Salesforce’s D2C and B2B Commerce Cloud continues to evolve, empowering businesses with cutting-edge e-commerce capabilities. The latest release of Salesforce Commerce Cloud brings forth a host of new features and enhancements, designed to elevate the e-commerce experience for businesses and customers. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the key features and improvements introduced in the latest release, highlighting the advancements that are set to shape the future of e-commerce.

Key Features and Enhancements

The latest Winter ‘25 release of Salesforce D2C Commerce Cloud introduces a range of new features and enhancements, catering to various aspects of e-commerce operations. From user interface improvements to advanced integration capabilities, the release is poised to transform the way businesses engage with their customers and manage their online storefronts.

Enhanced User Experience

One of the focal points of the latest release is the enhancement of the user experience. With a revamped user interface, streamlined navigation, and updated design elements, the release aims to provide a more intuitive and engaging experience for both administrators and end-users.

Integration Capabilities

In an increasingly interconnected digital landscape, the latest release emphasizes enhanced integration capabilities. New APIs, improved interoperability with other Salesforce products, and third-party systems enable businesses to create a seamless and unified e-commerce ecosystem, facilitating efficient data exchange and operational agility.

Security and Compliance

Security and compliance are paramount in e-commerce, and the latest release addresses these concerns with advanced security features and compliance updates. From data encryption to enhanced access controls, businesses can ensure a secure and compliant e-commerce environment, fostering trust and confidence among their customers.

Developer-Centric Enhancements

For developers, the latest release offers a suite of new tools and resources. Expanded customization options, improved development frameworks, and enhanced extensibility empower developers to innovate and tailor e-commerce solutions to meet the unique needs of businesses and customers.

Customer Impact and Benefits

The latest release is poised to have a profound impact on businesses and end-users. The introduction of new features and enhancements translates to an enriched customer experience, improved operational efficiency, and the ability to adapt to evolving market demands, ultimately driving business growth and customer satisfaction.

Upgrade Process and Considerations

Existing Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud users are encouraged to explore the upgrade process and considerations for migrating to the latest release. With careful planning and adherence to best practices, businesses can seamlessly transition to the latest release, unlocking new opportunities and staying ahead in the competitive e-commerce landscape.

The latest release of D2C / B2B Salesforce Commerce Cloud represents a significant leap forward in e-commerce innovation. By embracing the new features and enhancements, businesses can position themselves at the forefront of e-commerce excellence, delivering exceptional customer experiences and driving sustainable growth in the digital marketplace.

Salesforce, a provider of customer relationship, marketing, and sales solutions, has added artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to its Sales Cloud platform. The new AI tools will lessen the number of hours sales team members must spend on manual tasks, thus increasing the time available for sales-oriented tasks. 

Salesforce has been researching and building its AI capabilities for years, first launching AI tools in 2016. This most recent addition of generative AI to the Sales Cloud platform continues the company’s longtime implementation of AI across its many solutions. Generative AI uses models and algorithms to produce a wide variety of content to help sales teams function better. 

The Importance of Generative AI

Generative AI is critical to helping organizations reach their sales goals, Salesforce says. Its recent State of Sales report showed that sales representatives spend more than 70 percent of their time on administrative and other non-sales tasks. Because reps lose so much time with these tasks, only 28 percent believe they’ll meet their quotas.

The company says the innovations connect data in real-time to support sellers throughout the sales journey. “This means that sales teams can shift their attention from processes to connecting with people, giving them more time to focus on what they do best, selling,” said Ketan Karkhanis, executive vice president and general manager of Sales Cloud.

Salesforce provides solutions for various industries, including education, consumer goods, media, financial services, automotive, healthcare, and nonprofits. The company also offers a variety of customer operations, services, and sales solutions for manufacturers. Its partner Cloudstreet has implemented several B2B stores for manufacturers in the industrial, IT services, and consumer goods sectors, for example.

Salesforce had previously implemented some AI tools within Sales Cloud. The new generative AI tools further enhance the platform and can transform sales teams, Salesforce says. Salesforce also added AI capabilities to its Service Cloud applications earlier this year. Before that, Salesforce added AI to Commerce Cloud and Marketing Cloud.

