Shopware 6 Features and Strengths

With Shopware 6, the scope and complexity of eCommerce projects can be simplified, by reducing development problems to two main categories: those resolved by Shopware inbuilt features and easy set of configurators, and the remainder, “outside of the box” functionalities that inevitably call for some custom work.

We recognized the potential for online shopping in Shopware long ago. With years of experience and solid success record behind our backs, we have now taken the role of Shopware 6 ambassadors. Due to the full range of possible solutions favoring all business sizes, all our clients can now benefit from solutions which were reserved to big business clients.

Community based

Shopware uses a bottom-up approach to promote its undeniable advantages. As an alternative strategy to running expensive advertising campaigns, this method focuses on enabling the actual commerce builders to spread the good news and raise awareness of the possibilities created with the new platform version. With the community-centric approach to problem-solving, Shopware 6 passes the torch of inspiration to those motivated to carry it proudly.

Developers who use Shopware have the practical knowledge and technical capacity to explain their benefits to their customers in ways they can understand and appreciate. We at CodeCoda are proud members of the bright-minded group of creative professionals who contribute to the collective effort that led to what Shopware is today. Our mission is to make this open-source solution available to every online merchant with the potential to improve and grow their business.

Shopware’s core framework is based on Vue.js and Symfony – both languages are already part of most developers’ skillset, regardless of caliber and area of operations. Worldwide, over 600,000 coders are already using Vue.js and more than two million are familiar with Symfony, the latter being based on the popular PHP programming language. Shopware facilitates collaboration by using the programming languages that developers are already familiar with today.

The internal feedback and bug reports system of Shopware represents a human-driven collaboration responsible for constant waves of improvement. This system categorizes submissions by importance and frequency of occurrence, making it easy for developers to prioritize them. In a well-grinded network where communication has the transparency of a genuinely collaborative effort, people solve new issues with incredible speed and efficacy. Critical updates are based on community feedback and are resolved with the help of Shopware developers so that the platform is always problem-free, updated, and ready for supreme performance.

When a commerce site is under construction, whatever issues arise during the planning or development phases, Shopware’s internal system for feedback is an invaluable source for help and guidance. No problem can withstand the collective effort of hundreds of thousands of likeminded professionals. All Shopware features are the product of giant teams united under a common goal – to make it all work better.

We specialize in building brand new commerce websites from the ground up. If you already have a website that you suspect it needs a changeover, but you lack the expertise to do it yourself - we can help. With Shopware, you can preserve your existing product line, categories structure, even your clients’ base. Or you can start building your commerce site from scratch - the platform is equally resourceful for new or established online businesses.

PWA in Shopware

Shopware is boosting the popularity of PWAs, a topic that already frequents conversations between skilled developers. Although Progressive Web Apps (PWA) are not part of brand-new technology, with their compatibility with eCommerce, they pack a powerful potential for the content-focused shopping cart solutions of the future.

Search engines love PWAs – Google recognizes its importance in page ranking, and a lot of well-known brands are already using them to solidify their market presence. This perception is especially true for mobile sites - where the bar for mobile performance with PWA raises high.

Wouldn’t you like your commerce site to perform with the responsiveness and smoothness of a native mobile app?

The two main advantages of PWAs are speed and availability. These applications can load content extremely fast, even with low or no active connection. That’s right – not only they deliver content without unnecessary download delay, but users who are temporarily off the grid can still interact with them.

How many of your mobile apps are useful offline?

With PWA, shoppers can still browse your web store even with bad or no connection. Imagine the exposure in situations where customers can’t use most of their phone functions, but they can still browse your wares. Most apps are useless without a network connection – unlike PWAs.

Since people are increasingly more comfortable buying stuff using their phones, PWAs are the gateway to some serious competitive advantages in sales done with the help of hand-held devices. Progressive apps are especially useful for web stores where mobile traffic dominates or has the tendency to overtake desktop traffic volume. Most of the mobile-based usability problems that used to undermine the value of even high-quality products are now gone thanks to the flawless content delivery of PWAs.

Shopware’s integration of PWA comes as a result of an exclusive solution made possible with the collaborative force of vueJS. The final product is called Vue Storefront, and although it is the first PWA solution for Shopware, it is flexible enough to be also used independently of the platform. VSF offers a palette of advantages to customers. For example, it enables the use of barcode scanners, which can also greatly optimize the work of warehouse employees: they can quickly get all product information only by scanning the item with their phones. This feature not only maximizes their workflow, but you can measure their effectiveness by monitoring your staff activity.

