As an existing Salesforce customer, C.F. Martin was utilizing Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and B2C Commerce.
Their B2C site provides a commercial solution for consumers to purchase C.F. Martin promotional apparel and accessories, as well as select guitar parts and accessories. However, the site only accounts for a small percent of their business. A majority of their sales – including all guitars, ukuleles, strings, and custom products – are sold through a complex network of dealers encompassing single-location, multi-location, and franchise stores across the country. While users can browse instrument images and product information on the B2C site, any attempt to purchase directs them to a page that helps them locate their nearest C.F. Martin-authorized dealer.
Trifecta implemented B2B Commerce Cloud and Experience Cloud to create a commerce site for use by C.F. Martin’s network of authorized dealers.
The site is not publicly facing; users must be logged in as a registered dealer to access any product information. Its purpose is to allow dealers to place orders without needing to call or fax them in, and to expose important order information to the dealers to negate the need to place service calls. Dealer accounts include two defined personas: store associates and buyers. Store associates have the ability to browse products and inventory. Buyers, which typically only account for 1-2 people at the store level, can see account pricing and can add items to the cart to build and place an order.
When designing the dealer interface of the B2B storefront, C.F. Martin made the conscious decision to keep product information basic and streamlined. This decision was based on two primary factors:
- Martin’s existing B2C storefront already contained robust product information including pictures, videos, and full product specifications. They did not want their staff to have to maintain and update this information in two places.
- Authorized dealers are already very knowledgeable about the Martin products and likely don’t need access to the specifications. In addition, dealers don’t need to be “persuaded” to buy in the same way a consumer would. Dealers coming to the B2B site are ready to buy and simply needed the functionality to do so.
B2B Commerce Portal
Through Trifecta's solution, dealers viewing order history can see the order date, status, and cost of each line item of each order - regardless of when or how it was placed in the past. This helps them in easily identifying and tracking important order updates.
C.F. Martin’s new B2B eCommerce solution launched in March 2022 to a very limited number of dealers as part of a larger, strategic roll-out plan.
Martin plans to slowly roll out the B2B site to their dealers with the initial goals of increased dealer adoption and increased dealer satisfaction through this self-service option. By successfully training and encouraging dealers to utilize the site, Martin’s secondary goal is to streamline their internal operations through increased availability of their sales and service teams; instead of fielding dealer calls, they will be able to focus on more strategic initiatives.
