Salesforce B2B vs B2C Commerce

The eCommerce industry is growing rapidly. In order to keep up with demand, businesses need to adopt the right solutions to stay competitive. One solution that businesses should consider is a CRM system. A CRM system can help businesses manage customer data, track customer interactions, and automate marketing and sales tasks. By adopting a CRM system, businesses can improve their efficiency and effectiveness, and better meet the needs of their customers.

Talking of CRM, Salesforce is best known for having the world’s best CRM system. The company advertises its mission as “creating a relationship between consumers and brands.” As a result, the business created two different eCommerce platforms, one for B2B and the other for B2C. In the current e-commerce market, Salesforce Commerce Cloud is at the forefront among all other e-commerce tools.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud B2B services, (formerly called CloudCraze) and Commerce Cloud B2C (previously called Demandware) are two entirely different projects with the same name and purpose, which is to help businesses optimize their retail operations and engage customers through automation and personalization. Their functions and services are independent of each other and so are their features.   

Both of these eCommerce solutions are required for businesses to succeed in the eCommerce industry. Let’s get started learning more about Salesforce Commerce Cloud.

What is Salesforce Commerce Cloud? 

Salesforce Commerce Cloud or SFCC is a cloud-based eCommerce platform. It is a multi-tenant platform with the core objective to provide services that facilitate the connection between brands and customers with unified buying experiences across all digital channels. The platform combines two industry-leading products. With the help of this eCommerce platform, companies are able to track and analyze customer behavior and keep them occupied throughout the buyer’s journey. A report shared in Statista stated that “In fact, CRM software (Salesforce) is one of the fastest-growing categories of enterprise software, and global spending on it is expected to amount to around 670 billion U.S. dollars in 2022”.  

With the help of this eCommerce platform, companies are able to track and analyze customer behavior and keep them occupied throughout the buyer’s journey. Additionally, SFCC’s artificial intelligence technology allows companies with faster analysis and forecasting. Collaborating with Salesforce Commerce Cloud helps to connect companies to their best customers and are able to create a personalized experience using AI and advanced customization.  

B2B eCommerce and B2C eCommerce- What’s the Difference? 

In simple words, B2B is short for ‘business to business’ while B2C stands for ‘business to consumer’. B2B eCommerce optimizes various channels across the internet to sell products or services to other companies. While B2C eCommerce is aimed at catering directly to individual consumers. A B2B company is one that sells office furniture, software, or paper to other businesses. 

While the purpose remains the same, driving business in B2B eCommerce is more complex than B2C eCommerce. The former involves more research, requirement-based purchasing, and comparatively less market-driven purchasing as B2B buyers generally have to maintain strict parameters when it comes to investing in any service or product.  

In 2016, Salesforce purchased Demandware (for B2C platform) and CloudCraze (for B2B commerce platform). It was a game-changer for eCommerce and offers solutions for all businesses.  SFCC enables users to launch multiple brands as well as multiple stores across various countries from a singular location and curated product offerings based on geographical characteristics. 

Now let’s move on to understand more about Salesforce Commerce Cloud’s B2C and B2B commerce platforms. 

About Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud 

Salesforce B2C Commerce is currently used by thousands of websites in more than 50 countries. And the sales worth through B2C Commerce goes over $21 billion. Salesforce B2C commerce is spread across multiple channels and devices. The biggest advantage of Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud is that it can effectively handle bulk loads of requests in even the busiest of times. Using the nearest available server SFCC continues to operate your site quickly and even maintains scalability. Commerce Cloud servers are located around the world and are the fastest, which ensures that your online store will operate uninterrupted.  

The Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud was recently named a leader in the Forrester Report’s B2C Commerce Suites Q2 2020 report for achieving the highest scores in the AI and machine learning requirements. 

Salesforce B2C commerce offers a functional website design that is fully customizable as well as highly adaptive. The platform is inclusive of features that allow you to create and unify customer experiences starting with online storefronts to the checkout process.  

Personalized search and suggested products are given out only to consumers who are interested at the moment. You can further increase sales by giving people what they want at the right time by tailoring your eCommerce site to their needs. It is crucial to focus on the target customer and guide them to make informed purchasing choices. What’s more, you can target ads for specific cities, people who bought during a certain time of day, or even a specific color. 

Retailers with multiple brands require more than one website. In such cases, it would be ideal to have separate sites for each brand, or for each location. With Salesforce B2C Commerce, you can manage multiple sites using a single interface.  

Salesforce B2C Commerce focuses on giving customers a more store-like experience by reaching them through various channels like email, and social media. Enabling customers to communicate through other spaces and not remain limited to visiting websites. 

Consider Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud if, 

Your goal is to attract a large number of customers and direct them to your commercial storefront. And this remains true for every B2C marketer, and the best way to do this is by leveraging Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud. The platform with its numerous highly scalable and adaptive functionalities is able to effectively handle high traffic coming on the site. 

When a commercial retail store sells products to a large group of retail shoppers who want to buy a certain quantity of products from the same site at the same time, Salesforce B2C is ideal. The platform is intended to make shopping more convenient and faster. Its mobile-friendly approach simplifies the entire purchasing process for the customer. With a few clicks, one can easily add items to the cart, enter the card information, and the purchase is completed in a matter of seconds. Furthermore, you can use this information to improve the purchasing experience.

