B2B buying isn’t what it used to be. It’s not about handshakes and paper catalogs anymore. These days, business buyers are researching online, comparing prices, and expecting the same slick experience they get when ordering from Amazon.
That’s why the B2B ecommerce market is expected to reach a value of $47.54 trillion by 2030. People want more convenience. But sales cycles are also getting longer, and more complex. Buyers are doing more self-research, and expectations are rising faster than most companies can keep up. Manual quotes, clunky portals, and six-step checkouts drive customers away.
That’s where Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud steps in. A platform built for modern B2B complexity but designed with the simplicity and speed of consumer tech. It’s flexible, it’s AI-driven, and it’s built to scale with your business.
Thinking about digitizing your sales process or replacing that Frankenstein tech stack you’ve outgrown? You might want to consider Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud consulting before your competitors beat you to it.
What Is Salesforce Commerce Cloud?
What if your sales, marketing, customer service team, and online storefront were all really connected? That’s what Salesforce Commerce Cloud offers. Originally known for its B2C muscle, this platform has evolved into a full-blown commerce powerhouse, offering tailored solutions for both business-to-consumer and business-to-business use cases.
At its core, it’s all about delivering connected digital experiences. But here’s what makes it special:
- It’s fully integrated with Salesforce CRM, which means you can track every interaction, from cold lead to repeat buyer, without stitching together ten different tools.
- It’s AI-first, meaning it learns as it goes, serving smarter product recommendations, predicting churn, and even nudging buyers with the right promotion at the right time.
- And it’s headless (in a good way). You can build custom storefronts, plug into social commerce, or launch mobile-first experiences, all without rewriting the backend every time.
Want to launch a new channel fast? Need your sales team and fulfillment center to stay in sync without emailing spreadsheets at midnight? Salesforce Commerce Cloud is ready.
B2B vs. B2C: Two Worlds, One Engine
You’ve got two flavors of Salesforce Commerce Cloud: B2B and B2C. Same base technology, totally different audiences.
B2C Commerce Cloud
This is designed for companies that sell direct to customers. That means it’s great at driving impulse buys, helping teams create sleek product pages, and launching flash sales.
It’s built for:
- Beautiful visual design
- Simplified checkout (Apple Pay, PayPal, all the bells and whistles)
- Instagram-driven promotions
- AI that nudges shoppers with “You might also like…”
B2B Commerce Cloud
Built for B2B sellers, this cloud comes with some unique components for things like purchase orders, negotiated contracts, complex SKUs. In B2B, the buying journey is longer, way more complex, and often involves multiple decision-makers.
That’s why B2B Commerce Cloud includes:
- Custom catalogs per account
- Tiered pricing, entitlements, and bulk order tools
- Reorder automation for high-frequency purchases
- Sales team integration (quotes, approvals, even Slack-based ordering)
Don’t forget the AI. B2B buyers get personalized pricing suggestions, restock reminders, and one-click reorders, all powered by Salesforce’s Agentforce AI tools.
How B2B Commerce Cloud Tackles Real Pain Points
Selling to other businesses isn’t exactly straightforward. If you’ve done it for any length of time, you know how messy it can be. Customers want different pricing, some order in bulk, others want custom delivery schedules, and pretty much everyone expects things to just work. But most eCommerce platforms weren’t built with that in mind. They’re great for consumers, not so great for companies trying to manage long-term, high-volume relationships.
That’s where Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud comes in. It’s just designed to handle all the weird and frustrating parts of B2B sales that most systems ignore. Buyers can log into their own account, see exactly what they’re allowed to order, what prices they’ve negotiated, and reorder without having to send a single email.
And it’s not just nicer for the customer. Your team benefits too. You don’t have to babysit every order or fix things that slipped through the cracks. The system keeps track of everything. Orders are more accurate, inventory stays in sync, and your sales reps get to spend their time doing actual sales, not chasing down paperwork.
A lot of platforms talk about making things easier. This one actually does. And if you’ve ever lost time or trust because something slipped through the cracks, you’ll feel the difference.
The Benefits of Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud
Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud isn’t just some plug-in or storefront builder. It’s a full platform that helps businesses sell smarter, work faster, and deliver the kind of digital buying experience customers actually want. If you’ve ever had to manage custom pricing, bulk orders, or dozens of different buyer accounts, you’ll get why this matters.
A Better Buying Experience
Customers don’t want to call someone every time they need to place an order. They want to log in, see exactly what’s available to them, and get it done. With Salesforce, each buyer gets their own space, with pricing, catalogs, and inventory that’s tailored to them. If they need to reorder something, they can do it in seconds, without calling anyone.