The Mobile-First approach supported by PWA is not the only SEO-relevant factor of this technology. The core building block of Shopware PWA - VueStoreFront - is one of the most SEO-friendly frameworks on the market. It is also designed with the idea of high search engine ranking in mind.

Mobile-first

The lightning speed of PWAs is not the only factor favored by search engines. PWAs are additionally endorsed by the Mobile First approach promoted by Google. PWAs are perfect for supporting businesses with mobile-based revenue, which soon is going to be a more significant part of the revenue pie chart.

When progressive app tech made its initial appearance in the developers’ world, mobile devices didn’t have the notable potential they do now. We are here to bring PWAs undeniable advantages to online commerce, just as mobile users are about to outnumber desktop users, with the tendency to take over for good.

With the innovative potential of PWAs in mobile sales, we envision it to be the signature feature for successful online businesses. Clients quickly recognize the convenience and reliability of applications that not only mirror the positive effects of native apps they are already used to but also bring so much more to the table.

Unlike native apps, progressive apps don’t require downloading - they don’t even need an active connection to work. Moreover, while native apps are bound to specific devices and OS, PWAs are universal across devices, and their content is indexed by Google – something that’s outside to possibilities of native apps. Independent from the operating system or device type, PWAs can be shared by users freely, and don’t require constant updates. As part of fully functional commerce sites, they use push notification to update customers about the orders they made, even when they finalized them in offline mode.

Progressive apps support high product customization for both customers and vendors. Actually, both customers and providers can modify standard product features like color, size, model, and interact with custom product features as additional options. Shopware can store all that information in the back end and put it on display without the unnecessary download delay. The dynamic display nature of PWA helps vendors turn their products into beautiful and easy to navigate through presentations for their customers. PWAs data requirements are low - data traffic is intelligently allowed only when necessary. This feature is part of the reason behind the lightning-like speed of PWAs, even in conditions where standard websites and native apps will both raise a white flag.

API-first

The API-centric architecture of Shopware 6 was planned since the previous version. It took two years for Shopware 6 to become the modernized solution for eCommerce it is now.  API-first approach opens a path for previously unattainable possibilities for eCommerce in terms of smooth content management, flawless future upgrades, and impeccable customer experience.  The modular nature of Shopware, along with APIs, clear internal communication allows for versatile sales strategies, quickly deployed, and without the usually expected additional complexity or cost.

Headless commerce allows for different sales schemes to be used interchangeably. However, this convenience for non-technical staff does not come at the expense of an increased work required from developers. Quite the contrary – the work of software engineers is also simplified. Without the dependencies between commerce layers, developers are now free to make back-end changes while the presentation side of the website remains intact. The alignment of various sales strategies with present technical requirements was not always smooth like this, especially not without the use of methods like headless commerce and API-first. They enable framework configuration where components are also set to communicate perfectly with each other internally. The result is the consistent delivery of quality content every online merchant and their customers naturally expect. And with the flash-like delivery of PWA already as part of eCommerce standards, competition in online shopping will change forever.

Shopware 6 Features

• Sales Channels: With Shopware 6 you can reach your customers wherever they are through multiple channels, matching their lifestyle and location.
• Increased Reach: With country-specific channels, currency support and flexible translation add-ons, expanding your online business on a global scale has never been easier.
• Customization: Shopping experience has never been better with the personalization capabilities of Shopware 6.
• Customer Experience: With Shopware content becomes commerce through an intuitive synergy between the two.
• Flexibility: API-first approach creates previously unimaginable possibilities for versed sales strategies. Out-of-the-box features for complete coverage of intends.
• Collaboration: Shopware 6 was developed with the help of a community of developers, artists, and retailers. Its solutions are the product of the collective effort of intrinsically motivated people.
• Cost-effective: Lower cost of ownership compared to other commerce solutions, with optimized processes for content delivery.

Conclusion

There is evidence that a hefty amount of shop owners began selling using established commerce platforms. If you are a small business owner, the chances are that you initially tried to use Amazon or similar provider to make an initial footprint on the market. When running an outsourced shop with limited capabilities, it’s important to recognize the symptoms that indicate the opportunity to transition into a contemporary selling machine sporting the latest pieces of technology. We help companies make the crucial step from being an early entrepreneur into an independent merchant, recognized and preferred by customers.