Demandware vs Salesforce Commerce Cloud: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will discuss the key differences between Demandware and Salesforce Commerce Cloud (formerly Demandware), two popular e-commerce platforms. These differences will help you understand their unique features and functionalities, allowing you to make an informed decision when choosing the right platform for your business needs.

1. Architecture: Demandware is built on a proprietary SaaS (Software as a Service) architecture, offering a fully managed platform. On the other hand, Salesforce Commerce Cloud leverages Heroku, a cloud application platform, for improved scalability and flexibility, providing a more customizable solution.

2. Integration with Salesforce CRM: Salesforce Commerce Cloud seamlessly integrates with Salesforce CRM, enabling businesses to unify customer data, optimize marketing campaigns, and provide personalized shopping experiences. Demandware lacks this direct integration, requiring additional effort for data synchronization between CRM and e-commerce systems.

3. Omnichannel Capabilities: Salesforce Commerce Cloud offers robust omnichannel capabilities, allowing businesses to deliver consistent customer experiences across various touchpoints like mobile, web, social media, and brick-and-mortar stores. Demandware, although having some omnichannel features, does not provide the same level of flexibility and integration.

4. B2B Commerce Capabilities: Salesforce Commerce Cloud provides extensive B2B commerce capabilities, including complex pricing, quoting, customer-specific catalogs, and account management features. Demandware, while supporting B2B functionality, may require additional customization and integration to achieve the same level of sophistication.

5. AI-Powered Personalization: With Salesforce Einstein AI capabilities, Salesforce Commerce Cloud offers advanced personalization features like product recommendations, personalized search results, and dynamic pricing optimization. Demandware lacks these AI-powered personalization capabilities out-of-the-box, requiring additional development and integration efforts.

6. Community and AppExchange: Salesforce Commerce Cloud benefits from the extensive Salesforce ecosystem, including a large community of developers and partners. This ecosystem provides access to a wide range of pre-built integrations, third-party apps, and resources that can enhance the capabilities of the platform. Demandware, although having its own community, may have limited options compared to Salesforce Commerce Cloud.

In summary, Salesforce Commerce Cloud offers a more flexible architecture, seamless integration with Salesforce CRM, comprehensive omnichannel capabilities, advanced B2B functionality, AI-powered personalization, and access to a thriving community ecosystem. Demandware, while still a powerful platform, may require additional customization and integration efforts for similar capabilities.