Maybe it took them a few good years to find a solid fan base, but Shopware is slowly but surely starting to take the world of eCommerce by storm. What seemed to have been trying, a few years ago, to squeeze somehow between a fit-for-small-businesses Shopify and the giant Adobe Commerce, has now emerged as a formidable competitor for any complex online retail platform. What truly sets Shopware apart is the relentlessness of its masterminds when it comes to constantly adapting the platform to the complexities of present-day ecommerce. So, let’s dig deep into what new features they have brought in since the last major upgrade at the beginning of 2023.

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Shopware has come a long way since the days when they were focusing on a niche mid-market. Recognizing the desire to develop cutting-edge solutions for their customers, in August 2023, the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Digital Commerce granted Shopware the Visionary status.

The recognition came after earlier in the year, The Emerce100, a special edition of the Dutch business magazine Emerce, published an annual overview of the best companies in the e-business sector. Shopware was among the best providers in two categories: “Open source ecommerce software ” and “Commercial ecommerce software”

Novelties in the Shopware ecosystem

Shopware has introduced several innovative features since their major upgrade at the beginning of 2023, each designed to enhance both the merchant and customer experience in the e-commerce landscape.

The Shopware AI Copilot

AI witnessed incredible growth last year and Shopware tapped into its potential and developed AI Copilot.

Unveiled on May 25, 2023, and updated on January 31, 2024, Ai Copilot introduces over ten AI-enhanced features to transform e-commerce operations. These features include AI-generated content for Shopping Experiences, a data export assistant,  AI-based customer segmentation, image keyword assistance, and innovative product review summaries.

Two key features really stand out by bringing immense value and placing Shopware to the forefront of modern ecommerce: personalized checkout messages and search by context. The first allows Shopware users to deliver AI-generated messages immediately after a purchase, tailored to the contents of the customer’s cart. The second, search by context, marks a significant advancement in AI by moving beyond mere keywords to understand the context and meaning behind searches. This leads to more precise search results and recommendations. 

Shopware’s AI Copilot is a real game-changer. If before, Shopware was relying on individual third-party platforms to offer these features, with the new AI Copilot, Shopware brings them all in a single place – the Admin Dashboard.

For more detailed insights, read our comprehensive article about AI Copilot here…

Digital Sales Rooms

Launched in March 2023, Digital Sales Rooms is a cutting-edge feature designed to provide personal and interactive advice through video shopping. This tool enables merchants to host live video events, offering personalized consultations and exclusive events for selected customers. The service integrates seamlessly into online stores, allowing for global broadcasts of customer-focused, interactive events. 

The feature tries to address the one thing that online shopping lacks – the personal  touch. At the same time, it’s particularly effective for saving time for both customers and sales staff, generating sustainable brand experiences, and targeting advice more precisely to minimize cancellations and returns​​​​.

Customer-Specific Pricing

The feature allows merchants to apply individualized prices for each customer. This feature supports high-performance operations even with extensive product ranges and millions of price combinations. It’s particularly useful in B2B environments for reacting quickly to currency-based prices, creating individual offer prices for regular customers, and managing graduated and strikethrough prices. This functionality is enabled through an API connection, allowing merchants to create, modify, or delete customer-specific prices efficiently​​.

Subscriptions

Recognizing the growing trend towards recurring revenue models, Shopware introduced the “Subscriptions” feature to allow merchants to implement subscription models easily within their online stores. 

The feature enables merchants to offer products on a subscription basis, enhancing customer loyalty and lifetime value. It supports various product types, from everyday essentials to digital products, and offers flexibility in subscription management. Merchants can set subscription intervals, offer discounts, and integrate with Shopware’s Rule and Flow Builders for automated processes​​.

Shopware B2B Components

Shopware’s B2B Components, unveiled in August 2023, mark a significant evolution in B2B ecommerce by offering modular features tailored to the specific needs of the B2B sector.

This innovative approach allows for individual selection and configuration of features according to user roles, enhancing flexibility and personalization in B2B models. Each feature is an autonomous component, seamlessly integrating into the overall system to ensure smooth operation.

The introduction of the Shopware B2B Components does not signify the end of Shopware’s B2B Suite, which still remains a suitable option for many businesses. B2B Components offer a modular approach, allowing B2B merchants to select only the features they need, providing a flexible ‘choose-as-you-go’ solution. This is ideal for businesses that may not require the full array of functions available in the B2B Suite.

Although still in its infancy, at this time B2B Components presents the following modules, which can be integrated independently of each other, but work seamlessly with the platform:

B2B Quick Orders

The module allows for placing orders by entering product numbers and the capability to initiate bulk orders via an uploaded product file.

B2B Employee Management

With this module, a business can create unique accounts and workflows, complete with rights and role management systems.

B2B Quote Management

The feature allows merchants to generate quotations directly to their customers. At the same time, customers can ask for quotations directly, having the possibility to start a fully integrated negotiation process, directly on the platform. 

B2B Order Lists

The feature will help Shopware users gather all data related to their orders in one centralized location.

B2B Approval Rules & Rights Management

With this feature users can set budgetary limits for their orders. If the order value crosses the pre-set limit, an automatic approval process is activated.

Conclusions

Shopware comes in different price plans, and of course, many of these features are available for selected price plans only. However, what we wanted to establish here is the fact that the scarcity in plugins and extensions that we witnessed a few years ago, is indeed a thing of the past.

Shopware 6 has continually evolved, and adding to a user-friendly interface and an API-first approach for seamless integration, we can now find powerful integrations that create real added value for customers. Benefiting from a global community contributing to its innovation that is constantly growing, Shopware is now a competitive choice for businesses looking to differentiate themselves in the crowded e-commerce market​​.

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