How Salesforce is failing $1B+ brands

“I think there's a big gap between what Marc Benioff talks about...But the actual on the ground implementation is often lacking...”

LEADER AT
SYSCO

The $8B informatica acquisition could be a step in the right direction, but it likely won’t solve the core issues big brands are having with the platform–including lack of innovation, challenges with customization & integrations, and features and functionality that don’t justify the high price.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud has the loudest critics

Even the biggest retailers are willing to rip out of Salesforce Commerce Cloud. We’ve heard complaints that the customization process is slow and “painful” and developer intervention is frequent. The promotions engine, and product recommendations have been called sub-part, and frustration is mounting on how slowly Salesforce Commerce Cloud rolls out new features.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s Ferrari problem

Marketers complain that the platform is complex and “clunky.” Integrations have been called out as an issue–even within the Salesforce ecosystem.

Many brands feel like they aren’t using enough features and functionality to justify the price, and note that any issues are expensive to fix. More than one marketers has called it a “Ferrari problem.” While it has high performance potential, it’s finicky and pricey to keep up.

The Salesforce slip is being felt across industries:

“We have a very large catalog, and they don't offer like an out-of-the-box solution to help make the catalog smaller or easier to manage. If we're trying to export data, we're exporting more than a million rows, and then we have to move into a different system.”

LEADER AT
UNDER ARMOUR

“Custom integrations have been very difficult with us to even get the right people on calls with us to talk about some of those advanced use cases.”

LEADER AT
TORY BURCH

“The need for extensive manual coding makes the platform cumbersome. We lack access to advanced features like drag-and-drop interfaces. The cost associated with Salesforce support deters us from resolving issues. Its limited integration with current tech makes improvements difficult.”

LEADER AT
MAX MARA