The New AI Tools

The Sales Cloud software encompasses a full suite of sales team tools. Many of the new features are available in the Sales Cloud Unlimited Edition+. Highlights of the innovations include Einstein Copilot, automated call summaries and sales e-mails, enhanced prospecting tools, process intelligence tools, and an extension for the Google Chrome browser.

Einstein Copilot

The just-launched Einstein Copilot for Sales uses AI technology to automate prospect research and the updating of customer relationship information. It will also help sales representatives leverage external and internal customer data to prepare more efficiently for meetings with current and potential clients. Users can access the tool from anywhere, including mobile phones, according to Salesforce.

Sales E-Mail

The new Sales E-mail tool uses AI to generate personalized e-mails from CRM data automatically. The tool can automatically produce e-mails that can be used as introductions, follow-up notes, or meeting invitations. The e-mails also reflect the company’s tone and style.

Call Summaries

Another AI tool, Quickly, extracts vital data and summarizes sales calls. It identifies customer sentiments and the next steps to help keep the sales cycle moving forward. The tool also allows for editing and sharing with colleagues via Slack or e-mail. 

Prospecting Tools

A new Automated Prospecting tool facilitates the creation of prospect lists. The tool, powered by Salesforce Data Cloud, pulls from internal and external data. It creates lists based on specific metrics such as buyer intent signals and customer/product fit. The tool can help sales teams prioritize their time, spending the most time with the best prospects. Automated Prospecting is not currently available in Sales Cloud Unlimited Edition+. Instead, customers can access it via a pilot program. 

Process Intelligence

The Process Intelligence feature in Sales Cloud will allow the sales operations staff to develop better performance indicators (KPIs), such as attrition metrics. The better KPIs will improve sales team productivity, Salesforce says. 

Chrome Extension

The new tools also include a Sales Cloud Everywhere extension for Google Chrome browsers. The extension improves the efficiency of Internet research by matching data on websites with additional company data already in Salesforce and automatically adding new companies to account lists, Salesforce says. It allows users to customize their workspace layouts to see the data that is most helpful to them. It also automates data updates and allows reps to access to-do lists and other information within Google Chrome. It can also automatically generate and send e-mails from Chrome. 

The Customer Company

Salesforce was a pioneering Software as a Service (SaaS) company. It began in 1999 when its four founders created a cloud-based CRM system. The following year, the company created its 1-1-1 philanthropy model. The model commits 1 percent of the company’s equity, technology, and staff time to improving education, equality, and the environment. By 2022, the 1-1-1 model had provided $240 million in grants, 3.5 million hours of community service, and product donations for more than 39,000 nonprofits and educational institutions.

The company began to branch out into other sales team solutions in the mid-2000s and earned fastest-growing company honors from both Forbes and Fortune. It launched Service Cloud in 2009 and became a Fortune 500 company in 2015. It has undertaken several acquisitions to grow its product base. For example, it acquired the ecommerce platform Demandware and introduced Commerce Cloud in 2016. It acquired Slack in 2021.

The company also has consistently ranked as one of the top companies to work for. It achieved Net Zero across its entire value chain in 2021. 

CloudStreet

CloudStreet was founded in 2016 in Houston. It is a registered Salesforce partner and participates in the 1-1-1 model. Its partners, Mark Lum and “Chitiz” Agarwal, have more than 30 years of combined experience with Salesforce solutions.

Each year, Salesforce hosts one of the world’s biggest tech conferences in San Diego. This year, Dreamforce had over 40,000 in-person attendees, and millions more watching online. There were over 1,500 sessions, making Dreamforce the largest AI conference in the world.

As you may imagine, Salesforce released a lot of new information during the 3-day conference. You can find plenty of info on the Salesforce site, even if you didn’t attend. If you don’t feel like poring over blog posts for hours, though, we’ve broken down the five most important announcements in this one handy guide.

First, we should note that AI isn’t going anywhere, and Salesforce is primarily focusing on drawing AI and the Data Cloud together so they work seamlessly as one. In fact, the keynote tagline was “Now everyone is an Einstein — Data + AI + CRM + Trust.” That pretty much sums up the event. Below, we go into a bit more detail about what that means for Salesforce customers going forward.

1. Einstein 1: Salesforce Relaunch with AI

Einstein 1 is indisputably the biggest announcement from Dreamforce this year. It’s a relaunched version of the existing Salesforce platform with—you guessed it—AI as the primary focus.

