Salesforce Sweeps Order Management Awards

The year 2020 was one of extraordinary change and digital adaptation. Particularly for brands and retailers who’ve had to swap their store-first strategy for an ecommerce-most-of-the-time strategy.

It has accelerated the innovative qualities of companies looking to get an edge in uncertain times – or at the very least enacted big change out of the necessity to survive – and match the shifting shopping behaviors of consumers.

Part of this bundle of innovative parts of business is order management system solutions that have confronted unprecedented challenges. And with this in mind, the tech juggernaut IBM recently decided to throw a virtual party and give out awards specifically for OMSs.

More specifically, awards for 2020 Innovation in Order Management. And one of the tech platforms that came out on top is Salesforce Commerce Cloud, the ecommerce platform of choice for those serious, big-name, big-volume brands that need SFCC’s complex functionality to help manage their complexity – which is inherent in pretty much all big companies, due to the necessity of dealing in multiple languages and currencies, eclectic customer groups, and complicated legal and jurisdictional environments.

And so. With that in mind. Let’s look at the SFCC winners. Drum roll please…

And the winner… for IBM’s Community Leader Award… goes to… JOANN.

As the virus spread across the country, the arts and crafts giant, JOANN (also known as Jo-Ann Stores, despite my persistence in pronouncing it “Joan”) had to close around 50% of its stores… despite, at the same time, demand for such products surging 200%, as we were faced with – among other anxiety-ridden issues – stark boredom, with many taking up artistic and artisanal projects.

Not only that, but JOANN was also in the position of having stock that could be put to use in the fight against covid. It soon realized that their customers were buying materials to make masks and personal protective equipment. In response, JOANN launched its Make to Give campaign to encourage its wider community to make masks at home.

And now… the winner of IBM’s Real-Time Inventory Insights Award… goes to… Party City.

Party City may not be a household name, but it is the largest retailer of party goods not only in the US but also to the north in Canada and the south in Mexico. Yet the pandemic has – among more important things – been a proper party pooper, with gatherings heavily restricted. Yet with the digital strength of ecommerce platform Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Party City worked at driving up their ecommerce sales by 36% in the third quarter, largely thanks to adding more delivery options that have been very popular like curbside pickup and buy online pick up in-store.

Not only that, Party City launched a self-checkout system on their mobile app, which gives their customers an improved online shopping experience by allowing them to make their order and pick it up without the need to make contact with any store assistant. And with omnichannel functionality in place, customer conversions spiked 75% than 2019.

And lastly, the winner… for IBM’s Artificial Intelligence Award… goes to… Adidas (sorry Puma)

You can’t have too many smarts fixed to your business operations. And one such brand who built better intelligence was Adidas, who managed to increase their cost-to-serve numbers. Allowing Adidas to provide faster service by converting their current closed stores into fully workable distribution centers, they combined this with digital store availability that allowed them to show online product availability from their retail inventory.

Now that’s smart, and was possible thanks to Salesforce Commerce Cloud, which helped Adidas cut down their shipping costs, better fulfillment capabilities, and boost overall sales.

So there you have it. Some honorable tech awards handed out by a tech giant in which Salesforce Commerce Cloud really stole the show.

PS: ArganoUV is one of the world’s leading Salesforce Commerce Cloud (Demandware) development & strategy teams. Contact us to see how we can work together.