Commerce Cloud has come a long way since the two acquisitions (in 2016 and 2018) that were foundational to eCommerce on the Salesforce platform. Most advancements are already apparent to those who use or keep up to date with Commerce Cloud. However, with lots announced in the run-up to, and at Dreamforce, there’s more to talk about what’s been happening ‘under the covers’.
With 29 of the top 30 eCommerce sites running on Commerce Cloud, the work that the Commerce Cloud team has been doing is certainly noteworthy. We had the chance to sit down with Commerce Cloud CMO, Kelly Thacker, at Dreamforce, which is always a pleasure. The conversation covered why unified commerce is a huge milestone for Commerce Cloud, what Agentforce for Commerce is all about, and more.
What’s New With Commerce Cloud?
Salesforce Commerce Cloud teams have delivered a laundry list of updates, so instead I phrased the question “What would be 3-5 reasons why anyone should watch the Commerce Cloud keynote?”
I remarked to Kelly that it feels like barely any time has passed since our conversation with Michael Affronti at Connections ‘24, which took place in May. Plenty has been coming together since then, especially in line with Salesforce’s overall AI vision. Here are three key updates showcased at Dreamforce related to Commerce Cloud.
1. Unified Commerce
With Commerce Cloud being brought onto the Salesforce ‘core’ platform, this has taken Commerce Cloud away from the separate tech stacks Salesforce acquired half a decade ago.
“Commerce that’s actually unified…All together now: B2B, D2C, order management, payments, data, and AI.”
The magic is happening “underneath the covers”. Everything that has to do with running an eCommerce site, such as the product catalog and price books, is unified, meaning that you no longer have to think about how these infrastructure elements are going to be translated into different site formats. For example, you don’t have to only stick with a B2C site, as you can leverage that same infrastructure for a D2C site.
This becomes apparent when you visit your Commerce Cloud home page, where you can view and select one of your eCommerce stores to work with.
When setting up a new store, this involves selecting a template, where, regardless of which one you choose, you won’t need to re-configure the infrastructure underlying it.
Templates include B2C, D2C, Commerce Reorder Portal (which connects straight to Sales Cloud), and Pay Now (which can be placed on any site created on Salesforce commerce technology).
So, to round off Unified Commerce, this goes beyond simply re-architecting the technology that underlies Commerce Cloud. Salesforce can tap into platform-wide AI innovations more effectively for commerce use cases.
Also, as you may have heard, the ‘core’ platform approach means that any AI you choose to use is grounded in your organization’s trusted data. An overall takeaway is that organizations can treat Commerce Cloud as a companion to other Salesforce tooling, such as Marketing Cloud, Service Cloud, etc.
2. B2C Business Manager
A new UI for Salesforce’s B2C Commerce, with the overriding objectives to gain insights faster and manage multiple global sites.
This looks like a set of modules that you can switch between, for example, to set up a campaign, assign products to pages, visual merchandising, updating search terms, and more.
3. D2C Commerce Websites
D2C (direct-to-consumer) sites have had a glow-up, with improved headless and composable options available. The benefits here are that you can set up D2C eCommerce sites faster, have faster page loads, and have responsive site components easily accessible.
“This is really exciting for customers who have seen incredible growth and performance with those deployments. Because they have Data Cloud, they’re able to easily stand up direct consumer sites with a unified catalog. So, they have one catalog with all the data feeding both sides. This gives them the ability to test new experiences within sites, test new markets, and get set up directly to consumer sites.” Kelly Thacker, Commerce Cloud CMO, Salesforce
Commerce Cloud + Agentforce
In terms of Agentforce for Commerce Cloud use cases, there are three that will be available by the Spring ‘25 release: Merchant, Buyer, and Personal Shopper. Merchant is GA, whereas Buyer and Personal Shopper will be GA in Feb ‘25 (with a customer pilot ongoing, so “this is stuff that’s real!”).
Agentforce Merchant
Consider this an extension of the merchandising team. This agent can take on tasks such as setting up a storefront, with the human user using natural language, so, you don’t necessarily need to have a technical background to stand up a website.
In the background, it can set goals based on where the business wants to go. For example, if the goal is to increase cart size, then it could focus on conversions in key audience segments. Another example would be to take on proactive recommendations and offload slow-moving inventory to focus on bestsellers.
It can automate workflows and because it’s grounded in data, it’s AI that can reason and is able to contextualize based on the data what actions the merchandiser or the business leader should take.
Agentforce Buyer
This agent is designed to emulate a consumer-grade experience for buyers – both to find and reorder products to stock. Buyers haven’t always had the most beautiful experiences, so this agent operates to bring a B2C-like experience, taking care of the post-purchase steps.
The important point to note is that by being connected to all of your data (i.e. sales, service, and order data), this agent is aligned with the buyer’s pre-negotiated products and pricing. It can easily track orders, answer common questions, or troubleshoot issues.
Personal Shopper
Think about this agent as a digital concierge, creating an AI experience for shoppers. Salesforce is proud of this because you can’t distinguish between whether it’s a machine or a human generating the response.
A shopper visiting your website or messaging channel can simply say, “I’m looking for a new pair of shoes”. Unlike traditional chatbots that rely on rigid decision trees, the AI-driven agent will intelligently assess the shopper’s past purchases, analyze similar customer choices, and make a personalized recommendation.
The shopper can respond naturally, with feedback like, “I don’t like the color,” or “I’m not a fan of the toe shape”. The agent will seamlessly adapt, refining its understanding of the shopper’s preferences for future interactions.
“My Entire Team Built Agents”
Plenty of the hype surrounding Agentforce has been driven by how easy agents are to build and deploy with Salesforce’s new tooling (Agentforce Studio).
Skeptics may question the so-called simplicity, especially those who’ve been burned by “it’s easy” or “clicks-not-code” claims that sometimes mask complexity. This likely is why Agentforce had a prominent launchpad at Dreamforce – where, over 48 hours, attendees built over 5,200 agents in their sandboxes. And, for any doubters, there was a clear takeaway: yes, agents are indeed as easy to build as promised.
“I asked each member of our entire team to build an agent – the Personal Shopper one. They could truly see how building on the platform gives your agent all of the data that it needs to access, supported by what’s already been configured into that particular Salesforce org. Their reactions were: oh, my gosh!” Kelly Thacker, Commerce Cloud CMO, Salesforce
Summary
With much announced in the run-up to, and at Dreamforce, there’s certainly plenty to talk about when we consider what’s been happening ‘under the covers’. Unified commerce is a very smart move from Salesforce, and, aside from the exciting prospect of experimenting with different site formats, this paves the way for effectively implementing agents.
The excitement radiating from Kelly Thacker was palpable. I recommend you check out the Commerce Cloud keynote from Dreamforce ‘24 so you can see in action unified commerce, agents, and more.
