Salesforce is a giant in the world of CRM, but its reach extends far beyond that, into the world of commerce. The Salesforce Commerce Cloud platform is a powerful tool for businesses of all sizes, with two distinct offerings: Salesforce B2C Commerce and Salesforce Commerce Cloud on Core, which includes B2B and DTC (Direct-to-Consumer) Commerce.
This blog post will delve into the latter, focusing on the features and benefits of Salesforce B2B & DTC Commerce, a solution designed for the modern business.
The Key Differences: B2C vs. B2B/DTC Commerce
While both platforms are built for Commerce, they cater to different needs:
Salesforce B2C Commerce (formerly Demandware): This is the veteran of the two, built for large-scale B2C operations like department stores and major brands in highly competitive markets (think Saks Fifth Avenue or Adidas). It's known for its extensive, pre-built marketing capabilities and sophisticated catalog management systems that can handle hundreds of thousands of products.
Salesforce B2B & DTC Commerce (on Core): This natively integrated solution. Since it's built directly on the Salesforce Core platform, it's seamlessly connected with CRM, Marketing, and Service Clouds. This makes it an ideal solution for mid-market and small businesses, as well as B2B organizations seeking a self-service portal for their business customers.
Key Benefits of Salesforce B2B/DTC Commerce
The true power of this platform lies in its seamless integration with the Salesforce ecosystem.
B2B Commerce
Harmonized CRM & Commerce: Customer data from both digital and traditional sales channels lives in one place, Sales Cloud CRM. This single source of truth allows B2B buyers to repeat orders regardless of whether they were made through a salesperson or online.
Negotiated Pricing, Automatically: B2B Commerce automatically displays unique, negotiated prices for each customer, whether they are buying online or through a sales representative.
AI-Powered Personalization: With a harmonized Customer 360 view, Salesforce's AI feature, Einstein, can provide personalized product recommendations based on real-time customer data, helping B2B buyers find what they need with fewer clicks.
DTC Commerce
Personalized Customer Experiences: The platform enables truly personalized experiences, which are crucial for building long-lasting customer relationships and running a profitable direct-to-consumer business.
True Customer 360 View: Salesforce B2B & DTC Commerce includes a built-in Salesforce Data Cloud, allowing merchants to harmonize customer data from all sources, creating a complete and unified view of every customer.
AI-Driven Experiences: With a clean and harmonized data foundation, AI agents and product recommendations can create a 1:1 tailored experience for every customer, driving better engagement and sales.
Key Features of Salesforce B2B & DTC Commerce
Here are some of the standout features of the platform, with a quick highlight for each.
Checkout: 100% Customizable checkout that streamline the path to purchase with flexible, multi-address shipping, secure payment options, and the ability to accept digital and physical gift cards, all designed to reduce cart abandonment.
Search: Enhance product discovery with intelligent search functionality that includes predictive type-ahead suggestions, customizable search filters, and an AI-powered search dictionary for synonyms.
Order Management: Automate the post-purchase process, from order capture and fulfillment to returns and cancellations, with real-time inventory visibility across all channels.
Commerce Einstein: Leverage AI to personalize shopping experiences through predictive product recommendations, dynamic sorting of products on category pages, and data-driven insights for merchandising.
Agentforce for Commerce: B2B & D2C helps your customers discover new products, view past orders, reorder, and check on order status in your B2B and D2C stores. Agentforce Skills For Merchandising streamlines merchandising tasks and improves business outcomes through insights.
Data Cloud for Commerce: Centralize and harmonize customer data from various sources to create a single customer view, enabling powerful analytics, personalized experiences, and AI-driven insights.
Store Management: Easily manage your online storefronts with tools for catalog and product management, promotions, website design, and multi-store operations, all from a central workspace.
Commerce Promotions: Create and manage a wide range of promotions, including percentage-off discounts, fixed-amount discounts, and bonus products, with the flexibility to apply them at the product, order, or shipping level.
Sell Globally: Expand your business to new markets by easily managing multiple languages, currencies, and tax settings. Segment your store into different markets based on locale to offer a tailored shopping experience.
Website Design: Use Experience Builder to design and customize your store with a drag-and-drop interface, allowing for personalized layouts, branded content, and responsive designs that look great on any device.
Headless Commerce: Gain ultimate flexibility to deliver unique, agile customer experiences across any channel or device. Decouple your front-end from the back-end commerce engine for custom storefronts, IoT devices, or progressive web apps.
Salesforce B2B & DTC Commerce Costs & Implementation
The platform operates on a pay-as-you-go pricing model, with fees starting at just 1% of your Gross Merchandise Value (GMV). GMV is the total value of products sold, including shipping and taxes. For a business with monthly sales of $500,000, for example, the monthly fee would be $5,000. This transparent pricing scales with your business's success.
Implementation is often a rapid process. A minimum viable product (MVP) can be launched in as little as 2-4 weeks, while more complex enterprise implementations typically start from around three months.
How We Can Help
At Digital Commerce Advisor, we provide expert guidance and hands-on support to help you leverage the full potential of Salesforce B2B & DTC Commerce. We help you navigate the complexities of the platform, ensuring your implementation is efficient, your data is harmonized, and your business is set up for long-term success.
Ready to see how Salesforce B2B & DTC Commerce can transform your business? Contact us and let's explore what's possible.