To help companies connect with customers and drive commerce across multiple touchpoints ranging from social media ads to mobile apps and ecommerce sites, Salesforce has released several new embedded applications in its Commerce Cloud ecommerce platform.

Michael Affronti, general manager and senior vice president, Salesforce Commerce Cloud

Salesforce adds new applications to suite

The new apps are designed to support sales, customer service and marketing, using artificial intelligence and integration with Salesforce’s technology customer relationship management to drive a personalized customer experience, Salesforce says.

“With the latest Commerce Cloud apps for sales, service, and marketing, businesses can take an all-encompassing approach to commerce, transforming every customer touchpoint into a transaction opportunity,” says Michael Affronti, general manager and senior vice president of Salesforce Commerce Cloud. “When coupled with data, AI, and CRM, brands gain the ability to anticipate customer needs and build faster, more seamless buying experiences that drive sales.”

Outdoor brand YETI builds a better CX

Vab Dwivedi, vice president of ecommerce at outdoor drinkware and apparel company YETI Holdings Inc., says Salesforce Commerce Cloud’s AI-powered capabilities, including data insights and automation, have helped YETI “build a more consistent and personalized customer experience and grow our business.”

Vab Dwivedi, vice president of ecommerce, YETI

Austin, Texas-based YETI is a designer, retailer and distributor. Its outdoor products range from coolers and drinkware to carrying bags and apparel. For its fiscal first half ended July 1, YETI reported net sales of $705.4 million. That includes $393.4 million in direct-to-consumer sales and $312.0 million in its wholesale channel.

YETI ranks No. 135 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s database of the largest North American online retailers.

Here’s what Salesforce is offering with its new Commerce Cloud embedded apps and integrations:

• A self-service Reorder Portal designed with Salesforce’s Einstein AI technology. It lets customers view their order history details and reorder products without the help of a sale rep.
• An Order Support application with connections to customer service agents, bots, self-service options, and educational content. The application provides opportunities for cross-selling and upselling while assisting customers with order management requests.
• A Pay Now payments feature. It lets companies forward “Pay Invoice Now” links when ready to customers via such avenues as customer service chats and field service communications.

In addition, Salesforce plans to soon release Snapchat for Commerce. This will let companies create ads in Commerce Cloud apps that will direct customers to suggested products available in an online store.

Capitalizing on the unified commerce trend

Salesforce’s new Commerce Cloud applications and integrations address a growing need among online sellers and their customers. They want to connect through more effective unified commerce systems that ease the purchasing process, ecommerce experts say.

“Increasingly, organizations are realizing the benefit of features outside of a standard ecommerce checkout flow,” says Lori McDonald, president and CEO of Brilliance Business Solutions.

Brilliance Business Solutions is a Milwaukee-based digital agency. It helps manufacturers and distributors implement and sell through digital commerce technology and strategies. McDonald notes that other vendors also offer more comprehensive technology applications, including Optimizely and BigCommerce.

“Consider how customers interact with your company today and what are common activities they need help with,” she adds. “It could be reordering a product, ordering frequently used products, returning a product, getting information on order status, or viewing and paying outstanding invoices. Some ecommerce platforms build these features into their product. Others enable them through a composable approach and integrations to other applications. Which approach is best for you will depend on your current technology stack, your budget, and your strategy.“

Demand for curation

Justin Racine, principal, unified commerce strategy, at digital agency Perficient, says brands are showing strong demand for “curated, enhanced ecommerce ordering … as their consumers continue to drive multichannel ordering opportunities.”

Perficient is a global digital consultancy for B2B and B2C companies.

“Unified commerce puts the customer in the drive seat of their own journey,” he adds. “Based on purchases, customer behavior, content engagement, a brand can curate future experiences that are tailored specifically to that individual vs. putting them in a cohort of other customers.”

He adds that Adobe Inc. has also been integrating technology applications for “personalized, curated customer experiences.”

“The integrated, unified approach is the way of the future for what exceptional commerce experiences look like,” Racine says.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. [email protected].

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