Salesforce Commerce Cloud: An Introductory Guide

Online retail has taken control of the world by storm. By the end of 2023, there will be billions of online shoppers across the globe. Considering massive growth in the online consumer base, it’s more important than ever for e-tailers to stay ahead of user expectations. Furthermore, retailers need smart solutions to maintain a rapid pace with the ever-changing market and offer a customized experience. Salesforce Commerce Cloud completes all customer demands efficiently. SFCC is a highly adaptable cloud-based SaaS platform that assists e-tailers in getting the best functions and customer-centric functionalities. It helps in offering a seamless consumer service experience in-store and online. Additionally, it allows users to scale their business, expand locational boundaries, explore markets, and offer the best assistance for your brand globally. Simply put, SFCC and its innovative features can help e-tailers thrive in their business with time.

What is Salesforce Commerce Cloud?

Salesforce Commerce Cloud was known as Demandware in the past, which is a SaaS e-commerce platform. It unites how retailers connect with customers on social media, store, web, and mobile channels. With the help of its quality features, e-commerce solutions, and helpful tools, you can refine how business connects with clients on buying journeys. Organizations can also build a seamless transitioning customer experience across all engagement touchpoints.

Through streamlining customer buying processes, making on-the-go mobile purchasing, and customizing shopping experiences, SFCC can transform enterprise-customer relationships. Organizations desperately need a 360 platform for rapid customer buying habits to establish firm control over purchasing decisions. Salesforce Commerce Cloud is a platform that can help brands achieve these goals through data analytics and prompt consumer services.

Using SFCC SaaS e-commerce solution, e-tailers can incorporate multi-channel to their marketing and sales distribution. It helps them stay on the ground and provides comfortable and mobile-friendly shopping solutions to a global audience.

Difference Between B2B and B2C Salesforce Functionality

The main difference between SFCC B2B and B2C is scope and scale. Organizational buyers sometimes purchase many items at once. That means you need a unique problem to maintain a high volume without facing checkout issues.

Retail customers don’t purchase in bulk, so B2B brands require a software solution to ensure standard e-commerce processing. You require an e-commerce storefront to accommodate organization consumers and their large-scale purchasing needs.

· Salesforce B2B Commerce

Salesforce’s primary customers are C-level executives, but that’s only sometimes the case. Any user who has a growing business on various channels can use the Salesforce Commerce Cloud solution. A B2B commerce platform is designed to engage the CRM, Commerce, and marketing cloud to fulfill the complex purchasing needs of retailers.

· Salesforce B2C Commerce

B2C Commerce runs consumer engagement across multiple devices and locations to revolutionize the shopping experience on multi-channels. Users get a rich set of functionalities that contains fulfillment, merchandising, promotions, AI technology, mobile-first customization, and open development environment.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud Features

Salesforce Commerce Cloud is a Digital 360 component of Salesforce that provides various features and supreme functionality. This platform manages online and physical businesses, offers customized omnichannel shopping experiences, and lets merchants make smart, predicted business decisions.

SFCC offers open commerce API containing three main elements:

  • Data API: It helps in accessing backend system resources such as product inventory and customer lists
  • Shop API: It activates frontend website interactions such as completing purchases and product browsing
  • Meta API: It lets gain details about documents and resources given by open Commerce API

Here are some main SFCC platform features:

· Commerce Cloud Digital:

It has many out-of-the-box frameworks, features, and tools to create responsive e-commerce solutions such as social, store, online, and web. Commerce Cloud Digital lets you launch web stores on social media platforms for your audience. In addition, it creates conversion-oriented and optimized mobile stores that minimize car abandonment rates and build code-branded applications for consumers.

· Salesforce Einstein AI:

This feature collects customer data during their complete journey. Using that data, it builds multiple models for testing after analyzing data against a pre-built set of parameters and training systems. Using the power of AI, predictive analysis, NLP, and machine learning, this AI-powered function offers recommendations and predictions based on customer behavior.

Such as frequent consumer search queries, browsing products, and buying interests. Salesforce Einstein helps merchants run conversion-directed marketing strategies. It also allows e-tailers to deliver relevant cloud-based solutions to their customers.

· Order Management and Endless Aisle:

Commerce Cloud lets businesses manage consumer orders such as web, social, and app throughout their purchasing journey. Furthermore, it assists brands complete customer order requests globally, maintaining cancellations and returns, and automating payment processes.

Endless Aisle lets physical merchants offer infinite product options and integrate digital Commerce. Consumers can let product inventory across multi-channels, and digital locations, encouraging more user purchases.

· Storefront Architecture:

SFCC storefront architecture creates customer-friendly SaaS e-commerce solutions in no time through an advanced framework of Commerce Cloud. Brands can employ wireframes and performance-directed integrations to scale, customize, and manage online stores based on your enterprise’s needs.

· Content Management:

Create long-term customer relationships by offering engaging content. Through SFCC, you can provide relevant learning materials to your customers at every buying journey stage.