AI is hugely popular for good reason, but it’s still a bit clunky when it comes to data. Salesforce plans to solve this problem with Einstein 1, connecting data wherever possible while keeping the customer’s trust.

Einstein 1 uses Copilot, which is the existing user interface loaded as a side panel. Salesforce users and their customers are already familiar with this interface, and they can interact using everyday language. It’s like a human conversation but utilizes AI.

Copilot also provides recommendations so users can decide how they would like to proceed. It’s a seamless process that will help automate numerous tasks without diminishing the customer experience.

2. AI Copilot Studio Gives You Control

If you’re wondering how this works in real-time, you’ll be interested in Copilot Studio. This includes three separate components: Prompt Builder, Skills Builder, and Model Builder. These systems work together to give admins control over processes and user productivity. Using Copilot Studio, you can determine exactly how AI helps your organization and determine which users have access to specific functions.

Use Prompt Builder to build your prompt templates, specify the way prompts use Salesforce data, and ultimately put those prompts to work with your actual customers. Best of all, it’s quick and easy to do!

Skills Builder gives you control over your Salesforce users. You can grant or restrict access to AI functionality by limiting or expanding process capabilities for each user. Where one user may have one set of outcomes for a specific process, another user may have a completely different set of outcomes.

You can also choose the AI models you want with Model Builder. The options include Salesforce’s proprietary models as well as those of numerous partners, including Databricks, Anthropic, Cohere, Vertex IX, or OpenAI.

3. AI Flow With Data Cloud

Salesforce Flow is an existing automation component that’s getting a bit of an overhaul.

Thanks to Einstein 1, Salesforce Flow now works with Data Cloud. Each Flow is triggered by an action—like a change in data. Because Data Cloud uses real-time data from multiple systems, Flows now streamline tasks, allowing users to prioritize more important projects.

Flow uses Data Realms, which are segments that consolidate data to provide analytics and provide insights to your marketing team—all within Data Cloud.

Using Data Cloud, Salesforce has also released 26 AI capabilities between Commerce Cloud and Marketing Cloud, with an additional 25 (or more) coming by the end of 2024.

4. Deeper Slack Integration Enhances Communication

Many Salesforce users will be excited to hear about the new Slack features.

Slack Lists gives team members the ability to prioritize tasks and keep track of their task list. The feature uses AI and disparate Slack conversations to create one seamless workflow. This keeps your most important deadlines front and center so you never fall behind.

Salesforce also introduced Slack Sales Elevate to make the user experience even more efficient. This system streamlines tasks using AI, Sales Cloud, and Slack, saving users even more time and energy that can be better utilized elsewhere.

5. Data Graphs Showcase AI Data Relationships

As you are creating prompts in Prompt Builder, you may realize that it’s difficult to keep track of all the data that Einstein is using. Likewise, Skills Builder can get somewhat complicated when you don’t have a way to visualize the data. That’s where Data Graphs come in.

Data Graphs are part of the Data Cloud, allowing users to actually see the relationships between data, even if the data comes from disparate sources or requires multiple layers.

Perhaps more importantly, you can trace data and customize relationships using a drag-and-drop feature to make things simple. This not only saves time, but it also helps improve accuracy, ensuring the system is using the exact data field you want for each application.

Final Thoughts on Salesforce Dreamforce ‘23

In addition to these exciting announcements, Salesforce is also expected to bring an additional 18 million jobs over the next few years. Additionally, the company is fully aware of the ethical responsibility it has to utilize data with integrity. The Salesforce Tenets of Trusted, Ethical, and Humane AI state that “Your data isn’t our product. You control access to your data. We prioritize accurate, verifiable results. Our product policies protect human rights. We advance responsible AI globally. Transparency builds trust.” Coupled with their devotion to sustainability, you can rest assured that Salesforce is a trustworthy company with innovative AI applications that can help your business scale and streamline processes ethically.

While this guide gives you a great overview of the key takeaways from Dreamforce 2023, it can’t provide a full guide to all that Salesforce has to offer. CLOUDSTREET helps you optimize your Salesforce solutions so you get the absolute most from its features. We’ve implemented B2B stores for manufacturers in every industry, from industrial to IT services to consumer goods. Contact us to schedule a meeting or have a quick chat about how we can help your business utilize all the features that Salesforce offers, now and in the future.