Why Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Why Now?

For the first fifteen years of my career, I doubled down on the Open-Source Drupal CMS. The platform offered a smart and flexible approach to functional enhancements through its module and hook system (more on that later!). We often used Drupal not just as a CMS, but as a framework—leveraging its built-in tools for permissions, users, and content management to build highly customized solutions.

During this time, I wasn’t just building web platforms—I was building a company. Starting in my basement, I collaborated with both corporations and larger agencies to solve complex business problems using web-based technologies. Over time, I grew a team and eventually achieved an exit through acquisition.

While our expertise spanned a variety of web applications, we developed a strong focus on e-commerce solutions. These included bilingual and multi-currency platforms, as well as deeply customized systems for national retailers with online and physical storefronts. Our e-commerce work often extended beyond the storefront, enabling features like pre-orders, in-store pickup, ship-to-store, product availability by location, and expected arrival times for orders. High-uptime websites were critical, especially during peak periods like Black Friday and other holiday sales, where sites needed to handle large bursts in traffic without disruption. These events required meticulous planning to ensure seamless customer experiences and prevent operational bottlenecks. We also built deep integrations into business systems like CRMs, ERPs, and retail management tools to ensure the websites complemented and enhanced broader operations without disrupting budgets or workflows.

Additionally, we worked closely with marketing teams to create behavior-aware targeting solutions by integrating platforms that leveraged customer data for smarter, more contextual engagement.

Our go-to tool throughout this journey remained Drupal. If a client needed functionality, we could extend Drupal to deliver. Its hook system was (and still is) brilliant. At every step of a customer’s journey, the system would effectively “announce” actions: “Hey, someone’s logging in—any custom functionality you’d like to add to the mix?”; “An item is being added to a cart—do you need to do anything?”; and the list goes on. The depths to which we extended Drupal weren’t always pretty, but they were always achievable without breaking or hacking the core system.

As we grew, our clients grew with us. Starting with regional partnerships, we expanded to serve national clients across the United States and Canada. We excelled at offering tailored solutions, high-touch client experiences, and direct access to top talent. Beyond e-commerce, we also delivered complex web-based applications and SaaS solutions for tech startups, rarely taking on simple “brochure” websites.

Over time, a gap began to appear in our service offering. This was a personal frustration, as I knew we could be a stronger partner if we were involved from the beginning—helping clients design and align their entire business ecosystem—rather than simply bolting on a solution at the end. Many of the backend systems we needed to integrate with were closed, outdated, and lacked modern APIs. This made achieving seamless integration and alignment across the customer experience frustratingly complex—and often fragile. The highly custom nature of these integrations meant that any change to one system could trigger a cascade of additional work to ensure the entire ecosystem continued to function cohesively. Additionally, many of the popular, single-purpose solutions for improving customer experience required deep, custom integrations to unlock their full potential and remain aligned with the client’s overall brand and operational strategy.

I realized I wanted more: a seat at the table during strategic planning and decisions—helping clients align their entire business ecosystem in an efficient and thoughtful way, not just their web presence.

A Shift in Perspective: Working Client-Side

For two years, I stepped away from software and joined a legal firm as their Chief Operating Officer. This firm was ahead of its peers—paperless, API-driven, and powered by one of the top SaaS platforms for legal services.

Even in this role, my developer instincts stayed sharp. I pulled data through APIs, fed it into a custom-built (yes, Drupal-based!) reporting platform. This enabled forecasting and operational insights to predict revenues for the next three years, determine customer acquisition needs to support future revenue targets, and provide valuable KPI reports for company stakeholders.

But more importantly, this role gave me a new perspective. I gained insight into change management, the delicate balance between growth priorities and day-to-day operations, and the value of end-to-end platforms that manage the entire customer journey.

What initially felt like a departure from my tech roots turned out to be the missing puzzle piece in my professional journey.

The Opportunity Ahead

So, why does any of this matter? When CloudKettle approached me to lead and grow their Salesforce Commerce Cloud practice, I was intrigued. I was happy where I was, but the opportunity felt too aligned with my values and aspirations to pass up.

The Salesforce Ecosystem Advantage

Salesforce isn’t just software—it’s an ecosystem. It’s enterprise-grade, deeply flexible, and constantly evolving to meet the needs of both businesses and end customers.

In Drupal, we had flexibility but lacked seamless access to backend systems. With SaaS competitors like Shopify, businesses have simplicity but lack enterprise-level capabilities. Shopify excels at getting businesses online quickly and efficiently, but it often falls short in a few key areas.

  • Scalability: Shopify scales well for smaller businesses but can face architectural limitations in complex, high-volume enterprise scenarios
  • Customization: Beyond surface-level adjustments, true enterprise-grade customization often requires complex workarounds
  • Native Integrations: Shopify relies heavily on third-party apps, which can create fragmentation and inconsistency in the overall tech stack
  • Data Depth: Shopify’s out-of-the-box reporting and analytics tools often fall short for enterprises seeking robust, predictive insights.

By contrast, Salesforce Commerce Cloud strikes a powerful balance:

  • A fast, scalable storefront
  • A/B testing baked in
  • AI-enabled merchandising
  • Integrated smart chatbots (Agentforce)
  • Built-in payment systems
  • Support for headless storefronts
  • Native integration with CRM and marketing automation tools

No more brittle third-party integrations or duct-taped solutions. Salesforce offers an all-in-one ecosystem that grows with the business, layer by layer, without ever needing to start from scratch.

Why CloudKettle?

The team at CloudKettle is made up of experts across Salesforce’s entire product suite—Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and more. That means my team can focus on being the best at e-commerce strategy and implementation, while seamlessly pulling in other experts as needed.

This approach finally gives me the toolkit I’d always wanted: the ability to deliver transformative e-commerce solutions that integrate flawlessly into a broader, complementary tech stack.

For the first time in my career within the web consulting and solutions space, I feel well-armed to meet the full spectrum of customer needs—from strategy and technology to integration and growth.

Where Do We Go From Here?

This next chapter is about building something exceptional—a Salesforce Commerce Cloud practice at CloudKettle that sets the standard for what enterprise e-commerce can achieve.

Whether you’re a business leader exploring Salesforce solutions, a technical expert considering your next career move, or simply someone curious about the future of e-commerce, I’d love to hear from you.

Let’s build something remarkable together.

Connect with me, reach out to CloudKettle, and let’s talk about what’s next.

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