Sector: Customer relationship management software
Countries of operation: US, China, Israel, UK, and others
Key product categories: Customer relationship management software and cloud services
Annual Metrics
[caption id="attachment_113636" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Fiscal year ends January 31.
*Trailing 12 months ended April 30, 2020.[/caption]
Summary
Salesforce, incorporated in 1999, is a leading provider of customer relationship management (CRM) technology, which is used to bring companies and customers together. Its flagship software platform, Customer 360, aims to unite sales, service, marketing, commerce, integration and analytics to give companies a single platform for interacting with their customers. The company’s offerings are designed to be intuitive, easy to use, deployed quickly, and available worldwide—primarily on a subscription basis. Salesforce enables third parties to write applications that run on its platform. The company is acquisitive and recently acquired integration platform MuleSoft and analytics company Tableau.
Company Analysis
Coresight Research insight: Salesforce is the CRM leader in a strong category, benefiting from companies’ need to know their customers better and leverage their data. It benefits from a relentless focus on its customers and is constantly adding value to its platform via new features and from acquisitions. The recently announced Quick Start Commerce Solutions—for D2C, grocery and food service, B2B, and curbside pickup—help retailers get online quickly and could help Salesforce expand its CRM services in e-commerce.
| Tailwinds |
Headwinds |
- Many companies are pursuing digital transformation and moving to the cloud.
- The need for CRM to understand customers better.
- Demand for business intelligence and analytics.
- Increasing importance of e-commerce.
|
- Longer decision-making due to macro uncertainty.
- Larger ERP companies are also focusing on CRM and customer experience.
|
Strategy
Salesforce’s corporate strategy centers on expanding relationships with existing customers, expanding internationally, extending its capabilities to address businesses of all sizes, targeting new vertical industries, delivering new technological solutions, and strengthening its partner ecosystem.
The company’s retail strategy focuses on helping brands engage consumers on every channel and device, offering tools to enhance employee productivity, creating consumer-grade experiences for partners, teams and vendors, as well as driving innovation with data and analytics.
Company Developments
| Date |
Development |
| Jun 2, 2020 |
Tableau expands cloud capability for Asia Pacific customers with new regions, including Japan and Australia. |
| Jun 1, 2020 |
Salesforce acquires industry-specific cloud and mobile software vendor Vlocity for approximately $1.3 billion. |
| May 28, 2020 |
Salesforce reports 30% revenue growth and projected 17% growth in FY21. |
| May 13, 2020 |
Gavin Patterson appointed as President and Chief Revenue Officer. |
| May 4, 2020 |
Work.com announced as a platform to help businesses and communities reopen safely, following the coronavirus pandemic. |
Management Team
- Marc Benioff—Co-founder, Chairman and CEO
- Parker Harris—Co-founder
- Mark Hawkins—President and Chief Financial Officer
- Bret Taylor—President and Chief Product Officer
- Gavin Patterson—President and Chief Revenue Officer
Source: Company reports/S&P Capital IQ
