Achieve Salesforce-Level Merchandising Sophistication on Shopify With Layers

Leaving Salesforce Commerce Cloud for Shopify is a decision more and more brands are making, but this move is not free of pitfalls. It means giving up familiar (and critical) search and merchandising functionalities. 

This post compares Salesforce and Shopify + Layers, highlighting key merchandising capabilities and solutions for Salesforce migration challenges. We’ll also share how Rainbow Shops used Layers to re-create Salesforce’s sort control on Shopify.

Shopify’s platform revenue grew approximately 20% year-over-year, reflecting strong momentum and a clear sign that the move from SFCC to Shopify will continue. We believe the demand for Salesforce-level search and merchandising will only become stronger as this trend continues. Below, we outline how Layers enhances Shopify merchandising to bridge that gap.

Salesforce migration pitfalls: Loss of sort control, limited manual merchandising, and search limitations

Many large brands migrating from Salesforce to Shopify encounter unforeseen obstacles.

Some of the common issues include:

• No dynamic, computed metrics like stock forecasts or velocity

• Rigid, keyword-based search that can’t personalize intent

• Static sort options without rule logic and limited manual control

These challenges arise from platform architecture and configuration limits. We will directly compare how Salesforce and Layers each manage these issues, highlighting where Layers offers distinct solutions.

Active data attributes: Salesforce vs. Layers

Active data attributes provide real-time product performance insights that enable more effective merchandising and dynamic sorting.

What does Salesforce do?

Salesforce Commerce Cloud automatically calculates a fixed set of Active Data points for each product in the catalog. These include availability, cost price, item age, SKU coverage, and time-to-out-of-stock. Together, these values describe how a product is performing and how likely it is to sell through.

Because Salesforce updates these attributes continuously, merchandisers can make data-driven decisions that reflect real-time catalog changes. A product that begins selling quickly, for example, will naturally surface higher in listings as its Active Data shifts.

What does Layers do?

Layers builds on this foundation with greater flexibility. Merchants can create, edit, and apply Calculated Attributes and Metrics directly within the platform, rather than relying on a fixed schema.

Calculated Attributes describe catalog characteristics such as how long a product has been available, whether it has imagery, or how variant prices compare. Metrics focus on time-based performance, such as sales, views, and add-to-cart sessions. Both update in real time and can be used to sort, filter, or personalize products automatically.

These tools allow Shopify stores to match Salesforce’s catalog intelligence while enabling custom definitions of performance, clarifying each platform’s merchandising approach.

Intelligent search with predictive sorting

As e-commerce catalogs expand, most shoppers do not browse past the first few pages. Predictive sorting addresses this by using real-time behavior to optimize product orders automatically.

For example, if a shopper searches for “office chair,” predictive sorting recognizes prior interest in ergonomic designs and ranks similar products higher. This improves relevance and supports higher conversion rates.

What does Salesforce do?

Salesforce’s Einstein engine brings intelligence to search and sort by learning from customer behavior.

Merchants can set their own sorting logic in the Merchant Tools dashboard, combining fixed rules with Einstein’s live ranking powered by real-time intent data.

Predictive sorting gives retailers a way to personalize discovery natively, drawing on contextual signals such as region, browsing history, and interaction data to refine product order and raise conversion rates.

What does Layers do?

Layers goes beyond simple ranking by adapting each search in real time through its User Intent Processing engine and Contextual Information. Rather than just reordering products, it reads the context behind every shopper’s journey.

It looks at patterns like:

• The kinds of products a shopper seems drawn to (category affinity)

• The price ranges they typically browse or buy from (price sensitivity)

• How recently they’ve viewed similar items (recency)

The result: a search experience that adapts to each query’s intent, generating consistent, high-conversion shopper experiences.

Calculated attributes and metrics available in Layers

Layers comes with a set of default Calculated Attributes that capture key catalog signals out of the box:

• SKU Coverage: ratio of available variants to total variants, showing how well-stocked an item is.

• Days Available: number of days since the product was first published.

• Has Image: identifies products that have a featured photo.

• Age of Newest Variant: measures how recently a new variant was added.

• Price Varies: detects whether prices differ across variants.

• Variant Count: counts of the available variants.

• Discount Percentage: measured percentage difference between price and compare at price (if set).

Beyond these defaults, merchandisers can create new Calculated Attributes for specific use cases.

Layers also includes built-in Metrics powered by LayersQL that measure live product performance over time. These include total sales, quantity purchased, product views, add-to-cart sessions, return rate, average sales price, revenue, and sales velocity over the past seven days.

These data points inform sort orders, filters, and merchandising rules, creating a dynamic catalog that responds immediately to performance trends and shopper intent.

Advanced and custom sorting algorithms

Effective product sorting drives visibility, discovery, and sales momentum. Proper logic ensures shoppers see relevant items promptly, maintaining a seamless browsing experience.

What does Salesforce do?

Salesforce B2C Commerce made advanced sort logic part of its DNA. Merchants could combine live data points like engagement, conversion, or inventory with predefined rules to personalize every shelf.

With Merchant Tools, teams could:

• Assign custom weights to behavioral factors.

• Control sorting globally or per category.

• Automatically refresh the order as user behavior shifts.

This built-in flexibility helped brands deliver personalized discovery without external add-ons.

What does Layers do?

Layers restores and enhances the merchandising control previously available in Salesforce, offering advanced capabilities in a simpler, faster, and more adaptable format.

Merchants can manage product presentation according to their preferences, including:

• Sort orders that blend calculated attributes such as sales velocity or stock status.

• Custom merchandising rules to pin featured items or structure collections around trends.

• Product sequences that control how grouped products appear, from sets to seasonal drops.

Rainbow regained Salesforce-level merchandising on Shopify

Layers’ intelligent search and predictive sorting quickly improved Rainbow’s conversion rates.

Backed by Layers, the Rainbow team could:

• Create a “What’s Hot” sort using seven-day sales trends.

• Reorder collection pages dynamically each day.

• Display matching sets together to guide purchases.

• Allow buyers to pin or adjust products manually.

• Enhance conversion rates and the shopping experience while reducing manual effort.

“Layers has given us back the abilities that we had in Salesforce. We can dynamically change the sort order on all of our collection pages daily. So those collection pages look different every day. They reflect what people are buying in a fairly short time.”

— David Cost, VP of eCommerce and Digital at Rainbow Shops

Unlock full merchandising control on Shopify

Platform migration should not compromise predictive sorting or product relevance. Layers reinstates advanced sort logic, sequences, and page-level rules, enabling merchants to personalize search results and product displays using user intent and real-time metrics.

Retailers can customize collections and implement “What’s Hot” algorithms using sales trends and shopper behavior.

With Layers, visitors find products more quickly, remain engaged longer, and convert at higher rates, while your team operates more efficiently without additional manual work or tools.

If you’re interested in learning more, or would like a demonstration of the Layers platform, please feel free to book a demo today.