Guest Checkout and Passwordless Authentication in Salesforce B2B Commerce

Abstract

Guest Checkout in Salesforce B2B Commerce enables customers to purchase products without creating or logging into an account before checkout. This feature improves user experience by reducing friction in the buying journey while still allowing Salesforce to capture customer information and associate orders with appropriate accounts and contacts.

This article explains the complete Guest Checkout implementation, including member validation, OTP authentication, guest account creation, cart management, and checkout processing.

Solution

Business Requirement

The business wanted to provide a seamless checkout experience where:

• Customers can purchase products without mandatory login.
• Existing members can authenticate using OTP.
• New users can create accounts during checkout.
• Individual and Corporate registrations are supported.
• Cart information is preserved throughout the process.
• Orders are linked to the correct Account and Contact records.

Solution Overview

The solution consists of the following components:

End-to-End Guest Checkout Flow

Customer Opens Store
    ↓
Adds Product To Cart
    ↓
Checkout Page Opens
    ↓
Guest Checkout Component Loads
    ↓
Select Registration Type
    ↓
Enter Email Address
    ↓
Validate Member
    ↓
┌────────────────────────────┐
│ Existing Member Found       │
└────────────────────────────┘
    ↓
Generate OTP
    ↓
Verify OTP
    ↓
Login Success
    ↓
Update Cart

OR

┌────────────────────────────┐
│ Member Not Found            │
└────────────────────────────┘
    ↓
Create Account
    ↓
Update Cart

Continue Checkout
    ↓
Shipping
    ↓
Payment
    ↓
Order Confirmation

Detailed Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Customer Adds Products to Cart

The customer browses the storefront and adds products to the shopping cart.

At this stage:

• WebCart record is created.
• CartItem records are created.
• Customer is still anonymous (Guest User).

The cart now contains product information but is not linked to any Account or Contact.

Step 2: Customer Navigates to Checkout

When the customer clicks Checkout:

• The custom LWC customGuestCheckout loads automatically.
• The component retrieves: Current Cart Information, Cart Quantity, Registration Type.
• The component also validates whether checkout conditions are satisfied.

Step 3: Registration Type Selection

The customer selects one of the following:

Step 4: Customer Enters Email Address

The customer provides an email address.

Example: john.doe@gmail.com

The system determines whether the email already exists in Salesforce. The method searches:

• Contact Records
• Existing Members
• Corporate Contacts

Step 5: Member Validation

The Apex method returns one of three statuses.

Step 6: OTP Authentication for Existing Members

For existing members, the system invokes the OTP Generation Process:

public static String initPasswordlessLogin(Id userId, Auth.VerificationMethod method)

Purpose: Generate OTP and send verification code.

Flow:

Email Entered
  ↓
Generate OTP
  ↓
Send OTP
  ↓
User Enters OTP
  ↓
Verify OTP

Customer receives: "Your verification code is 123456"

Step 7: Verify OTP

System calls the OTP Verification Process:

public static Auth.VerificationResult verifyPasswordlessLogin(Id userId, Auth.VerificationMethod method, String identifier, String code, String startUrl)

Validation Performed:

• OTP correctness
• Expiry validation
• User authentication

If successful: Authentication Successful — Customer proceeds to checkout.

Step 8: Cart Merge Logic

Sometimes the user already has an existing cart. At that time, the guest cart and the existing cart are merged.

Purpose: Combine Guest Cart + Existing User Cart.

Step 9: Create Guest Account (New Customer)

If no member exists, the system displays an Account Creation Form. The customer enters:

• Salutation
• First Name
• Last Name
• Email Address
• Name as Per ID

Step 10: Account Creation Logic

Step 11: Update Commerce Cart

Once account creation succeeds, the system associates the active cart with the identified customer profile. This ensures that customer information, registration type, and order details are maintained throughout the checkout process. This establishes the relationship between the customer and the cart.

Step 12: Refresh Cart Information

The LWC periodically refreshes cart data.

Purpose:

• Detect quantity changes.
• Detect cart updates.
• Synchronize latest cart information.

This ensures users always see the latest cart state.

Step 13: Continue to Checkout

After successful validation, the customer proceeds to Shipping Information and enters:

• Address
• Country
• Postal Code

Place Order: Customer verifies Products, Quantity, Shipping Details, Total Amount and then places the order. The order is then successfully placed.

Advantages

Limitations

Conclusion

The Guest Checkout solution in Salesforce B2B Commerce provides a streamlined purchasing experience while maintaining proper customer and order management within Salesforce. By combining email validation, OTP authentication, account creation, cart synchronization, and commerce integration, organizations can significantly improve conversion rates while preserving data integrity and security.