Creating B2b Commerce Store

Commerce B2B Storefront Creation

Interactive workflow to create a Commerce B2B Store in Salesforce and retrieve the auto-generated storefront metadata to your repository.

Critical Concepts

Commerce B2B = Store (backend data) + Storefront (frontend metadata). Store must be created first in the org to auto-generate the Storefront. Never create storefront metadata manually.

See Store vs Storefront Reference

When to Use This Skill

Trigger when users request:

• "Create a B2B Commerce store"
• "Build a Commerce storefront"
• "Set up Commerce B2B"
• "Create B2B Commerce"
• "Retrieve Commerce storefront metadata"
• "Deploy B2B storefront"

Rules That Always Apply

1. Always follow the interactive flow. Do NOT skip steps. Each step requires user confirmation before proceeding.

2. Never create storefront metadata manually. The Commerce setup wizard generates hundreds of configuration values. Manual creation will fail.

3. Always list sites before retrieval. Store names get underscores and number suffixes (e.g., "My B2B Store" → "My_B2B_Store1"). Let the user select from the actual list.

4. Always use `--json` flag. Include --json on all Salesforce CLI commands for parseable output.

Interactive Workflow: 7 Steps

Step 1: Explain Commerce B2B Concept

Agent explains: Commerce has Store (data) + Storefront (metadata). Store must be created first.

See: Store vs Storefront Reference

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Step 2: Guide User to Create B2B Store

Agent provides these steps:

1. Navigate to Setup → Commerce → Stores

• Or: App Launcher → Commerce → Create Store

2. Click "Create Store" or "Setup New Store"

3. Select "Commerce Store" as the store type

4. Follow the wizard:

• Store Name: Choose descriptive name (e.g., "My B2B Store")
• Important: Spaces become underscores in folder names
• Site URL: Unique URL name for the site

5. Complete wizard - it creates:

• WebStore record
• Default buyer group and entitlement policies
• Associated Digital Experience (LWR site)

6. Optional: Configure payment gateway, tax provider, shipping

Agent then asks: "Have you completed creating the B2B Store in your org? Reply 'yes' when ready and provide the store name you used."

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Step 3: Get User Confirmation

Agent waits for: User confirmation and store name

Agent validates: Store name format (no special characters, spaces will appear as underscores)

Agent acknowledges: "Great! Let me list the available storefronts in your org..."

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Step 4: List Available LWR Sites

Agent executes:

sf org list metadata --metadata-type DigitalExperienceConfig --json

Agent should:

• Parse JSON output to extract site names
• Display as numbered list
• Explain naming (underscores, number suffixes)

Example output:

Available Digital Experience sites:
1. My_B2B_Store1
2. Partner_Portal
3. Customer_Community

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Step 5: Let User Select Storefront

Agent asks: "Which site corresponds to your B2B Store? Select the site name:"

Agent validates: Selection matches available sites

Agent confirms: "Got it! I'll retrieve metadata for [site-name]..."

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Step 6: Retrieve Storefront Metadata

Agent executes:

sf project retrieve start -m DigitalExperienceBundle:site/<selected-store-name> --json

Agent should:

• Show retrieval progress
• Confirm successful retrieval
• List retrieved directory structure

Expected output:

Retrieved: force-app/main/default/digitalExperiences/site/My_B2B_Store1/
├── My_B2B_Store1.digitalExperience-meta.xml
├── sfdc_cms__view/ (home, current_cart, detail_*, list_*, etc.)
├── sfdc_cms__site/
├── sfdc_cms__route/
└── [other sfdc_cms__* directories]

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Step 7: Provide Next Steps

Agent provides:

✅ Metadata retrieved successfully!

Next steps:

• Customize with custom LWCs or branding changes
• Deploy: sf project deploy start --source-dir force-app/main/default/digitalExperiences/site/My_B2B_Store1/ --json

Resources: DigitalExperienceBundle Docs, B2B Commerce Guide

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Reference

• [store-vs-storefront.md](references/store-vs-storefront.md) - Technical details on Store vs Storefront, source control, and why manual creation fails

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Remember

Store first (creates storefront) → Retrieve → Customize

Commerce Store vs Storefront: Technical Reference

Overview

Understanding the distinction between Commerce Store and Storefront is critical for successful Commerce B2B development. This document provides technical details about these two components and explains why they must be created in a specific order.

