Salesforce Commerce Cloud

I mainly work with Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Service Cloud, Sales Cloud, and Consumer Goods Cloud.

I currently use and oversee the implementation of AI features from Salesforce for customer engagement.

I automate some marketing and operation tasks through the Salesforce Commerce Cloud.

The main functionality I find valuable in Salesforce Commerce Cloud is the fact that it shares the same database as Service and Sales Cloud, which allows me to develop more quickly in terms of integration, because I already have all the accounts, contacts, leads, sales, and invoice data already on one platform, so I don't need to have many more integrations if I already have Salesforce as the core.

Both the multi-currency and multi-language capabilities of Salesforce Commerce Cloud are useful for me.

The main benefits that Salesforce provides for me are simplification of the operation and also saving effort and time.

One of the main points for improvement right now is still the user interface, the front end of Salesforce, because I only have one layout theme, which is the main B2B Commerce layout, while different vendors and competitors have multiple themes to choose from when implementing an e-commerce portal, so this is one of the main pain points for me.

They need to improve the quality of the support.

Positive

In the last few years, the inventory management features of Salesforce Commerce Cloud were not useful for me because the software was not ready, but it has become more useful, although I don't have a project right now involving inventory management.

I don't have any thoughts on functionality suggestions for Salesforce on what they can add to the product.

I would rate the pricing as a three, where one is a high price and ten is a low price.

On a scale of one to ten, I would give Salesforce Commerce Cloud an overall rating of eight.

My use case is to register opportunities to store proposals and to support the sales life cycle.

One of the most valuable features of Salesforce Commerce Cloud  is that we are in a transition, aiming to improve our KPIs from our sales team. This is one of my current challenges to register the leads in an easy way. Until now, I had an Excel file, and only when the lead is converted into a real opportunity, which means when the client asks me for a proposal, I jump from Excel to Salesforce Commerce Cloud . We wanted to be more professional in this point and to register the leads in Salesforce Commerce Cloud.

I need to understand how to do it in an easy way. Four years ago, we linked Salesforce Commerce Cloud with Outlook, and this was a nightmare because a contact in 20 opportunities is a common scenario. We have some services that are recurrent services, and the client asks us for a proposal for each quarter. We are renewing quarter by quarter, and after three years, you have 12 proposals only for that team. We have several teams because we work with big clients.

What happened in my Outlook and mobile phone was that the same contact appeared 12 times. This issue might be resolved now, but we switched off due to problems when I tried to send emails to personal accounts. They mixed with so many records, creating big confusion between the names and emails, putting emails for person B in the record of person A. This was truly problematic. Nevertheless, we now have a mobile app from Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and I will try to find an easy way to input that part.

I need to learn what the main advantages and improvements from Salesforce Commerce Cloud are. I would like to see some additional functions which can make my life easier with that product.

The main problem is that I have some colleagues complaining about phone call registration. If I make a phone call to a client, it is not easy to register that I did the phone call at that specific time. I know this functionality exists, but it would be more effective with call center system integration. We are senior sales representatives, and we use our mobile phones to make calls and follow-ups.

I believe that to take advantage of this, I need to have discipline, a daily booked slot in my calendar that states during this period, I do phone calls. I need the laptop in front of me to register using the keyboard. It is not straightforward—it is a challenge to do that. The advantage is that we need that structure so that we have a more professional sales team. If I know that for each 100 proposals I put forward, I convert 50% of them, then to achieve those 100 proposals, I need to make 500 contacts. We do not have those metrics, but we need them. Only with this information can I have a commercial team, a sales team that does what needs to be done to achieve our goals; otherwise, it is guesswork.

I have been working with Salesforce Commerce Cloud for four years.

I would rate the stability of Salesforce Commerce Cloud as nine out of ten.

I believe we are not a big team, with 20 people, but I would rate the ability to scale as nine out of ten.

I do not have visibility on the technical support from Salesforce Commerce Cloud, but I believe it is good as I have not heard anyone complaining about the support.

Positive

I can compare Salesforce Commerce Cloud with Dynamics from Microsoft, which we used before.

The initial setup process for Salesforce Commerce Cloud, in my experience, was quite simple, completed by one of my colleagues because we are a Salesforce  partner and we implement Salesforce  solutions as well. From my recollection, this was quite simple—one person spent two to three weeks setting up, configuring, and creating the dashboards we wanted. However, we have maintained continuous updating since then.

I believe Salesforce Commerce Cloud is better than Microsoft; it is a more comprehensive solution. Even with the problems I mentioned, we have a very customizable solution. It is very easy to customize and create different views and different fields.

