Timeline for Saleforce Releases – Winter ’23 Commerce Cloud Release Info
The Digital Nuts-and-Bolts About Salesforce Releases
Admins have to balance many duties to ensure that their company maintains a top-of-the-line technological presence. Having the latest Salesforce releases as part of your corporate infrastructure are an important way to get the most from your company’s instance of Salesforce and benefit from the latest updates and new features.
Salesforce wants the admins who manage the technology to know the basics about how Salesforce releases work, as well as information about what can be anticipated for the Salesforce Winter ’23 release.
Below is basic information for you, so you can mark your calendars and know what is on the horizon.
Understanding the Salesforce Release Process
Releases update your Salesforce presence, allowing your business to take advantage of improved functionality and features.
Basic Information About Releases
Releases include a variety of features that fall into three broad categories: Pilot, BETA, and Generally Available (GA):
Pilot – These features require opt-in by admins or organizations, along with nominations to be a participant. The purpose of Pilot features is to allow various selected entities an opportunity to perform public testing of the functions, capabilities, efficiencies, and operation of new features. From the data collected and experiences communicated through this small subset of organizations that participate, determinations can be made about the next steps, any modifications, or other ways to revise the features before broader access and integration.
BETA – A broader rollout for wider testing. BETA features have gone through the first level of evaluation with the select set of Pilot participants. Limited support is provided. However, some aspects or features may not have full support available. Additional review and evaluation take place during the BETA phase to address any user or software-based concerns.
Generally Available (GA) – When features are considered Generally Available, they are fully implemented in new Salesforce releases. These features have passed the Pilot and BETA cycles of evaluation, and are considered to be fully functional by Salesforce. In most cases, this means these features are fully supported as well.
Learning More About These Releases
Schedule time to participate in a live webinar broadcast — on the Release Readiness Live Admin Preview — to learn about these phases, hear panel experts, watch demos, and witness an engaging question-and-answer session.
Anticipating the Next Salesforce Release
Salesforce releases occur three times each year. Following seasons in the Northern Hemisphere, the new features and functionality are available in Spring, Summer, and Winter.
Marking Your Calendar
To stay abreast of the latest changes and prepare for the next Salesforce release, admins should mark their calendars with significant milestones in the release process. An important step to take is to become acquainted with the general Salesforce release timeline for each quarter.
Beginning at a month out and moving forward, these dates will prepare you for the upcoming release. In addition, bookmark the Salesforce Admins blog to get the latest updates and last-minute releases that are disseminated on a live, rolling basis.
Preparing a Successful Sandbox Strategy
As the Salesforce release approaches the horizon, get your sandboxes ready! Some instances will maintain a non-preview instance — keeping their footprints within the current release — while others will transition to a preview instance.
As you prepare your sandbox strategy, consider the following information:
Do Some Testing
Regression test your system configuration and code with the new release. It is recommended that sandboxes exist in the non-preview release to validate system functionality.
Verify through Regression Testing
Ensure that changes resulting from the new Salesforce release have no adverse impact on present or expected functionality. Test now to assure that no new defects will impede performance after the new Salesforce release goes live.
Be Careful if You Deploy Changes from a Preview to Non-Preview Situation
Generally speaking, your deployment path should refrain from using preview sandboxes to keep the production environment moving smoothly.
New Features Coming to Commerce Cloud
An important part of the Winter ’23 release will be new, updated, and improved features related to B2B and B2B2C that should enhance the potential of Salesforce to handle B2B and B2B2C commerce, order management in Salesforce, and secure and smooth payments.
Learn more about these Commerce Cloud enhancements below, or get detailed information here.
B2B and B2B2C Commerce
Expand your global reach by expanding sales features to add multiple languages, tax structures, and get helpful guidance during the product import process. These new B2B and B2B2C Commerce solutions take Salesforce to the next level:
Global Sales
Commerce Promotions
Product Import
Search the Product Workspace
Use the Connect API for Commerce Subscriptions
Create a Convenient, Flexible Experience with the My Account Theme Layout in Your B2C Store
Use Dynamic Expressions in Text Fields in Your B2C Stores
Let Non-Admin Users Delete Account Addresses
More Easily Migrate Your B2C Store’s Configuration
Add a B2C Store to an Experience Cloud Site
Understand SEO for B2B and B2B2C Commerce
Salesforce Order Management
Experience improved capabilities in the overall Order Management experience. Improve the speed of the ingest process, create/modify orders on the shoppers’ behalf, and document reasons for rejecting fulfillment of orders with these and other enhancements available in the forthcoming release:
Order on Behalf of a Shopper
Easily Pick and Pack Online Orders
Ingest B2C Commerce Orders at High Scale
Automatically Reroute Rejected Fulfillment Orders with the Distributed Order Management Flows
Sequence Payment Methods When Processing a Refund
Charge Return Fees
Specify a Reason When Rejecting a Fulfillment Order Line Item
Configure Delivery and Apply Payment Promotions When Adding an Item to an Existing B2C Commerce Order
Self-Provision the Connection Between B2C Commerce and Order Management
Find Order Management Implementation Instructions More Easily
Activate Enhanced Domains for a B2C Commerce Integration
Salesforce Payments
Experience the new Salesforce Payments application that provides a secure and smooth checkout experience that is now available for Salesforce B2C Commerce. Witness the smooth integration of Salesforce Order Management and Salesforce B2B2C Commerce. Discover improved ways to prevent fraud and generate valuable payment reports with these latest updates:
Make Store CheckOut Easy with Salesforce Payments
Provision a Salesforce Payments Account for Payments Features
Gain Financial Insights from Payment Reports and Charts
Add Credit Card Payments to Your Store with a Few Clicks
Count on CLOUDSTREET
CLOUDSTREET is your partner in implementing best practices to apply Salesforce solutions to your business. Covering all areas of commerce and organizational management under the Salesforce umbrella, CLOUDSTREET fosters an efficient, effective way to maximize the capabilities of your Salesforce instance.
CLOUDSTREET is a leader in successfully implementing B2B stores for manufacturers in the consumer goods, industrial, and information technology sectors. As you prepare for the next Salesforce release, keep CLOUDSTREET in mind.
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