Here you are, ready to take the leap into ecommerce. You’ve probably read the statistics announcing that the global ecommerce market is expected to hit $18.89 trillion by 2027 and you want to make sure your company is not left behind.
A simple search through the vast collection of ecommerce platforms available today, however, can quickly send you into choice paralysis.
Before you throw in the towel, consider Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Ever since Salesforce acquired Demandware and re-branded to Commerce Cloud in June 2016, the platform has arguably become one of the world's leading B2C and B2B commerce solutions with retail giants like Adidas, Puma, and Lacoste among its customers.
As a Salesforce-certified partner, Americaneagle.com has seen company after company achieve online success through the platform. Today we’re rounding up some of the top benefits of Salesforce Commerce Cloud to give you a better idea of how it can help you handle every aspect of your online business:
1. An AI-Powered Personalized Customer Experience
You don’t have to be Einstein to understand how artificial intelligence (AI) enables online retailers to reach their customers in a more personalized way. Salesforce Einstein is designed to help you achieve exactly that. Equipped with machine learning and deep learning analytics, the tool offers unique product recommendations based on customer browsing behaviors and purchases across all possible touchpoints.
The ability to present customers with products they’ll love makes Einstein an effective ally in the fight against cart abandonment, one of the biggest profit drains for your online business.
What’s more, Einstein allows you to increase your average order value (AOV). It does this by strategically showcasing new items and creating awareness for slower-moving inventory. According to Salesforce, businesses see 26% higher AOV whenever their shoppers click on Einstein-powered product recommendations.
And there’s Einstein Predictive Sort, built to help you create tailored experiences for mobile. While B2C and B2B buyers alike are growing fond of shopping on their phones, their experiences are rarely as personalized as when they make purchases via their desktops. Einstein Predictive Sort ensures you engage mobile customers through spot-on product suggestions based on the micro-moments they spend on their phones, including social media activity.
2. Hassle-free Ordering
Creating customized experiences is important, but so is crafting a flawless ordering process. Many companies face the Sisyphean tasks of integrating over 39 different systems into their legacy order management system (OMS), which makes for a slow and error-filled end-to-end commerce experience.
Here is where the Lightning order management add-on comes into play. This single unified platform integrates all your systems and allows you to visually manage workflows. A single glance at your inventory and you’ll be able to prevent sell-throughs and overstocks
Think of Salesforce Lightning Order Management as your ordering command center, where you can customize the processing, shipping, and delivery processes using simple drag-and-drop tools. No coding required. You will also have the option to automate payment capture and invoices.
Salesforce took notice of the self-service options’ power to boost customer loyalty and drive purchases from returning customers. Lightning can make that a reality for you too by giving customers the ability to check their order status or manage cancellations, returns, and exchanges.
3. Endless Possibilities for Sales
Speaking of inventory, recent statistics show that out-of-stocks (OOS) are costing retailers nearly $1 trillion in sales.
The human side of in-store shopping continues to draw a high percentage of B2C customers into brick-and-mortar establishments. However, when shelves aren’t restocked with the products these customers are looking for, they walk out straight into the competition’ arms — both in-person and online.
Endless Aisle, a Salesforce B2C Commerce add-on is meant to minimize sales lost because of OOS or unavailable products by tying together in-store and digital experiences. Here’s how it works: instead of leaving customers empty-handed and frustrated, your associates will greet them with a smile and an iPad and assist them with placing a digital order for products that are out-of-stock at that location with the option to have them shipped directly to their homes or pickup in-store.
Better yet, shoppers can help themselves using in-store kiosks. Aside from seeing a surge in sales and brand engagement, using endless aisle technology will allow your team to improve forecast accuracy too.
4. Global Market Reach
A good commerce solution incorporates ready-to-go features for globalization, allowing you to expand your market reach far beyond your country’s borders.
With Salesforce Commerce Cloud, you launch and manage multiple storefronts for multiple locations across the globe from a single back-end platform. Your team can instantly “speak” English, Chinese, Japanese, French, or Italian by enabling languages, translations, and multiple currencies. It helps that the platform is capable of creating targeted content and offers based on country, state, region, or city, so all your international customers receive equally stellar experiences.
5. Content Management Made Easy
In the hyper competitive world of B2C commerce, a visually pleasing and flexible website is key. With Commerce Page Designer, creating a stunning ecommerce website doesn't have to be an arduous task.
Commerce Page Designer's easy to use capabilities allow marketers and merchandisers to design rich and engaging ecommerce experiences without code. Even more, pre-built templates and tools can be used to convert complex data into customized content such as promotional banners, landing pages, and look books. All in a matter of seconds, without the aid of an outside agency.
You can even embed Einstein Product Recommendations to showcase the most relevant content to users based on geographical area, device type, customer group, or language. Since 69% of customers expect a connected experience across channels, according to Salesforce, this tool is designed to keep content consistent across all channels.
Excited to take Salesforce Commerce Cloud for a spin, but not sure how to do it on your own? Read more about Americaneagle.com’s Salesforce Services and contact us today for an impeccable integration with your existing legacy and modern systems.
You can also visit this link to learn more about Salesforce and 'How Artificial Intelligence Can Build Empathy in Your Communications.'
