3 Essential Tools for Successful eCommerce

In today’s digital age, customers in both B2B and B2C eCommerce industries expect a seamlessly connected buying experience. Companies need to offer smooth transitions over multiple channels and devices. Consequently, if businesses want to attract the right audience, they need to unify this experience across all possible touchpoints. If you do this the right way, you gain more or better customers, and more insights into customer behavior. However, outstanding eCommerce1 has grown far beyond offering different payment methods. So, let’s walk you through 3 essential tools for successful eCommerce, and how Salesforce is the perfect tool to help you along the way.

If you clicked the title, you’re interested in running a successful eCommerce business, right? So, chances are you already know that unification of your digital platforms is a key in successful online selling. But what’s the real challenge here, is finding the right strategy and tools to put your online selling strategy on the same level as your ‘traditional’ approach. In other words, a dedicated sales strategy is the umbrella over team members’ individual sales plans. It’s a set of documented plans that fit together. So, they require evaluating sales capabilities (organization, roles, and processes) and analyzing data. Then, your employees know how to deliver the sales strategy through:

  • Salesforce design and structure.
  • Marketing demand generation contribution.
  • Customer alignment, targeting, and redundancy.
  • Go-to-market strategies.
  • Sales demand generation.
  • Sales strategy mapping and implementation processes.

This is where the Salesforce Commerce Cloud Solution comes in.

1. Salesforce Commerce Cloud Solution

  • 7/7 customer service.
  • Targeted email campaigns to avoid shopping chart abandonment.
  • Product recommendation tools.
  • Real-time stock indication.
  • Or maybe even your very own webshop chatbot.

As a company, you put up with multiple steps to counter today’s eCommerce challenges. Accordingly, practical Salesforce Commerce Cloud implementation can do the stunt for you. For instance, it helps you sustain cost efficiency, provide a seamless, unified omnichannel experience, use commerce data effectively, and not let your drawbacks get the better of you. Here’s how:

Unified, Omni-Channel Experience

73% of shoppers use multiple channels during their customer journey and 75% of them expect a consistent experience whenever they engage with a company. A practical commerce cloud solution will share service and data models leveraged throughout all direct interaction channels. It will introduce you to a collective view of your products, customers, promotions, inventory, interactions, and stores. Additionally, every channel can utilize services like merchandising and transaction management to offer a seamless, personalized experience across the entire spectrum.

“73% of shoppers use multiple channels during their customer journey and 75% of them expect a consistent experience whenever they engage with a company.”

Boundless Customization

The Commerce Cloud offers an unlimited customization opportunity. Its open architecture allows you to carry out the most specific customizations and integration without complications. Its complete set of APIs lets other web applications skillfully interact with the commerce functionality of the cloud. Moreover, the commerce cloud will be a thrill for your specialized teams since it appears with a development environment for full customization. Subsequently, deploying custom business logic across commerce channels and getting access to a widespread library of pre-existing built and certified integrations via the LINK technology partner marketplace. In other words, it’ll help them create custom brand experiences across various customer touchpoints and channels.

CRM

We’ve said it before in 5 Reasons Why Marketing Automation is Essential to SMEs. A CRM platform is a crucial cog in the machine of marketing automation. However, choosing such platform can be a tricky game. You want to focus on an innovative system that allows the integration of third-party tools to guarantee a seamless customer experience. Salesforce is a worldwide leader in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and has proclaimed innovations across its commerce cloud platform. For example, it facilitates businesses to include artificial intelligence, inventory availability services, and visual research to an entirely updated commerce experience generation.

Snap and Search with Einstein Visual Search

Salesforce’s Einstein visual search, is an AI-powered characteristic that facilitates shopping and searching of products through photographs. Users upload an image through smartphones. After that, the Einstein visual search will then help them find the product they need.

Einstein Recommendation Engine Extended Across Platforms

Suggestion engine feature enables retailers to provide the right offer at the right time and to the right customer. Namely, it increases the chances of modifications and enhances Customer Lifetime Value. According to a research report, 31% of e-commerce site revenue comes from personalized product recommendations. Additionally, Gartner reports states that its recommendation engine generates 35% of Amazon’s revenue. Not bad, huh?

