Explore the Salesforce Commerce Data Model
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Describe how the Store object functions within the Salesforce Commerce data model.
- Explain how the Store object relates to other standard objects in the data model.
- Explain the relationship between products, price books, and buyer groups.
The Commerce Data Model
The Commerce data model is a set of Salesforce Platform objects designed to support B2B business functions. In this unit, you learn about the composition of the data model and the functional relationships between the base objects.
The Commerce store template is built on a preconfigured data model. The data model supports standard and customizable business objects for managing a wide range of business relationships and interoperability with B2B Commerce, Salesforce Order Management, and Service Cloud.
The Commerce data model connects the B2B store objects, and default object relationships support a full-featured B2B store experience.
When you create a B2B store, a common set of standard objects is added to your org:
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WebStore: A B2B store.
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Catalog: The entire collection of products offered in your store.
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Category: A logical grouping of products. Create multiple categories for a navigable hierarchy.
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Entitlement Policy: The B2B customer gatekeeper that manages access to products and prices.
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Product: The products available to customers.
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Price Book: The negotiated pricing for buyers.
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Buyer Account: The B2B data that represents a specific buyer.
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Buyer Group: A grouping of B2B buyers that share common characteristics.
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WebCart: An online shopping cart for a store, with total amounts for products, shipping and handling, and taxes.
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Promotion: A promotion for B2B stores.
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Order: An order associated with a contract or an account.
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OrderSummary: The current properties and state of an order, consisting of an original order object and any change objects applicable to it.
The Store Object
The Store object represents your website. Think of it as the commerce transaction hub, with transaction elements placed around it like spokes. This framework gives you maximum flexibility for your business requirements.
By default, the following data is associated with the Store object:
- A default store experience
- A set of supported languages
- A set of supported currencies
B2B stores use a template and component-based approach for the front-end buying experience. Commerce merchandisers use templates and Lightning Web Runtime (LWR) components to showcase products, arrange information for buyers, and process orders for your store.
After you configure a B2B store, it becomes a container for your commerce data held in these objects: Catalogs, Categories, Price Books, Products, Buyers, Buyer Groups, and Entitlement Policies. Your strategies for customer engagement, merchandising, and order processing determine how you configure these objects. The Store object serves as the central hub connecting catalog, order, and buyer data across your storefront. Take a look at how the Store object acts as the central hub connecting catalog, order, and buyer data below.
Let’s take a closer look at each one.
Catalogs
Catalog is the organizational object that enables you to offer products in a store. Each B2B store has a specific catalog of products. Each catalog supports up to 3 million products, and you can upload up to 9 images per product record in a single upload session.
Categories
Categories play a crucial role in organizing and presenting products to customers. In the Commerce app data model, the Category object represents categories and subcategories. This object controls how customers search for a product.
Categories have a hierarchical structure that typically represents a parent-child relationship. A single catalog includes categories and subcategories up to five levels. Use the tree-like structure to create product groupings that make it easier for customers to navigate and find products that are similar or belong to a specific category.
To set up categories, import them, configure them from the Product Workspace, or create them directly from the Categories object.
Categories organize products into logical groups within a catalog. Review the catalog hierarchy diagram below to see how catalogs, categories, and products connect.
[Alt Text: Diagram illustrating the relationship between catalogs, categories, and product records.]
Products
Products are the things you sell. The Product object lists each of your products as a record. Each product record contains data such as descriptions, specifications, and links to product media that help customers make informed decisions. Every product also has its own identifying store-keeping unit (SKU) number.
Price Books
The Price Book object is where you manage and organize product prices. It plays a crucial role in helping you determine the unit prices of products or services. A price book is required to display prices for opportunities, quotes, and orders.
The data model supports a standard price book along with custom price books that are linked to buyer groups. You can also configure a strikethrough price book that highlights reduced pricing for customers.
The data model supports a standard price book along with custom price books linked to buyer groups. You can also configure a strikethrough price book to highlight discounted pricing.
Here’s how price books map to the rest of the commerce data model:
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Catalog to Store (1:1): Each store connects to exactly one catalog.
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Price Book to Store (1:Many): Each store supports one standard price book and one strikethrough price book, plus multiple buyer group price books.
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Price Book Entry to Product: Exactly one price book entry per product, per price book.
[Alt Text: Diagram showing price book relationships in the Salesforce Commerce data model.]
Buyers and Buyer Groups
A buyer is an individual or a contact associated with a business or organization that purchases products or services. Buyers are assigned roles, responsibilities, and permissions related to the buying process. A Buyer can be associated with a specific account or buyer group.
A buyer group is a collection of individual buyers who share common characteristics or attributes. Buyer groups are often organized based on factors such as the type of business, industry, or purchasing preferences. Buyer groups simplify the management of buyers with similar needs, so consider collecting buyers with the same roles, entitlement policies, and contract pricing into a buyer group.
Entitlement Policies
An Entitlement Policy is an object that enforces specific conditions for buyer access to certain products and prices. Buyer groups are linked to entitlement policies. For example, an entitlement policy can specify that a buyer group in a certain tier or with a specific subscription level is entitled to access premium products or services.
Bringing It Together to Connect the Data
The Commerce data model includes objects, underlying objects, and features that support B2B business functions. With the store as your hub, organize your products into categories that enhance customer navigation and product search.
The Product object includes records that detail each product including descriptions and SKUs. All your products are linked to standard and strikethrough price books. Custom price books in turn support entitlement policies that offer B2B buyer groups access to select products and pricing.
Next Steps
In this unit, you learned about the Commerce data model and how the relationship between its key objects streamlines the setup, operation, and management of a B2B store. Next, learn about the tools and features administrators use to build a B2B store.