help Boost Your Business

Shopping is one click away from us these days, and everyone prefers online shopping. That’s why most of the brick-and-mortar stores are shifting online so they can grab more customers. However, this massive shift has made the space competitive for retailers. To stay ahead of the game, businesses need to offer intuitive and dynamic shopping experiences to gain customers’ trust, improve visibility, and increase the sales funnel. That’s where Salesforce Commerce Cloud comes into play! It helps businesses to improve management and monitoring to improve their workflow. To achieve this, the platform has launched Salesforce Commerce Cloud Cartridges.

In this article, we’ll explore what SFCC Cartridges are and how they can help your business grow. So, let’s get started!

What Is Salesforce Commerce Cloud Cartridges?

SFCC is the world’s #1 B2B and B2C commerce platform that offers the best CRM. Its flexibility and customizable architecture don’t need any introduction. With the ever-changing market trends, retailers must keep up with these Salesforce trends and offer customers the latest features and functionalities that meet their needs. Luckily, Salesforce Commerce Cloud offers different extensions and third-party integrations through SFCC cartridges to make it easier for you to implement the digital solutions your shoppers crave.

A cartridge is a container that stores program code and data. It’s used to boost functionality or to integrate with third-party apps. You can think of it like a regular app on your phone or computer that adds features to Salesforce Commerce Cloud. However, a cartridge goes deeper by installing structured folders and subfolders that help deliver code and efficiency. It’s like a framework that helps the app run smoothly.

With Salesforce Commerce Cloud cartridges, businesses can improve the SFCC solution’s overall performance and provide a seamless shopping experience. Well, the Salesforce cartridge has its own structured folders and subfolders, which ensures organized and efficient code. However, businesses need to hire Salesforce partners to install this cartridge on their storefronts.

How Salesforce Commerce Cloud Cartridges Works

The cartridges are the code developers install into the Salesforce Commerce Cloud store using their Eclipse IDE configured with the Salesforce plugin. You can download it from GitHub. Cartridges offers quick and efficient initial data export and updates in near real-time to support different use cases.

SFCC cartridges work by providing a modular and customizable approach to developing online stores. Developers can create, modify, and integrate cartridges to extend the platform’s capabilities and deliver tailored e-commerce solutions to businesses.

Development of Salesforce Commerce Cloud Cartridges

Salesforce Cartridges is the best option for businesses to invoke business functionality or new features, but it doesn’t do everything. To maximize the benefits, you need third-party integrations. However, sometimes, developers need to develop custom cartridges according to business requirements. Cartridges are organized in a stack, with basic functionality on the bottom, followed by plugins and custom cartridges on top.

A cartridge stack for a B2B Commerce storefront consists of Salesforce SFCC cartridges with basic functionality followed by Plugin cartridges, LINK cartridges, and custom cartridges for branding your online store.

There is a marketplace called LINK where developers can find pre-made cartridges to use. Developing new functionality involves following SFRA guidelines and testing the new cartridge before uploading it to the server. A Salesforce B2B commerce developer can configure the cartridge stack for an online site to determine the order of function.

To create new features for merchants or a specific website, a Salesforce cartridge must be developed and tested following the guidelines of Storefront Reference Architecture (SFRA). Once the development is completed, it should be uploaded to the server. Also, a Salesforce B2B Commerce developer will configure the cartridge stack for their online site to determine which cartridge runs first after registering the Salesforce cartridges in Business Manager.

Using SFRA for Salesforce B2B Commerce Cartridge Development

Earlier, SFCC was known as Demandware and used a framework called Site Genesis as its basic code architecture. However, to cater to the challenges of Site Genesis’ performance and scalability, Salesforce has created a new Storefront Reference Architecture (SFRA).

SFRA is the latest and most efficient architecture designed with speed and performance improvements. SFRA was designed with a mobile-first approach in mind to ensure seamless experiences on any screen size. It uses advanced technologies like JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS3. Salesforce B2B Commerce development at Innovadel appreciates its simplicity and modern design patterns and makes it a perfect choice for developing new Salesforce cartridges!

Our Salesforce B2B cartridge development team develops custom cartridges with SFRA and the cartridge stack. The cartridge stack determines the sequence in which the server-side code is loaded in SFCC. Code from earlier paths overrides later ones. Understanding this concept helps our developers place low-level cartridge functionality strategically to optimize site features. SFRA ensures every store has essential cartridges for handling storefront and modules, with custom cartridge code seamlessly integrated into this framework.

Get it Approved by the Salesforce

Getting approved for a cartridge with Salesforce can be challenging due to SFCC’s strict standards. Salesforce Commerce Cloud enforces strict certification processes and requirements to ensure adherence to best practices. Don’t worry; At Innovadel, our team can guide you through this process. We’re ready to collaborate with your business to facilitate the approval and certification of your application. This may need additional steps to clarify your business alongside the cartridge. Our Salesforce development process incorporates this certification to make the Salesforce approval process smooth!

Innovadel offers the best Salesforce cartridge development using top-notch coding practices with minimum interference to your current operations. We offer easy salesforce eCommerce integration customizable to your unique business. We’ll help you get SFCC cartridges certified and approved by Salesforce!

Does Your Business Need Salesforce Commerce Cloud Cartridges?

As a merchant, boosting your SFCC store’s functionalities for improved shopping experiences is essential. With the help of Innovadel’s experienced team, achieved through SFCC cartridges, this goal has become easily achievable. As a trusted Salesforce consulting partner, we offer various services, including developing custom cartridges, managing LINK Marketplace cartridges, upgrading SFCC cartridges according to new Salesforce releases, and launching new cartridges versions for your online stores. Contact our professionals to develop custom Salesforce Commerce Cloud cartridges!