When a new Salesforce Cloud is released, we immediately strategize how Bluewolf can help our existing and future customers use the new technology to transform and improve their businesses. With Salesforce’s acquisition of Demandware, they are gaining the ability to manage the actual point of purchase in eCommerce sales. In the field of eCommerce, Demandware’s technology is well-valued and now Salesforce plans to make this technology accessible to their customers with their new “Commerce Cloud.” This will be a large expansion of Salesforce’s capabilities, so I sat down with Steve Faris, our Chief Platform Officer, to discuss what this big move means for Bluewolf’s current and future clients.

K: What kind of growth have you seen in eCommerce over the past several years?

S: The growth is massive. The potential scope of eCommerce is global, and touches every buyer, every product and service, every transaction, everywhere. Think about it: all of the effort that a company puts into marketing, selling, customer support, building customer and partner communities, analyzing data, etc. comes down to making a sale. The acquisition of Demandware provides Salesforce with the ability to optimize the customer journey throughout this entire process.



K: What indicators do you see about the continued growth of eCommerce?

S: 40% of worldwide internet users bought products or goods online via desktop, mobile, tablet or other online devices so far this year. This amounts to more than one billion online buyers and is projected to grow further. By 2018, the size of the Global B2C (Business to Consumer) eCommerce market will reach nearly $2.5T USD (Statista). Given the size and trajectory of the market, growth will be rapid for years to come. In hindsight, the potential value to Salesforce of owning this “end to end” capability and integrating it with their other Cloud applications is obvious.



K: Why was the Demandware acquisition a smart decision for Salesforce’s platform?

S: Salesforce needed to “close the loop” from Campaign to Commerce. Previously marketing and customer relationship management was possible in Salesforce, but the actual transaction (if fulfilled through an eCommerce platform) had to be performed in a different system. In order to provide a complete, seamless customer experience, where all transaction steps are automated, an eCommerce capability was needed. Demandware provides that. An added benefit is that, in addition to picking up a market-leading technology player, Salesforce acquired Demandware’s existing customers and can now turn them into end-to-end Salesforce Cloud users.



K: What is the benefit of having a single platform that can handle each part of the buying process versus a separate CRM and eCommerce solution?

S: Historically, asking customers to shoulder the work of integrating their Salesforce Clouds with an enterprise-scale eCommerce solution meant significant effort and complexity for the customer. The resources, costs, and risks associated with this effort would make it difficult for all but the largest, most resource-laden companies to contemplate such an effort. With this acquisition, Salesforce has signaled to all of their customers that they will shoulder this burden. Salesforce will gradually integrate Demandware with the Force.com platform and the capabilities of its Marketing, Sales, Service, Communities, Analytics, and App Clouds. This will make the technology far more accessible and consumable by a wide range of customers. Salesforce will be effectively “democratizing” these eCommerce capabilities and making them far easier for smaller organizations to adopt.



K: Why is Bluewolf excited about this?

S: Now all of the clouds you need to run your business will be built on a single, scalable platform that can also run on mobile. Demandware’s integration will bring Salesforce closer than ever before to being a one-stop-shop for solutions to running your business, regardless of the type of business. We believe Demandware will “elevate” the Salesforce and Force.com platforms to first-tier status for the entire customer lifecycle.



K: What should companies be doing or thinking about in order to prepare for the integration of Demandware so they are ready to take full advantage of it?

S: A lot depends upon the investments that companies have already made in Salesforce and in existing eCommerce platforms:

• Companies who have standardized on Salesforce for CRM, but do not have an eCommerce platform standard, now have the option of adding Demandware / Commerce Cloud to realize their end-to-end Customer Journey (Campaign to Commerce) ambitions.  Customers should evaluate the current capabilities of Demandware, and pay close attention to the integrated product roadmap that Salesforce will be releasing.
• Companies who have standardized on Demandware, but continue to lack core CRM automation, or rely on legacy Sales, Service, and Marketing solutions, have an opportunity to transition to a world-class, single-vendor, integrated-platform solution from Salesforce. Vendors like Bluewolf stand ready to help customers implement CRM for the first time – or transition from legacy solutions to Salesforce.
• Customers who have neither Salesforce nor Demandware should consider the advantages of the combination. Through integration and seamless information access, this new platform will uniquely address requirements for velocity and agility in today’s digital marketplace.

Regardless of your industry, every company should have a plan for capitalizing on the growth of eCommerce. If there’s one constant theme you can expect to hear going forward, it’s that customers of every type, in every industry, are clamoring for easier ways to shop, evaluate, select, transact, and pay.

Leverage our expertise in both Salesforce and Demandware to give your business a competitive advantage. Talk to us today.