Smarter Sales Tools That Actually Help
The platform’s built-in AI, called Agentforce, does a lot of the heavy lifting. You don’t need to code anything to make changes. Teams can set up storefronts, update pricing, or roll out new promotions without bothering a developer. The AI also helps suggest products, follow up with customers when items are back in stock, and adjust offers based on how people are actually buying. That kind of real-time support makes selling a lot easier, and more effective.
Business managers often learn from this Salesforce revenue cloud consultant how to fine-tune their setup for maximum sales efficiency. With expert guidance, they can leverage AI-driven insights to better meet customer needs and increase conversions.
Fewer Moving Parts, More Time Back
If your team is stuck managing orders by hand, chasing down inventory updates, or switching between disconnected tools, this platform helps clean all that up. It automates the repetitive stuff, connects with your other Salesforce tools, and keeps everything in one place. That means fewer mistakes, faster service, and a team that can finally focus on more important work.
Freedom to Build Your Own Experience
Not every customer shops in the same way. Some might use your site, others might buy through an app or even message through Slack. With Salesforce’s headless setup, you can create different front ends depending on how your customers prefer to buy. It’s flexible without making things more complicated behind the scenes.
Built to Grow with You
If you’re expanding into new markets or regions, this platform is ready. You can manage different storefronts in different countries from one dashboard. You can switch languages, currencies, and even tailor offers for specific markets without starting from scratch. And because it’s built on reliable infrastructure, you won’t be losing sleep over downtime or compliance issues.
Should You Implement Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud?
If you’re selling to other businesses and dealing with any kind of complexity: bulk orders, contract pricing, multiple buyer roles, or recurring purchases, Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud is likely a good fit.
Think about how you’re selling today. Are your reps stuck building quotes manually? Are your buyers calling or emailing for repeat orders they could be placing themselves? Are operations slowed down by disconnected tools and inconsistent data?
If any of that sounds familiar, B2B Commerce Cloud can change the game.
It’s especially valuable for manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors who manage thousands of SKUs and serve clients across different tiers, regions, or industries. But it’s just as effective for software providers or service businesses looking to digitize renewals, upgrades, or product configurations. The platform’s flexibility means it can support a wide range of models, including those navigating hybrid B2B2C ecosystems.
Of course, like any serious enterprise tool, implementation requires planning. It’s not a plug-and-play situation. The power of the platform comes from its ability to reflect your actual business logic, sales structure, and customer needs.
That’s why many companies choose to work with certified Salesforce partners like Routine Automation. The right partner helps you configure the platform to match your exact use cases, streamline your data flows, and launch with speed and confidence.
The Implementation Process: Building a Commerce Experience
Getting Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud up and running isn’t something you rush. It’s not just a tool you install, it’s more like setting up the foundation for how your business will sell online from here on out. The good news? It’s flexible and can be molded to fit how you already work. But like anything that matters, it needs a solid plan.
Here’s how it usually plays out:
1. Start with discovery
Before anything’s built, you take a close look at how your sales process works, who your buyers are, and what needs to happen at each step of the journey. This is also where you figure out which systems (your CRM, your ERP) need to be connected to the new setup.
2. Build what your buyers need
Once the plan’s clear, the storefront starts coming together. Salesforce makes it easier with tools that let you customize the buying experience without having to write code. You can create different product catalogs, adjust pricing by customer, and make sure each user sees what’s relevant to them.
3. Make it all talk to each other
Your storefront doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It needs to talk to your other systems so that orders flow properly, inventory updates in real time, and support teams can jump in if needed. Make sure everything is fully integrated.
4. Test before you go live
Before you go live, run everything through a few real-world scenarios. Make sure people can log in, place orders, and get accurate info. This step is easy to gloss over, but skipping it usually means cleaning up bigger problems later.
5. Launch and keep improving
Once it’s running, keep an eye on what’s working and what’s not. With built-in analytics and AI tools, you can adjust things over time and fine-tune how people buy.
Getting help from a team like Routine Automation can make this whole process a lot smoother. They’ve been through it before and know how to shape the system to fit what your business actually needs.
Is Your B2B Sales Strategy Ready for What’s Next?
B2B buyers expect a lot more than they used to. They want things to be quick, clear, and convenient, but still expect custom pricing, contracts, and the ability to ship to multiple locations. The bar has been raised, and businesses are expected to keep up.
Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud is designed for exactly this change. It lets you build a buying experience that feels personal and flexible, without making things harder for your team behind the scenes. Whether you’re selling industrial equipment, software, or subscription services, it helps bring order to what can otherwise be a messy process.
Setting it up the right way takes time, though, and that’s where working with an integration team can really make a difference. They’ll help you build something that actually fits your business, instead of forcing you into a mold.
If you’ve been looking for a better way to run your sales process, and make life easier for your customers while you’re at it, this might be the right time to take a closer look.