Now that you know how to optimize your e-commerce platform and the first touch points with customers, let’s dive into the Salesforce Marketing Cloud Pardot for better leads, personalized experiences and more conversions.

2. Features of Salesforce Marketing Cloud Pardot

Know Your Customers with the Power of Einstein

The useful Salesforce Artificial Intelligence tool is every bit as intelligent as the person it is named after. Einstein knows who each lead is, what institution they are reaching from, and what they’re looking to find in their web behavior and profiles. In other words, Einstein makes sure you have the right data and a personalized pitch prepared for when you reach out to them. That’s not all; with Einstein bots, you can now have leads interact with bots that already know what the leads want (based on their behavior) and can reach out to them with solutions that fit their needs! And that’s crucial. According to Salesforce research, 68% of customers demand that sellers understand their personal preferences during their buyer journey.

Optimize the Conversion Process

Salesforce Einstein now prioritizes your leads. So, all you have to do is convert them into consumers. And Einstein can assist with that, too. The feature provides recommendations on a reasonable way to proceed with a specific lead. This algorithm is based on the interactions of the lead with your business. That means you can optimize the modification process with more than just your brain devoted to the task! And don’t even worry about keeping track of high-potential targets. Einstein marks each lead based on the factors that you find important. In other words, the leads you need to prioritize will always be at the top of your dashboard, and you will not miss out on any significant updates from them.

Now all that’s left is helping your customer to finalize his purchase and offer him after sales services. Here, the Salesforce Customer Portal carries the burden.

3. Salesforce Customer Portal is the Face of Your Business

User Convenience

Salesforce’s portals are created for employees, and the Salesforce partner portal makes it easier to interact directly with your business. Efficiency in terms of time and personal interactions also makes custom client portals an excellent option for aspiring businesses.

  • An easy way to create a branded portal for community management using the Lightning Community Builder.
  • The most time-consuming service tasks handed over to your self-serving portal. Let your customers book appointments, pay bills and check orders. Consequently, your service teams can prioritize important tasks.
  • Help your customers help each other. Your audience knows best what problems they have. Crowdsourcing solutions takes time off your hands, builds a customer community and helps you source new ideas that 100% fit your customers’ needs.
  • A 360-degree view on customer activity in the portal so your sales reps and service teams can assist them real-time whenever a platform won’t do the trick.

Personalized Customer Service

First, you use Salesforce Buyer Personas to define how and which customers should be prioritized. For example, you can set up different discounts and service response times. As a result, you offer a personalized approach for your audience without having to face them one-by-one.

Second, you decide how consumers leave feedback on your services. Consequently, you offer a more transparent experience for users. This then makes them feel more involved with your organization.

And third, with the Salesforce Customer Portal, you integrate order management and offer customers the flexibility to choose how and when they want you to ship their orders. Even after the order is already made. In an era where customers are looking for a VIP treatment with every purchase, these services are more than a nice gimmick. It’s the decisive factor for them to choose you over another supplier.

In short

Digital is king. B2B and B2C customers expect you to deliver a seamlessly connected buying experience throughout different channels, devices, and departments. Unifying the customer experience across all touchpoints is the only way to gain a competitive service advantage. Plus, it lets you source relevant information to fine-tune your offering. Salesforce can help you with this unification through the use of 3 essential tools:

  • The Salesforce Sales Cloud helps deliver a unified, omni-channel experience that’s personalized for each customer. Using Einstein AI, you unburden yourself from repetitive, time-consuming manual tasks. Additionally, you and let the platform work for you. From snap search to profitable suggestion tools.

  • The Salesforce Marketing Cloud helps you attract the right leads and nurture them through personalized buyer experiences. This then leads to more conversion. With AI and Einstein, your perfect customer is always on top of your dashboard and ready to be targeted.

  • The Salesforce Customer Portal helps your customers help themselves and others. Using dummy proof applications, you can offer your audience a branded, self-serving and automated portal. Here, they fix their problems, engage in communities and deliver relevant input for you to optimize your offering. Deliver personalized buyer journeys fast and without actually having to face your audience one-by-one.

A successful and cost-efficient Salesforce project

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