· SFCC Integration:

Link technology of Salesforce Commerce Cloud lets e-tailers use certified third-party integrations. Businesses can choose from various pre-built innovations such as virtual fitting rooms, payment, email marketing, and tax calculation. Brands can get customized shopping experiences by implementing unique customizations.

· Full-fledged Ecosystem:

Salesforce is the world’s number one CRM that helps users across sales, marketing, Commerce, and customer service sectors. This tool collaborates with premier organization software platforms such as Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and Service Cloud. All these Commerce Cloud platforms are seamlessly integrated to enhance the customer journey.

· Highly personalized e-commerce Platform:

SFCC has many open-source APIs, design templates, and development tools to let developers without much coding experience required. Additionally, e-tailers can integrate marketing-based services and CRM into their solution.

· Multi-tenant e-commerce Platform:

Salesforce Commerce Cloud is a highly scalable, maintainable, and reliable cloud-based e-commerce solution with a single codebase. It allows various customers to share resources within their allocated space. As a result, fewer bugs, minor operation disruptions, a balanced software structure, and improved data security. Furthermore, this e-commerce platform lets merchants offer and implement new functions quickly, maintain pace, and accelerate growth.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud Benefits

Salesforce Commerce Cloud provides exceptional features for enterprises that want to create and deliver customized digital experiences across Omni-channels.

· Drive Sales:

Every e-commerce store wants a highly supportive website to handle the growing consumer base and fulfil their requirements. SFCC has robust technology that fills all gaps between customers and brands. The platform’s agile capabilities and scalable support billions of shopping site visits worldwide. With Commerce Cloud’s unlimited flexible and versatile suite, businesses can complete B2B and B2C needs.

SFCC contains predictive intelligence that navigates customers’ actions, gathers data, and instantly analyzes it to get actionable insights. It’s possible to make user-centric decisions based on better knowledge. Einstein performs predictive tasks for businesses, such as product recommendations established on browsing history, and produces personalized suggestions in real-time. In addition, it employs information-driven insights to automate business processes, increase site conversions, and save efforts.

· Improved B2B e-commerce Capabilities:

SFCC can broaden a B2C shopping experience to a B2B business. This omnichannel platform lets e-tailers share images, product information, content, and videos across multiple sites, channels, and categories.

It breaks down all this information based on user geography derived from the last prevalent B2B e-commerce platform. Retailers can provide similar content to customers from different regions while personalizing currencies, page language, and tax calculations. Salesforce Commerce Cloud eliminates all insignificant complexities and brings users and brands on a single e-commerce platform.

· Unified Customer Experience:

SFCC supports consumer journeys across marketing, Commerce, sales, customer service, communities, and more. Businesses can power their websites and assist customers throughout their e-commerce journey through the seamlessly integrated architecture of all cloud platforms.

Commerce Cloud offers unified consumer experiences through awareness, interest, retention, and action. With the help of such a robust SaaS e-commerce platform, organizations can build, manage, grow, and maintain online and physical stores.

· Mobile-refined Store:

There has been a rapid transition of mobile shopping for products and services from computers. Around 60% of retail shoppers globally make purchases through mobile, which raises the need for responsive mobile-customized stores.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud functions on a mobile-first approach. This powerful platform assists businesses in running a successful e-store and supports all processes. Commerce Cloud enhances retail stores for mobile selling and digitally manages inventory for omnichannel within a single e-commerce platform. Additionally, it ensures a hassle-free experience for business owners and customers.

· Endless Customizations:

There are pre-defined templates on Commerce Cloud to create an exclusive brand experience. Such as, from product web pages to payment and checkout options, enterprises can implement limitless customizations. Furthermore, Salesforce has Apple pay for all online purchases. The innovative Commerce Cloud features build streamlined, effortless, straightforward visitor checkout experiences.

· Complete Marketing Platform:

Commerce Cloud is a 360-marketing platform that offers content creation, running promotions, launching campaigns, and testing for customized conversions. In addition, it can perform all these functions without needing technical assistance.

The innovative e-commerce platform lets brands optimize conversions based on visitors’ search intent. This will lead you to recommend the most searched products to a customer and result in increased profitability margins and product sales.

Conclusion

Customer satisfaction has become the utmost priority for e-tailers. That means there is an urgent need for e-commerce solutions that complete customer demands, cultivate a positive brand-consumer relationship, and ensure leads within a highly competitive market.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud has everything an e-tailer could need. Through its flawless integration with Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and Service Cloud, it can achieve every goal. Brands can manage various brand sites, analyze new markets, and extend an incorporated customer experience through Salesforce Commerce Cloud.

You won’t have to struggle much to achieve all these benefits; find a trusted Salesforce Commerce Cloud Consultant. These organizations can offer all mentioned capabilities and more. Innovadel Technologies is a Salesforce Commerce Cloud Consulting Partner with a decade-long experience in the e-commerce market. Our expert team can find a perfect solution for your brand. Consult with us today and mark success in your targeted market.