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Mar 14, 2022 | 8 minute read
written by Hannah Jarrett
After years of witnessing brands struggle to meet customer expectations and competitive pressures with their legacy Demandware (now Salesforce), “all-in-one" platform, we’re thrilled to share that today we launched the only complete package for D2C brands migrating off Salesforce Commerce Cloud to a Composable Commerce approach. Through close partnership with Salesforce customers, we have designed a package that provides everything brands need to power super-fast, differentiated experiences that meet the needs of today’s digital-first customers. The offering includes:
Our Director of Product Marketing, Hannah Jarrett breaks it down in this video:
Continue reading to see why now is the time for this package, what it includes, and how to learn more.
Why Now?
When it comes to the commerce space, the impact of advanced digital technology is more prevalent than ever. Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we? Flashback to 2006 through 2011 when many D2C brands were first launching their websites. Most of these brands were selling rather simple products (t-shirts, sneakers) via desktop website only and didn’t have complex requirements for search, merchandising, payments, content-heavy experiences, and beyond. Plus, brands weren’t launching expansion strategies across geographies, business models, or touchpoints to drive revenue. For these basic commerce needs, the “all-in-one" platforms like Demandware (now Salesforce Commerce Cloud) gave brands everything they needed to get up and running and facilitate checkout.
Flash forward 10+ years, digital has drastically changed the world for both customers and brands. Now having a website is table stakes. Over the past two years we have seen customer expectations soar, only accelerated by the pandemic. At Elastic Path, a few changes we have seen include:
Now, in order to differentiate in crowded markets, brands have to ensure they are powering consistent experiences across all off these new and emerging touchpoints PLUS drive revenue growth through expansion across geographies, touchpoints, brands, and beyond.
Why Does This All Matter?
A recent McKinsey report found that brands who improve customer experiences increase revenue by 15% and lower cost by 20%.
With these added pressures, more and more brands are re-assessing their dated, “all-in-one" Salesforce Commerce Cloud platform. They are left feeling like the commerce technology of 10+ years ago, when digital was just a channel, simply can’t keep up with the requirements of today’s digital-first world. By the time a new feature or experiences is built and pushed live, the update is no longer relevant. Plus, the dated codebase used to develop frontend experiences in Salesforce Commerce Cloud results is slow site speeds and therefore high bounce rates. Some brands bring on more external SI resources or hire additional expensive Salesforce developers to build workarounds or messy customizations. But this often leads to maxed out budgets and missed revenue growth targets.
An Alternative Approach to Commerce
Other brands feel the pain of rigid, Salesforce technology too strongly to stand by and customize their way out. Instead, they look at alternative platforms that leverage a Composable Commerce approach and are built with using cutting-edge microservices and headless architecture. Platforms like Commercetools, BigCommerce, and Elastic Path promise flexibility and innovation but, come with the manual task of integrating multiple vendors together and the perceived notion of technical complexity. And, the reality is, for brands used to Salesforce’s “all-in-one" platform, this transition can be overwhelming and feel risky.
The Complete Package for Migrating from Salesforce Commerce Cloud
At Elastic Path, we deeply understand this hesitancy. Any re-platforming project is stressful, but embracing a new approach to commerce adds to the risk-factor. CMOs and CIOs wonder “will my team be able to handle this?” “Will I get fired if this goes wrong?” For this reason, we partnered with Salesforce Commerce Cloud customers looking to make the change to Composable Commerce to build a package that provides everything for successful migration, implementation, and launch on Elastic Path. This complete package empowers eCommerce teams with the control to design and launch unique product-centric experiences, the flexibility to use their chosen best-of-breed partners, and the modern architecture to power lightning-fast experiences- all at a lower cost. The package includes:
Let’s learn a bit more about each component of this package.
Pre-Composed Solution™ for D2C Brands Migrating from Salesforce
This new addition to our library of Pre-Composed Solutions™ reduces the risk of migrating to Composable Commerce by pre-integrating everything brands need to power engaging D2C shopping experiences. Our product managers and solution architects worked directly with Salesforce customers to understand what core commerce capabilities, best-of-breed technologies (search, content management, etc.), and framework for frontend experiences were necessary to exceed the power of Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Based on those learnings, this business-ready solution was built. It integrates a NextJS D2C reference architecture, Elastic Path Commerce Cloud for core commerce, and a selection of best-of-breed third-party technology.
By reducing the time spent custom building integrations and D2C-specific frontend experiences, this solution enables brands to get-to-market and start driving revenue faster. Plus, since it was built leveraging microservices-based Elastic Path Commerce Cloud, eCommerce teams have the ultimate control to bring their complex commerce visions to life without the expensive customizations and messy workaround that Salesforce would require.
Migration Tools & Services
A second component of the package is our migration tools and services. After working with brands migrating off of Salesforce Commerce Cloud, our product management and professional services teams were able to create these assets to help increase the velocity of and confidence in the migration and implementation process.
Composable Commerce XA™
The final component of this migration package is Composable Commerce XA™, our multi-vendor solution assurance. For brands migrating from Salesforce Commerce Cloud to Elastic Path, the concept of a best-of-breed, composable approach may be brand new. Whereas they are used to having a single point of contact for commerce (Salesforce), they now have many (Elastic Path, search, content management, payments, personalization, etc. vendors). We find that this new approach to commerce often leaves CIOs and Directors of Solutions with many questions. Most often we hear: “Who do I call when something goes wrong?” and “How will I pinpoint the source of the issue with numerous vendors involved?”
That is exactly why we built Composable Commerce XA™. Instead of struggling with those common questions, brands can simply call Elastic Path when an issue arises. Then, using our proprietary data monitoring, the Elastic Path team can pinpoint the source of the issue, work directly with relevant partners to resolve the issue, and bring a brand’s site back to full performance as soon as possible. This extra level of support gives brands the confidence they need to migrate and enthusiastically embrace a Composable Commerce approach.
Re-Imagine How You Do Commerce
If you are currently struggling to keep up with business requirements, competitive pressures, and customer expectations because you are stuck with dated, rigid Salesforce Commerce Cloud technology, there is another way. The time is now to embrace Composable Commerce to reimagine how you do commerce. With this new migration package, you can confidently power lightning-fast experiences, reduce TCO, and innovate without risk.