Salesforce Commerce Cloud is a cloud-based commerce platform that supports online retailers in marketing, merchandising, shopping experience, fulfillment, customer service, and beyond.
Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud is focused on “Business to Consumer”. Unlike many other products in the Salesforce ecosystem, B2C Commerce Cloud is an acquired product that runs on a completely different stack. Because of that, the familiar Salesforce management interface and architecture does not apply.
However, with so many features and options available, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. In this article, I’ll share seven tips to help you get the most out of Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud and maximize its capabilities.
1. Qualitative Data
High-quality and relevant commerce site content, including product descriptions, reviews, and blog posts, help improve the site’s visibility on search engine results pages – driving organic traffic and increasing conversion rates. Providing top-notch information and content helps build trust and credibility in the minds of potential customers.
To have a user-friendly, optimized experience, you need to make use of what the platform has to offer, such as:
- Product Model: SFCC supports a “Variation Model”, allowing customers to stay on a single page to select “variations” of a product (e.g. size and color of a shirt). Ever had that experience where all colors or sizes were different pages, and you had to keep track of yourself? Not a fun experience. With this product model, no more separate pages!
- SEO Meta Tags: You want to provide Search Engines with as much information as possible in a structured way and ensure that social sharing uses the right images and product descriptions. With the “Meta Tag Rules” feature, you are in control!
These two items are just the tip of the iceberg. They show that getting to know the products in your architecture and having qualitative data flow between them to make optimal use of standard features is essential.
2. Picture Perfect Performance: DIS is the ‘Reel’ Deal
The Dynamic Image Service (DIS) of Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud is a powerful tool designed to optimize and streamline the management of images across all channels. DIS enables you to scale and deliver high-quality photos tailored to the specific requirements of different devices and browsers.
Critical features of DIS include dynamic image resizing, cropping, and format conversion, contributing to SEO and site performance. Faster page load times and better image optimisation positively impact search engine rankings and, more importantly, the user experience.
Note: You want to ensure that your images perfectly reflect your brand’s quality and vision, and provide a top-notch site experience. Finding that balance will take some time to work out the best settings for you, but it is most definitely worth it!
3. The Search for More Sales
Making sure that customers find what they are looking for is essential to any channel – and for that, Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud has a lot of features to help optimize it for your brand:
- Synonyms: Group words together that should lead to the same search results.
- Hypernyms: Group words together based on their general meaning. Some words are more specific versions of other words. For example, a “blouse” is a type of “top”, and a “guitar” is a type of “musical instrument”.
- Compound Words: Make a word by combining two or more words, and use a symbol to show where the terms would usually be separate.
- Suggestion Phrases: Add extra suggestion phrases to the search!
- Term Exclusion: Be the bouncer of the search suggestion list and kick out any rowdy words that aren’t allowed to party.
- Common Phrases: Search for phrases with more than one word, not just each word by itself. It’s like a package deal – they come together and can’t be separated!
- Stop Words: Avoid boring and overused words that don’t help customers find what they want.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg on controlling search. For example, SFCC reports on what people look for and when a specific term has yet to yield any results. Keeping track of what people are interested in and adjusting the features above will ensure that the “no results found page” is history!
4. Promote and Prosper
Promotions are an effective way to drive sales and increase customer engagement. Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud offers various promotion capabilities that fit any business need. The platform allows for different promotion types, such as discounts, coupons, gifts with purchases, and free shipping.
Here are some tips to make the most out of your promotions:
- Plan your promotions carefully and define seasonal campaigns with start and end dates, times, and an overall theme.
- Develop a list of required creative assets and finalize the promotions offered, including types (order, product, or shipping), which products or categories, and which customer groups you target.
- Create a promotions calendar and playbook with all the promotion details.
- Test your promotions thoroughly in a staging environment using simple test plans that consider all variations and ensure they work correctly.
- Show a message in the storefront that identifies promotion restrictions, limitations, exclusions, or conditions to minimize shopper queries.
- Develop a clear workflow for building, reviewing, and releasing online promotions, with clear roles and responsibilities within your organization.
- Set specific timelines and deadlines for the promotion workflow to ensure that promotions run smoothly and as intended.
5. Engage and Personalize With Page Designer
Who says that being a “monolith” is a bad thing? It means that many features come out of the box, and that also means a built-in CMS (Content Management System). But to make optimal use of this feature, keep in mind a few things:
- Start with a clear design concept: Confirm you have a clear idea before designing your page. This will help guide your design decisions and provide a cohesive final product.
- Don’t overcrowd your page: Trying to fit as much content as possible onto your page can be tempting, but overcrowding can lead to a cluttered and confusing user experience. Use negative space and design elements like color and typography to create a balanced and visually appealing page.
- Test and iterate: Be bold and experiment with different design elements and layouts, but be sure to test your pages thoroughly before publishing them. Use A/B testing and analytics to track user behavior and make data-driven decisions about your page design.
- Use grid and layout settings to ensure consistency: Page Designer includes options for setting up grids and layouts to help ensure that all of your pages have a consistent look and feel. Use these settings to create reusable templates that are quickly applied to new pages.
- Test your page on different devices: Once you’ve designed it, test it on various devices to confirm it looks great and functions correctly on all screen sizes.
6. The Power of Localization
Localisation refers to adapting an eCommerce site to meet the specific needs of a particular market, region, or language. This process involves creating content, currency, and other site elements specific to a particular locale, such as language, cultural norms, and legal requirements.
Localisation also plays a critical role in improving the user experience for customers. Merchants can better connect with their customers and build trust by providing locally personalized content and features. Additionally, localized sites can improve search engine rankings in specific regions by delivering relevant content in the local language.
- Use native language: Once you get enough traction in a specific market, translate all content, including product descriptions, into the local language for better user experience and engagement.
- Optimize for local search engines: Optimize your content for search engines by using local keywords and creating content that resonates with the local audience.
- Provide local payment options: Offer payment options that are popular and widely used in the local market, such as mobile payment systems, to boost conversions.
- Customize shipping and delivery options: Adapt shipping and delivery options to meet local expectations.
- Test and optimize: Do I sound like a broken record? Continuously test and optimize your website and marketing strategies to improve performance and meet local market demands.
- Understand local regulations: Be aware of local laws and regulations regarding eCommerce, data privacy, and customer protection.
7. Efficiently Putting Content Live
Replication synchronizes data between a staging and a production environment in Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud. The staging environment is where you create content, configure promotions, and manage search, while the production environment is the live site that customers interact with. To make sure this process goes smoothly, here are some things to consider:
- Document the replication process and create a step-by-step guide for future reference.
- Test thoroughly in the staging environment before initiating replication to Production.
- Always replicate during off-peak hours to avoid disrupting customer experiences.
- Do not schedule jobs or data imports during the replication process.
- Confirm the source and target instances are at the same code compatibility level to ensure a smooth replication.
- In case of a significant project release, have a clear rollback action plan.
- You can run daily backups on staging!
Summary
Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud allows businesses to sell in a proper Customer 360 way, all within the familiar Salesforce ecosystem. By following the tips we’ve shared, we can optimize our process and unlock the platform’s full potential in creating personalized online shopping experiences, streamlining order fulfillment, and gaining valuable insights into customer behavior.