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The Two Components

1. Commerce Store (Backend Data)

What it is:

• Runtime data and configuration created in the Salesforce org
• NOT source-controllable metadata
• Created through Commerce app UI

What it includes:

• Store configuration and settings
• Default buyer groups (associated with Accounts)
• Entitlement policies (who can see which products)
• Pricing policies and price book mappings
• Payment gateway configuration (Stripe, Adyen, etc.)
• Tax provider configuration (Avalara, Vertex, manual)
• Shipping methods and configurations
• Product catalog associations
• Inventory locations
• Search index configurations

Where it lives:

• Data records in standard Commerce objects:
• WebStore - Store settings and configuration
• BuyerGroup - Account-based buyer segments
• EntitlementPolicy - Product visibility rules
• CommerceEntitlementProduct - Product-policy associations
• ProductCatalog - Catalog definitions
• Pricebook2 - Price books
• Additional payment, tax, shipping records

How to create:

• Via UI: Setup → Commerce → Stores
• Cannot be created via Metadata API
• Cannot be deployed via sf project deploy

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2. Storefront (Frontend Metadata)

What it is:

• Digital Experience (LWR site) for buyer-facing shopping experience
• Source-controllable as ExperienceBundle metadata
• Created automatically when you create a Commerce Store

What it includes:

• ExperienceBundle metadata (StorefrontName.digitalExperience-meta.xml)
• URL routing configuration (sfdc_cms__route)
• Page definitions (sfdc_cms__view)
• Homepage
• Product List Pages (PLP)
• Product Detail Pages (PDP)
• Shopping cart
• Checkout flow
• Order confirmation
• Search results
• Lightning Web Components (product cards, cart components, checkout)
• Branding and theme configuration (sfdc_cms__brandingSet, sfdc_cms__theme)
• Page layouts (sfdc_cms__themeLayout)
• Navigation structure
• Custom LWCs for extensions

Where it lives:

• force-app/main/default/digitalExperiences/site/StorefrontName/
• Example: force-app/main/default/digitalExperiences/site/My_B2B_Store1/

How to create:

• Automatically generated by Commerce Store setup wizard
• Retrieved from org using Salesforce CLI
• Cannot be manually created from scratch

How to deploy:

• Retrievable: sf project retrieve start -m DigitalExperienceBundle:site/<name>
• Deployable: sf project deploy start -m DigitalExperienceBundle
• Source-controllable in Git

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Why You Cannot Create Storefront Metadata from Scratch

Technical Reasons

1. Complex Dependency Chain

• Create merchandisers store
• Create DigitalExperienceBundle
• Integrate both together

2. Hundreds of Auto-Generated Configurations

• Component IDs and region IDs (UUIDs)
• WebStore associations
• Commerce-managed component configurations
• Default routing rules
• Search configurations
• Cart and checkout flow definitions
• Payment integration settings

3. Commerce-Managed Components

• Product List Page (PLP) components
• Product Detail Page (PDP) components
• Cart components
• Checkout components
• Search components
• These require specific configurations from Store data

4. Metadata API Limitation

• Metadata API deploys metadata types (Apex, LWCs, objects)
• Metadata API CANNOT create SObject data (WebStore records)
• Store creation requires data operations, not metadata operations

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The Required Creation Order

Step 1: Create Commerce Store (Must Be First)

User Interface (Commerce App)
     ↓
WebStore Record Created
     ↓
BuyerGroup Records Created
     ↓
EntitlementPolicy Records Created
     ↓
Digital Experience Auto-Generated
     ↓
Commerce Components Configured

Why this must be first:

• Generates WebStore record with unique ID
• Creates default configurations
• Auto-generates associated Digital Experience
• Configures Commerce component relationships
• Sets up default buyer access rules

Step 2: Retrieve Storefront Metadata

sf org list metadata --metadata-type DigitalExperienceConfig
     ↓
Select Store from List
     ↓
sf project retrieve start -m DigitalExperienceBundle:site/<name>
     ↓
Metadata Saved to Local Repository
     ↓
Now Editable and Source-Controllable

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Key Takeaway

Commerce B2B = Store (data) + Storefront (metadata)

1. Create Store → generates Storefront 2. Retrieve Storefront → customize and version control if needed 3. Deploy Storefront → only after creating Store in target org

Never skip the Store creation. Never create Storefront metadata from scratch.