An overview of Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud  

Salesforce B2B eCommerce solution is also leading the market. This Cloud platform serves as a starting point for B2B Commerce Cloud which allows you to combine CRM and commerce data. 

Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud was also named a leader in Forrester Research’s B2B Commerce Suites Q2 2020 report.

Unlike its B2C counterpart, the B2B segment in Salesforce has a smaller number of consumers, where value added products are purchased on a regular basis. The reason is that business customers, unlike B2C customers, already know what they need.  

Salesforce B2B commerce makes the buying journey easy for B2B customers with its ability to approach customers through multiple channels, and creating self-serving storefronts. With fewer customers, B2B commerce takes a more personalized approach like reviewing past buying records, saving card details for future purchases etc.  

With Salesforce B2B Commerce it’s about being cloud-first and customizing your website to meet the requirements of each industry. B2B Commerce Cloud offers functionality designed especially for the B2B segment. Besides having enormous baskets for keeping orders, there is also an option to reorder quickly for repeated products. Each account can be set up differently and order with multiple delivery dates and locations, different payment options, and revised pricing. 

But like B2B Commerce Cloud services, B2C also provides the same experience to its customers. The tool also offers superior functionalities to its users, including a quick reordering feature, advanced search and faceting, campaign and promotion management, and subscription models. It enables a streamlined interface for its buyers which makes it so effective. With the platform’s ease-of-use functionality, it becomes easier for customers to place orders in bulk. 

And there is more, Salesforce B2B Commerce provides more advanced features such as BI, and customization of products to make sales and marketing more personalized. Leading consumer goods and manufacturing companies like L’Oreal, Univar, Land O’ Lakes, Coca-Cola, Adidas, Ecolab, and many more are already using Salesforce B2B Commerce to simplify their buyer journey.  

Choose Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud if, 

If you have a relatively small group of buyers from enterprises who want to make product purchases in large amounts through digital channels. During such cases, Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud can assist you effectively in handling large purchase orders. 

Salesforce B2B Commerce is ideal for manufacturers trying to sell a large number of items to multiple factory outlets which order those items on a monthly basis. The platform, with its quick reorder functionality, makes it easy for frequent product orderings.  

Salesforce B2B Vs B2C  

The debate between Salesforce B2B Commerce and Salesforce B2C Commerce is one that has been around for awhile. Both offer their own set of benefits and drawbacks. However, both offer many features and customization options. So, if you’re looking for a robust solution for your eCommerce success then Salesforce B2B Commerce or B2C commerce is what you need. But how will you know which path to take? Let us now proceed to discuss it.

The Salesforce B2C and B2B e-commerce solutions differ from each other in various aspects, including vendor types, business needs, and target markets. 

Your Business Requirements 

Direct sellers, branded manufacturers, and online retailers who want to sell directly to consumers may find the B2C Salesforce Commerce tool to be an excellent choice. The platform is ideal for manufacturing companies and CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) brands looking to meet the needs of their customers in an innovative way. With its powerful tools and features, the B2C Salesforce Commerce tool can help you create a unique and personalized shopping experience for your customers that will keep them coming back for more.

Platform Services 

The need for two separate models of eCommerce is needed to cater to the diverse requirements of segmented audiences. 

It requires a strong platform with extensive databases to streamline the customer purchasing experience in the B2C marketplace. The Salesforce B2C Commerce platform includes tools for advanced customization, managing users, analytics, and security. Through Einstein AI, the platform offers AI capabilities such as accurate recommendations, predictive sorting, search dictionaries, and intuitive insights. 

The platform should be more scalable when it comes to providing services to the B2B eCommerce model.  The Salesforce B2B Commerce platform offers tools like product entitlement, order management, contract pricing, migration, and user permissions which are the requirements of a B2B e-commerce model. Which makes the Salesforce B2B Commerce perfect for handling large and complex orders.  

Support through Multiple Channels 

The Salesforce B2C Commerce platform, in order to provide support to consumers through multiple channels, made way for custom integrations with third-party providers in areas like ratings, reviews, tax processing, emails and payments. 

While Salesforce B2B Commerce comes with a third-party store integration feature that can connect your product catalog with retailers like Amazon, Alibaba, and eBay so that your products can be sold on these third-party platforms.  

Type of Payment Processing    

Salesforce B2C Commerce offers fast payment options that are quick and easy to process because B2C eCommerce requires a simplified checkout process. The platform offers hassle-free payment options like automated clearing house (ACH) transactions, subscriptions, credit and debit card processing, etc. 

A B2B marketplace includes multiple consumer accounts, which is why it needs multiple payment options to adhere to budget management and compliance. Therefore, Salesforce B2B Commerce supports several payment methods, including purchase orders, credit cards, etc.   

Bottom Line 

Salesforce B2B and B2C Commerce stand to remain the biggest cloud-based eCommerce service provider. Even as we understand the basic technical functions and services of these two platforms, it may still pose a question for many- as to which platform services should they integrate their business with? 

A rich, consolidated digital buying experience is needed for both consumers and businesses. However, their shopping patterns differ greatly between B2B and B2C eCommerce, especially when it comes to customer size and sales volume. So, even though Salesforce Commerce covers both B2B and B2C eCommerce requirements, you will have to give it a fair bit of thought in choosing the tool that responds to your business needs and marketing purposes.

It’s our aim to help companies transition to the salesforce commerce cloud flawlessly and grow their profit margins. Get the expert help you need with our salesforce development services.