Once you’ve chosen Salesforce Commerce Cloud (SFCC), you’ll want to customize your ecommerce store to meet your unique business needs. And this is why Salesforce offers its AppExchange marketplace. As part of the “partner ecosystem,” Salesforce works with independent software vendors and developers to offer more than 5,000 ready-to-install and thoroughly vetted applications. All available apps are compatible with all Salesforce products, including SFCC.
Advantages of AppExchange
This robust library of apps is available to be customized based on your business needs, for a storefront that delivers what your customers are looking for.
AppExchange provides the following advantages to help you soup up your shopping experience and better-connect with your customers:
- Add endless functionality. You can choose from an impressive list of capabilities, for everything from CMS, to fraud and security, to ratings and reviews, to loyalty and gifting.
- Work within your budget. You can add as few or as many apps as you like (though you do have a custom tab and object limit). Salesforce also offers some free solutions.
- Go mobile. Hundreds of app selections are mobile-ready, and many AppExchange partners offer mobile solutions.
- Get support. Salesforce offers access to a rich community of consultants to provide expertise, technical skills, and guidance around its apps.
See Also: Salesforce Commerce Cloud Review
Top AppExchange choices
Sifting through pages of apps can seem… overwhelming, to say the least! Luckily, Salesforce provides guidance to help you find the best choices for your business. AppExchange offers collections, grouped by industry or product, and a series of App Guides if you have trouble choosing. You can also get suggestions through Recommended for You solutions.
The following are possible choices through AppExchange:
Address verification with Experian Data Quality. Let’s say a customer buys a product but enters the wrong address into the system. The next step is a returned package, which you’ll need to re-send. This can lead to late deliveries and unsatisfied customers. To avoid these hassles, you can install the Experian app, which verifies address accuracy for new and returning customers.
Harness the power of pictures with Cloudinary. A picture is worth a thousand words, and video is worth even more than that. So much, in fact, that embedded video drives up your Google ranking. A visual experience helps you engage shoppers and showcase your products through images, catalogs and videos. And Cloudinary enables a more visual website.
Establish relationship commerce with OrderGroove. Once a consumer has shopped with you, how can you encourage future purchases? Features such as product subscriptions and predictive reordering allow you to stay top-of-mind with consumers, win additional sales and build customer loyalty. Let OrderGroove show you how!
Enable mobile viewing with GPShopper. OF COURSE your store should be mobile-friendly. GPShopper is one among many apps that allow you to optimize your ecommerce store for viewing for IOS or Android. It’s a scalable and secure award-winning solution that offers push notifications, mobile payments and loyalty programs.
Collect payments securely with PayPal. One of the most tried-and-true payment methods, PayPal helps you accept payments that give your customers peace of mind their information is secure. Beyond name recognition, the PayPal platform (including Venmo, Braintree and Xoom) enables payment in more than 100 currencies.
Build your reputation with Verified Reviews. People read online reviews when they shop, and their purchasing decisions are heavily based on the feedback of others. To tap into this resource, you can gain the marketing advantage of personal recommendations by asking your shoppers to review your products and services using Verified Reviews.
Manage tax with Avalara. If Live Free or Die isn’t your state motto, it’s time to collect sales and use taxes. To stay in compliance with all state and federal regulations, just use an app—you’ll thank yourself come tax season.
Not sure it’s the right app? Test to be sure
If you’re on the fence about a particular app, Salesforce allows a “try before you buy” option. You can test out an app’s performance in the Salesforce Sandbox to ensure it works right for your site. If not, you can browse thousands of apps in AppExchange and chat with consultants to find just the right capabilities for your ecommerce site.
Get just the ecommerce staff you need
To make the most of your Salesforce Commerce Cloud platform, it helps to work with staff who understand the ins and outs and can maximize site performance. If you’re not quite an expert and don’t have time to learn the ropes, it helps to work with experienced SFCC developers, designers, project managers and more. And Jarvis Cole’s team of Salesforce Commerce Cloud recruiters can help. We’re extensively familiar with the needs of the ecommerce industry, and we’ll work with you to understand your staffing requirements. From candidate selection to placement, our end-to-end staffing solutions give your business what it needs to meet short- and long-term goals. To learn more, contact us today!