Commerce Cloud powers e-commerce. B2C Commerce and B2B Commerce are different products with different architectures.
B2C Commerce (formerly Demandware):
- Cartridge architecture — modular extensions in JavaScript.
- OCAPI / SCAPI — REST APIs for headless commerce.
- Storefront Reference Architecture (SFRA) — modern reference template.
- Page Designer — composable page authoring.
- Einstein Commerce features — recommendations, search, sort.
B2B Commerce (formerly CloudCraze):
- Built on Lightning Platform — Salesforce-native.
- Custom objects for products, prices, orders.
- B2B features — account-specific catalogs, contract pricing, role-based experiences.
- CPQ integration — for complex quoting.
Architecture decisions:
1. B2C vs B2B vs hybrid.
- Pure B2C: Commerce Cloud B2C.
- Pure B2B: B2B Commerce or custom on Sales Cloud.
- Hybrid: separate platforms typically.
2. Headless vs headed.
- Headless — UI separate from commerce platform; commerce serves data via API.
- Headed — Commerce platform serves the UI.
- Headless gives more UX flexibility; more dev work.
3. Integration with rest of Salesforce.
- Commerce data syncs to Sales Cloud / Service Cloud.
- Customer 360 view across operations and commerce.
4. ERP / fulfilment integration.
- Commerce -> Order placed -> ERP for fulfilment.
- Inventory check from ERP during shopping.
5. Marketing integration.
- Marketing Cloud Engagement for journeys.
- Personalisation based on commerce data.
Architecture artefacts:
- Storefront architecture (themes, cartridges, page templates).
- API integration map.
- Data model (Products, Categories, Orders).
- Customer data flow (commerce -> CRM).
Common pitfalls:
- Choosing wrong product — B2C for B2B use case (or vice versa).
- Cartridge sprawl — extending B2C with too many custom cartridges.
- Performance — commerce performance is everything for conversion.
- Inventory sync delays — customers ordering out-of-stock.
Senior architect insight: Commerce Cloud is its own discipline. Architects need Commerce-specific knowledge beyond core Salesforce expertise.
For non-Commerce-focused orgs needing simple commerce: alternatives like Shopify integrated with Salesforce often easier.
The senior framing: Commerce architecture differs significantly from CRM architecture. Don't apply CRM patterns blindly.