In today's digital era, e-commerce has become a game-changer for businesses across industries, including manufacturing. The ability to sell products and services online provides manufacturers with unprecedented opportunities for growth, scalability, and customer engagement. With the integration of tools, like Salesforce Sales Cloud with B2B (business-to-business), B2C (business-to-consumer), or D2C (direct-to-consumer) Commerce, manufacturers can harness the full power of e-commerce and accelerate business success.

How e-commerce can drive growth for manufacturing companies

E-commerce allows manufacturers to scale vertically and horizontally, expanding their reach and customer base. With Salesforce Sales Cloud, manufacturers can easily create and manage their online store, showcasing their products and services to a global audience. B2B and B2C Commerce provide robust functionality, such as product catalog management, pricing and quoting, order management, and integration with back-end systems, enabling manufacturers to efficiently manage their online sales operations. The integration of your commerce solution is crucial to not interrupt the business processes of other departments. The commerce solutions offered give you three great approaches:

• You can build a low- to no-code commerce store directly on Salesforce;
• You can have a hybrid store, which utilizes some headless features coupled with other pre-built components; or
• You can go fully headless using a business process application programming interface (API). This gives you the power to extend and develop your commerce store without needing do anything in your back-end systems to support it.

Examining buying trends through e-commerce data

E-commerce provides valuable insights for manufacturing companies related to their customer's buying trends, which helps make data-driven decisions. With Salesforce Sales Cloud specifically, manufacturers can access robust analytics and reporting capabilities. This information enables them to track customer behavior, preferences, and purchase patterns. It can then be used to optimize product offerings, pricing, and marketing strategies, ensuring companies stay ahead of the competition.

Using e-commerce data understand customers and enhance marketing campaigns

E-commerce enables manufacturers to gather rich customer data, leading to a better understanding of their target audience. Salesforce Sales Cloud with B2B or B2C Commerce provides manufacturers with a comprehensive customer data platform. The platform allows them to capture, analyze, and leverage customer data for personalized marketing campaigns, customer segmentation, and targeted promotions. As a result, this leads to improved customer engagement and loyalty, driving repeat purchases and brand advocacy.

Additionally, e-commerce for manufacturing companies provides a powerful platform to market their products and services. Salesforce Sales Cloud allows manufacturers to leverage customer data from their e-commerce platform. With this, companies can create personalized marketing campaigns, tailored to the individual customer preferences and behaviors that they have uncovered. Manufacturers can further leverage the comprehensive customer data platform by integrating Salesforce Marketing Cloud. This tool provides the ability to automate marketing campaigns, send targeted emails, and deliver personalized content, resulting in higher engagement, conversion rates, and return on investment (ROI).

One of the key advantages of Salesforce Sales Cloud with B2B, B2C, or D2C Commerce is its ability to support all different business models and industries. Manufacturers, in particular, can easily configure their online store to cater to the unique requirements of B2B customers. These convenient features allow for custom pricing, personalization, and the ability to remain on the same platform even if future goals require moving towards a D2C model. This, again, enables businesses to focus on vertical and horizontal growth to achieve their strategic vision.

Citrin Cooperman's Digital Services Practice is experienced in implementing tools that add value and support e-commerce for manufacturing companies. For more information on how e-commerce technology can support your business objectives and reach your goals, reach out to your Citrin Cooperman advisor or Chris Hunter at chhunter@citrincooperman.com.