I personally use Salesforce Commerce Cloud. It is totally cloud-based deployment. I would rate this solution seven out of ten.

We have multiple lines of business, such as supply chain and order to cash processes. We try to create business intelligence out of the data we collect, measuring metrics like average order volume, lifetime value of the customer, how many leads we have, percentage conversion, and lead density in specific geographic locations. 

Salesforce Commerce Cloud  is used for retail operations like merchandising, product creation, discounts, and integrating with third-party systems for payments and reviews.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud  offers effective architecture, ease of integration with third-party systems, and environments to test web store functionalities. Users can manage the site independently with the administration panel and benefit from features like easy marketing submissions, discount codes, and integration with Apple Pay  and Bazaarvoice for reviews. 

The platform is also robust, with managed infrastructure by Salesforce .

The extensibility of end-to-end lifecycle management for an order can be enhanced. Salesforce Commerce Cloud should integrate more seamlessly with various systems, providing full order tracking from entry to delivery. Improving robustness in communication with diverse systems is essential, as not all companies use Salesforce  ecosystems.

I have been working with Salesforce Commerce Cloud for three years.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud is a stable platform, with outages typically due to underlying infrastructure or human error. It remains dependable through regular product updates and supports scalability across different regions.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud is highly scalable, allowing horizontal scaling with additional servers for expanded business regions. The platform is managed by Salesforce, ensuring uptime and accommodating volume spikes during high-traffic periods. Flexibility in scaling supports a seamless extension of business operations globally.

I rate the technical support at an eight out of ten. Salesforce offers models with different levels of service through their standard, premier, or signature support subscriptions. The customer service facilitates expedient resolution times and maintains effective support.

Positive

Before Salesforce Commerce Cloud, I did not use another solution. Although I considered Shopify , it was not implemented.

I would rate the initial setup a seven out of ten. It requires technological understanding and knowledge of Salesforce’s architecture. Clear business requirements and storefront setup guidelines are critical for a smooth implementation, typically taking one to one and a half quarters, or two to three quarters for highly customized deployments.

The implementation involves a scrum team, potentially more if there are many customizations. The team should include around five people, focusing on deployments and customizations, to ensure a seamless process.

As a system integrator, I am not privy to the client's ROI benefits and cannot quantify it, as it is generally business-driven. The ROI for businesses would depend on faster implementation and market reach.

I am not involved in the pricing or licensing details, so I cannot provide specific insights into the setup costs.

We did not evaluate other solutions aside from Salesforce Commerce Cloud, though I had an interest in Shopify .

For those implementing Salesforce Commerce Cloud, it is crucial to have clear business goals and process documentation. Ensure active business involvement and support, with a sponsor vested in the project's success. This clarity helps achieve quicker go-live timelines and improves ROI.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

I work on various projects implemented and managed for many retailers, ranging from luxury to classic products. Therefore, I handle projects of significant scale, ranging from half a million to two million in scope. We engage in a variety of business cases with different teams.

Commerce Cloud has a comprehensive nature, encompassing both production infrastructure and user-friendly tools that enhance daily operational efficiency and provide extensive experience and solutions.

Clients benefit from robust infrastructure with Salesforce Commerce Cloud, ensuring seamless performance even during peak activities like Black Friday. This stability eliminates pain points and boosts revenue through personalized customer experience and integrated solutions that replace advertising fees. 

Salesforce Commerce Cloud is quite robust and can do many functions. The solution enables extensive personalization. It provides accelerators tailored to your website, simplifying deployment. It seamlessly integrates with other solutions, facilitating data integration. With Salesforce alone, you can achieve comprehensive capabilities without needing additional solutions.

The back office of Salesforce could be more user-friendly.

I have been using Salesforce Commerce Cloud as a system integrator for seven years.

Support is good.

Positive

The initial setup can be complex.

The license costs between 50-100K per year, which is more expensive than competitors' licenses. The enterprise license cost ranges between two hundred thousand and one million dollars based on the project's GMV. It charges a fee of one to three percent of the revenue.

Integration depends on how you build your website. It can become complex if you make many customizations to meet customer needs. However, if you adhere to best practices, integration will be straightforward.

You can integrate data from these solutions with Salesforce Commerce, Tableau, Slack, and other platforms, making these actions more interactive. If you want to integrate Commerce Cloud with other systems, you can integrate it with ERP systems, CRM systems, or other third-party applications. You can also use Commerce Cloud on its own. Additionally, you can integrate it with Shopify, although Shopify is a smaller platform.

