What is our primary use case?
We are a solution provider and Salesforce Commerce Cloud is one of the products that we implement for our clients. My role is as a Salesforce developer and I work on different tasks, including product customization.
What is most valuable?
Multilanguage support means that this product will operate in English, Chinese, or whatever language is required.
The translation feature is available, depending on the region, and it is quite useful for me as well as my customers.
The development capabilities are very powerful, which is what my customers know and why they buy this product instead of something else.
There is a good community of developers for the platform.
With respect to customizability, you can do whatever you want.
You can integrate with other solutions and put everything in one place. For example, you can connect Commerce Cloud with Marketing Cloud, then you can see details on the sales moving through the pipeline. Both these products are from the same company, and some customers already have Salesforce Marketing Cloud. For them, it's easy to implement Salesforce Commerce Cloud. With Salesforce, the technology is the same. They will know how to use it. The developer works the same, they both work with cloud and Salesforce is a known brand. They trust the information that they put on their server and know that the information is secure.
What needs improvement?
When a company buys a license for Salesforce Commerce Cloud, it is almost impossible to handle all of the features. This is why there is a high demand for developers or people who can educate the team on how to use it and how to configure all of the things people need.
People will sometimes go online and learn about the product, then buy a license for something that they don't actually know how to use. This is another business that Salesforce is selling, namely support. They are not only just selling their platform, but also the services that go with it. For smaller companies, it is not going to work. For larger companies, it may work.
There is space to have better communication with other kinds of platforms. If for example, you have a software developer, and a customer presents you with Salesforce Commerce Cloud, sometimes it's difficult to pick it up. It's not a totally different technology, although there are differences. It is a new product in the Salesforce environment, so it's hard to get people to work on it. Finding developers will also cost more money.
There is lots of improvement that can be made in terms of user experience. For example, Salesforce Cloud has an excellent user experience. With this product, however, you have to be tough and you have to study. It's not like other types of products. For a person with no experience, this is like a nightmare.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Salesforce Commerce Cloud for approximately three years, at a time when it was still owned by Demandware.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This product is very stable and if you face problems then you can contact support. Unfortunately, they are very annoying to deal with.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Salesforce Commerce Cloud is being used by some very large companies that operate worldwide. This product is not typically for startups or small companies that are just starting out. For clients such as this, we will choose another option that is cheaper. Also, they will not spend money developing this product because they don't have enough customers and it will be a waste of money.
Larger companies are sometimes already involved with Salesforce.
How are customer service and support?
I would rate the technical support a four out of ten.
They are weak and they are really hard to reach out to. They can respond but sometimes they don't understand the solution. Salesforce has people running all over the place and sometimes they don't understand what you are asking for. They contact you, you show them the problem that you're facing, and then they put in the case that they don't understand you. They ask for another call and you have to state the case again, but they don't answer.
Ultimately, I would prefer not to contact everybody to get a case resolved.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Some of my customers use other platforms and products. For example, they might use the Salesforce Community edition, Salesforce Cloud, or something else.
I have worked with a couple before the Salesforce environment. They were based mainly on PHP and you have to put them on your home server. I have used Magento, some time ago, and I found that the technical support was better. It may not be a fair comparison because I have worked more with Salesforce than Magento, but I found that the Magento interface was more user-friendly.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is of medium complexity. For somebody that knows Salesforce, it can be picked up quite quickly. They don't have to know Salesforce Commerce Cloud, but another product like Salesforce Cloud. These people will pick it up very quickly and they can do the implementation.
For somebody who has already done it one time, it's easy.
On average, I would say that it takes a month to deploy. Part of the reason it takes this long is that customers want to add new things. Perhaps they have another Commerce Cloud solution and they want the same information. It costs a lot in terms of time.
The length of time for deployment also depends on the size of the company.
In terms of a deployment strategy, you can do a basic implementation of the solution but sometimes they want, for example, more customization. They want you to develop a specific thing that is not part of the solution. This can be a problem because it puts more into the requirements. For example, you have to see how it works with other solutions. This will increase the amount of time it takes.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Customers for this product normally purchase in bulk because it's not a cheap license.
What other advice do I have?
If I had to choose, I don't know if I would select Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Perhaps for medium to large companies, I would. However, for smaller companies with between 15 and 100 users, I believe that I would go with another product.
One of the reasons that developing with Salesforce is not cheap. You have to hire people, for example.
If somebody tells me that they are interested in implementing this product then the first question that I would ask is whether they have another Commerce Cloud or another e-commerce platform in place. Then, if so, I would ask why they are trying to change. I see a lot of people buying it just because it is a known brand, globally.
The advantages are that your data will be secure and it will never crash.
My advice for anybody who implements it is to contact somebody that really knows what to do, instead of wasting time trying to figure it out. They need technical people, and even for them, this is not something that is very easy to do.
The bottom line is that this is not a solution for everyone. It costs a lot of time and a lot of money, but different customers will get more value out of it than others.
I would rate this solution a six out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
*Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
