Salesforce introduced its e-commerce storefronts on its Starter and Pro Suites, which begin at $25/user and $100/user per month respectively. Previously e-commerce storefronts were only available on higher tiers, like its Commerce Cloud offering.
With the addition of digital storefronts in Starter and Pro Suites, customers now have access to e-commerce capabilities, in addition to Salesforce's sales, service, and marketing features, in a single, unified interface.
Salesforce wrote in its press release, “Unlike fragmented standalone solutions, Salesforce ecommerce storefronts are built directly into a complete suite of CRM tools to improve business efficiency and enhance the overall buyer experience.”
Currently, only customers in the United States are eligible for e-commerce storefront capabilities.
Rick Watson criticized the move, saying that Salesforce was “aiming at the wrong target” and that Salesforce CRM users didn't need D2C stores. (B2B, maybe.)
However I think a better question is — do D2C storeowners need advanced CRMs?
I think that the answer is — yes, especially for stores with higher end products (like custom jewelry or furniture) that require a mix of e-commerce and direct sales. Shopify doesn't provide much in the way of a CRM beyond a customer profile with order history, whereas Salesforce can blend the two worlds efficiently.
Salesforce actually has a fairly impressive e-commerce offering, and I've mentioned in previous editions that I feel the worlds of enterprise and small business commerce are blending — meaning small businesses are beginning to expect the same features and capabilities as larger stores. So it only makes sense that Salesforce brings its commerce offering to the smaller businesses it already serves with its CRM.
However I'm no Salesforce expert, so you tell me… Is this a smart move by Salesforce or like Rick said, are they “aiming at the wrong target?” Hit reply and share your thoughts.