I recommend the solution.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

We have a client onboarding their B2B customers onto Salesforce Commerce Cloud. They aim to organize their product offerings to provide various clients with different experiences. In B2B commerce, there are functionalities to customize pricing and user experience for each customer. 

The Salesforce platform for B2B commerce is designed to allow extensive customization on top of its standard features. For example, we can assign certain customers entitlements to specific products while hiding those from others. Pricing can vary based on factors such as geographic location, such as selling a product in the United States versus the UK. These costs can be managed effectively. 

The platform is highly integrable. We can integrate it with billing systems and external OMS. Although Salesforce provides its own OMS, we currently use it, but it can be customized to work seamlessly with other applications. We have onboarded several clients and are working on enhancing the platform further. This includes modifying the product list and detail pages and customizing the content displayed. We also handle notifications and create custom Lightning components for the UI to tailor the experience to each client's needs.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud offers a personalized experience tailored to each B2B client. It allows for easy customization according to specific customer needs. Additionally, once a customer finalizes a product with pricing, negotiations and settled prices can be logged into the transcript for future reference and reuse. These features make the platform highly adaptable and efficient, providing a seamless and customizable process tailored to individual preferences. 

Salesforce Commerce Cloud is a cloud-based multi-tenant platform. Customizing the application requires a significant level of technical expertise, particularly in native Lightning Web Components development and Apex Development, which are the platform's native languages. It's essential to be aware of these limitations and any related recommendations.

The limitation is the restriction on data storage, which can be crucial when dealing with clients who generate large orders and invoices. In such cases, alternative solutions may need to be considered, and integration with other applications may be necessary. While it offers streamlined integration capabilities with various applications, the data storage limit is a factor that must be considered when planning marketing strategies and solutions.

I have been using Salesforce Commerce Cloud for a year.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud prioritizes security and stability, ensuring minimal downtime and effective communication with clients about potential issues. Salesforce maintains transparency regarding potential risks or downtimes and offers support to address them promptly. Overall, Salesforce has demonstrated a solid commitment to stability across its platform and various clouds, ensuring uninterrupted service delivery to its clients and supporting their business continuity efforts.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud is scalable. We have just onboarded a couple of customers. However, to avoid potential challenges, it's important to ensure proper data management and integration frameworks are in place. By following Salesforce's best practices, the solutions can be made highly scalable with minimal issues.

I have communicated with the Salesforce teams on behalf of multiple customers thousands of times. It's not uncommon for issues to require three or four days or even a week for resolution, especially when they involve critical matters that necessitate the intervention of development or technical teams. However, when P1 issues cause business blockages, the support from Salesforce is commendable. They promptly join calls and make every effort to resolve the issues swiftly. Overall, the support team is highly efficient.

One of Salesforce Commerce Cloud's USPs is its user-friendly nature. Salesforce has consistently prioritized making its products easy to use, install, and configure, even for those who may not be familiar with technical intricacies. With a simple point-and-click interface, its products are accessible and straightforward to install and operate.

We need to analyze the usage scenario for Salesforce Commerce Cloud, determining the number of users who will require access to both Salesforce and Commerce Cloud licenses and the number of administrators involved in developing the application. By considering these factors alongside any additional requirements, we can calculate the overall cost and establish a budget for the project. Pricing is based on a per-user-per-month model, where the number of users utilizing Salesforce services significantly determines the final cost. 

There is a feature within Salesforce Commerce Cloud that needs to be enabled. This enablement process typically involves coordination with Salesforce's account manager. However, if the account manager is based in the US and the issue you're facing relates to an ISP, there may be limitations in what immediate actions can be taken, as you would need to wait for their availability to address the matter. This could involve waiting for them to respond to emails or phone calls and provide necessary approvals to move the process forward. While there are some limitations regarding global support for enablement, they are rare cases, and overall, the platform performs well.

Before deciding to implement Salesforce Commerce Cloud, it's essential to assess your current business landscape thoroughly. Factors such as compatibility with your business model, the type and volume of products you offer, and your overall business needs should all be considered. Depending on your background and familiarity with Commerce Cloud, the configuration process may vary in complexity. However, the process can be relatively straightforward with a Commerce background and knowledge of terms like product listing page and product catalog page. Onboarding customers and setting up data correctly are crucial steps in maximizing the platform's benefits.

One significant advantage of using Salesforce Commerce Cloud is its integration with the broader Salesforce platform. This includes features specific to Commerce Cloud and extends to other functionalities such as data security, user access control, and integration with sales and service clouds. This integration allows highly customizable applications to streamline sales and service cycles, address customer issues, and enhance sales efforts. Overall, Salesforce Commerce Cloud offers a robust solution beyond typical commerce solutions available.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.