This blog is one of a few in our ‘What If’ campaign, exploring transformative questions facing businesses today. In today’s retail landscape, the boundaries between digital and physical experiences continue to blur. For manufacturers who sell through retail channels, this convergence presents both challenges and remarkable opportunities. The story of MIDJ, an Italian designer furniture manufacturer, offers valuable insights into what’s possible when a company embraces this new reality.
Breaking Down the Digital-Physical Divide
For decades, we’ve treated online and in-store experiences as separate channels. But consumers don’t think this way anymore. They research products online before visiting showrooms. They scan QR codes in stores to read reviews. They expect consistent pricing and service whether interacting with a brand digitally or physically.
The most successful retailers and manufacturers have stopped asking “online or offline?” and started asking “how do we create one seamless experience?”
The MIDJ Journey: From Disconnected to Unified
MIDJ’s story exemplifies this transformation. As a designer furniture manufacturer with global ambitions, MIDJ struggled with disconnected processes that created friction at every touchpoint:
- Manual quote generation caused 5-day delays and frequent errors
- Sales managers lacked tools to effectively serve customers
- Pricing inconsistencies confused distributors
- Fragmented data prevented valuable business insights
- Marketing tools went underutilized despite available technology
These challenges are common among retail manufacturers who’ve grown organically without a unified digital strategy. For MIDJ, the solution wasn’t simply implementing an e-commerce platform—it required reimagining their entire business through a digital lens.
Beyond Implementation to Transformation
Working with Cloud Odyssey, MIDJ discovered they needed more than just B2B Commerce. They needed a comprehensive ecosystem that would connect everyone in their value chain—from internal teams to retailers to end customers.
Cloud Odyssey implemented a complete Salesforce suite for MIDJ including:
- Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud as the foundation for their digital transformation
- Sales Cloud to streamline sales processes and customer relationship management
- Service Cloud to enhance customer support capabilities
- Account Engagement (formerly Pardot) to power marketing automation
- Nova ERP integration to connect all business operations
The transformation included:
- Creating a unified digital hub with role-specific interfaces
- Integrating their Nova ERP system for automated workflows and real-time information
- Implementing approval processes to ensure data quality
- Developing a multilingual customer-facing website with B2C-like interfaces
- Building digital catalogs to reduce reliance on printed materials
- Integrating 3D modeling for virtual product customization
- Streamlining retailer portals for instant quote generation
Salesforce Commerce Cloud: Bridging Worlds
At the heart of MIDJ’s transformation was Salesforce Commerce Cloud B2B. But what exactly does this platform do, and why was it the right choice for a furniture manufacturer looking to unify digital and physical experiences?
Salesforce Commerce Cloud B2B is designed specifically for complex business relationships where multiple stakeholders influence purchasing decisions. For manufacturers like MIDJ who sell through a network of retailers, designers, and distributors, this creates unique challenges:
- Retailers need different pricing and catalogs than designers
- Sales representatives need to create quotes on behalf of customers
- Distributors need visibility into inventory and lead times
- Everyone needs a consistent brand experience regardless of channel
What makes Salesforce Commerce Cloud particularly powerful for retail manufacturers is its ability to support this full spectrum of relationships—B2B and B2C —through a single platform. Instead of managing separate systems for different channels, MIDJ can now maintain one source of truth that adapts to each stakeholder’s needs.
The latest advancements in Commerce Cloud are specifically designed to bridge the online-offline divide:
Unified Inventory and Order Management
The 2025 enhancements to Commerce Cloud’s inventory management system allow retailers to maintain a single view of inventory across physical stores, warehouses, and fulfillment centers. This enables “buy anywhere, fulfill anywhere” capabilities that today’s consumers expect. For manufacturers like MIDJ, this means their retailers can offer customers more flexible purchasing and delivery options.
Immersive Product Visualization
The integration of AR/VR capabilities within Commerce Cloud enables customers to visualize products in their own spaces before purchase. For furniture manufacturers like MIDJ, this is transformative—customers can see how a chair or table will look in their home, dramatically reducing purchase hesitation and returns.
Empowered Store Associates
Commerce Cloud’s mobile-optimized platforms equip store associates with complete customer information and product details at their fingertips. When a customer walks into a retail partner’s showroom, the associate can access their previous online interactions, preferences, and purchase history, creating a truly personalized experience.
Contextual Commerce
Perhaps most exciting is the emergence of contextual commerce—buying experiences embedded naturally within everyday activities. Through Commerce Cloud’s API-first architecture, purchase opportunities can be integrated into design apps, social media platforms, and even augmented reality experiences.
The Results: Digital and Physical as One
MIDJ’s digital transformation yielded remarkable results:
- Quote generation transformed from a 5-day process to instant delivery
- 20% reduction in printed catalog costs
- First-time visibility into the complete customer journey across 4,000+ retailers
- Global expansion achieved without increasing headcount
- Enhanced retailer relationships through improved service experiences
As their leadership noted: “Now we’re clear on what value digital transformation can unlock.”
Looking Forward: The New Retail Reality
The convergence of digital and physical isn’t just about technology—it’s about fundamentally reimagining customer experiences. As we move through 2025, this convergence will accelerate further.
Smart manufacturers are embracing these three principles:
- Design from the customer backward: Instead of starting with channels, start with customer journeys and build experiences that flow naturally across touchpoints.
- Empower your ecosystem: Give partners, retailers, and team members the tools they need to deliver exceptional experiences, regardless of where or how customers engage.
- Embrace composable architecture: Build your technology stack to be flexible and adaptable, allowing you to quickly incorporate new capabilities as they emerge.
The question is no longer “What if digital and physical became one?” but rather “How quickly can we make digital and physical one?” Companies like MIDJ show that with the right vision and technology partners like Cloud Odyssey implementing the full power of Salesforce B2B Commerce, Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and Account Engagement, the answer can be: sooner than you might think.
Cloud Odyssey is a boutique Salesforce Summit (Platinum) consulting partner with expertise across Retail, Consumer Goods, Manufacturing, Education, and High Tech industries. Named Salesforce UKI Implementation Partner of the Year 2024, we’ve delivered 100+ successful global projects powered by 400+ certifications. From our Centers of Excellence in India to commercial hubs across the UK, Singapore, and the US, we don’t simply implement technology—we create streams of innovation that carry our clients toward their boldest ambitions.
