Salesforce unveils new tools to enhance Commerce Cloud platform

Salesforce has introduced three new innovations to its Commerce Cloud platform, aiming to enhance the development and checkout experience for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) companies. These advancements are intended to help businesses increase revenue and offer more personalised customer experiences. Announced at Salesforce Connections in Chicago, the new features are expected to address customer demand for seamless and integrated shopping experiences across all channels.

Central to the latest enhancements is Salesforce Checkout, a universal checkout system built on the Einstein 1 Platform. This feature aims to increase buyer conversion by providing a consistent checkout experience across all customer touchpoints. It incorporates merchant services for payments, tax, and shipping, powered by Stripe. This partnership aims to simplify the payment and checkout process, reducing the need for extensive integrations and lowering vendor costs. Whether a customer is checking out online or through a mobile device, Salesforce Checkout promises a one-click checkout experience.

The platform also introduces headless commerce capabilities for B2B applications. Developers can now use out-of-the-box APIs through Commerce Cloud to create and scale engaging B2B websites rapidly. The headless commerce framework offers customisable solutions that integrate both Salesforce platform APIs and commerce-specific APIs, making it versatile for various business needs. B2B companies can also leverage Salesforce's extensive partner ecosystem on AppExchange to integrate with hundreds of apps, facilitating quicker and less complex project implementations.

For instance, a manufacturer traditionally relying on internal sales portals can now swiftly develop a customer-facing storefront during peak order seasons. This capability allows buyers to place small or one-time orders independently, reducing the workload of sales representatives who can then focus on more complex orders.

Additionally, the platform's enhancements for B2C feature composable commerce capabilities. Developers can now mix and match templated, composable, and customisable headless approaches to create unique B2C ecommerce sites. New Salesforce APIs and integrated personalisation features, such as Product Listing Page tiles, site map generation, and store locators, are designed to reduce development time while meeting diverse business needs. These features are customisable and can be quickly implemented by leveraging system integrator (SI) partners within Commerce Cloud's trusted network.

For example, a women's apparel brand can use these new personalisation features to quickly adapt to a flash fashion trend, creating new listings and custom product pages without disrupting ongoing operations. This flexibility allows businesses to capitalise on emerging trends promptly.

Michael Affronti, GM and SVP of Commerce Cloud at Salesforce, highlighted the importance of architecture that can adapt to changing customer expectations. With the combined power of data, AI, and CRM, Commerce Cloud aims to provide brands with the tools they need to build superior shopping experiences. Affronti emphasised that these new features enable businesses to design ecommerce sites that foster strong customer relationships.

The newly released Salesforce Checkout, Headless B2B Commerce, and Composable Commerce for B2C are expected to be generally available this winter.