Automotive Cloud: How Salesforce is Driving Automakers (& Car Owners) to Success

Posted on January 26, 2023  (Last modified on December 10, 2024) • 4 min read • 700 words

On January 3rd, 2023, Salesforce unveiled some new & exciting Commerce Cloud solutions. Automotive Cloud, which will be available…

Kurt Russell in the Cult Comedy “Used Cars” — Directed by Robert Zemeckis (1980)

On January 3rd, 2023, Salesforce unveiled some new & exciting Commerce Cloud solutions. Automotive Cloud, which will be available this Spring, will add additional horsepower for both automakers & dealers to reimagine online sales. Automotive Cloud made its official debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, NV demonstrating how Salesforce is positioned for Automotive Cloud to turbocharge a new strategies of car buying, driving, & servicing. A formal product release demo was exhibited at the Amazon Web Services (AWS) booth.

It’s worth noting that nearly 75% of all customer interactions during the car-buying process now take place in digital channels and 88% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products or services. In fact, 93% of auto industry leaders agree first-party data will help substantially improve the customer purchasing experience overall.

The Vehicle Console Dashboard Gives a 360-Degree View Including Client Maintenance & Repair Timetable.

With Automotive Cloud, automakers can deliver 360-degree view, in-car experiences powered by real-time personalization. By bridging together car and driver data to direct experiences across marketing, sales, commerce, & service (at proper scale) automakers can create uniquely connected experiences with Salesforce. Additionally, with Salesforce Genie Customer Data Cloud, automotive companies can unify their customer and vehicle data across all channels and interactions, such as customer inquiries, service requests, and vehicle data into a single, real-time profile for every customer.

**Redefining the Overall Car Buying Experience:**According to Salesforce’s Trends in Automotive Report, just 26% of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and 23% of retailers believe their companies have adapted successfully to online sales. Less than one in five auto companies believe their digital storefronts are engaging, mobile-friendly, & provide accurate inventory data. With Automotive Cloud in tandem with Commerce Cloud, automotive companies can reimagine the digital car buying experience by taking advantage of the following metrics in the product suite:

1. **Taking Digital Car Buying to New Heights:**Automotive Cloud builds engaging and immersive AI-powered experiences for both shoppers & dealers. Additionally, Commerce Cloud will leverage new merchandising tools to grow website traffic, assist customers find dealership locations, as well as upgrading a customizable parts & product search. Internationally, these settings can also be built across 80+ languages and currencies.

Commerce Cloud’s Dashboard Offerings Provides Both B2C & B2B Shoppers With Customizable Insights

**2. Improving fulfillment and Order Servicing:**Routing & delivering cross connected omni-channel experiences in commerce, marketing, & service. Order Management divisions enable customer service agents the ability to customize ordering parts for the benefit of the customer as well.

**3. Extending Commerce Options:**Automotive companies can now enable customers to visually customize their vehicle’s model, color, trim, wheels, parts, and more with interactive 3D, virtual photography, and augmented reality (AR).

**4. Driver 360:**Driver 360 provides out-of-the-box solutions built with industry-specific data models & processes for automakers to supercharge speed-to-value towards the customer:

• **Driver Console:**Allows dealer customer service teams with a detailed view of all customer interaction through subsequent touch points and timed alerts — Everything from dealer browsing and purchase history to repair records. Take Household Management, for example, car companies can bridge together respective data to paint a holistic picture of a homeowner’s car ownership & prior communication. This feature allows dealers to customize offers & sales.

• **Vehicle Console:**Gives an end-user at an automaker, dealer or finance group direct access to comprehensive vehicle information — such as odometer readings, vehicle market value & up to date service information.

**5. Flow for Automotive:**Allows transparency with automation with click-based configuration & integration tools to simplify the build delivery of branded and automated experiences. This includes metrics such as vehicle order updates & shipment delay notifications to help team members improve efficiency with fewer resources.

Remember: Automotive Cloud Prevents Dealers From Cheaply “Baiting” For New Customers (Used Cars, 1980.)

6. Analytics for Automotive: Allows car companies insights to monitor & improve their business processes. It’s equipped with customizable dashboards which provide a deep-dive overview of sales & business performance, customer lifecycles, & revenue to deliver quicker & exceptional business reporting.

And of course, stay tuned here for further updates regarding this extremely exciting platform in Commerce Cloud.