Is Shopware suitable for E-commerce? 

E-commerce, also known as electronic commerce, is the exchange of products and services as well as the sending of money and data over an electronic network, most commonly the internet.  

The business types vary between either B2B (business-to-business), B2C (business-to-consumer), C2C (consumer-to-consumer), or C2B (consumer-to-business). 

The terms E-commerce and e-business are frequently used. When it comes to the transactional processes that make up online retail shopping, the term E-tail is also mentioned. 

In the last two decades, E-commerce platforms such as Amazon and eBay have contributed to substantial growth in online retail. In 2011, E-commerce accounted for 5% of total retail sales, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. By 2020, with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it had risen to over 16% of retail sales. 

How does E-commerce work?

Everything about E-commerce happens on the internet. Customers access an online store to browse through and place orders for products or services via their own devices. 

The customer’s web browser will communicate back and forth with the server hosting the e-commerce website as the order is placed. The order manager, a central computer, will receive information about the order. Then it will be sent to databases that control inventory levels. Once this is finished, the information will be returned to the order manager. This must be done to ensure the stock and money in the customer’s account to fulfil the order. 

The order manager will alert the store’s web server once the order is confirmed. The customer will receive a notification that their order has been successfully received. 

Platforms that host E-commerce transactions include online marketplaces that sellers sign up for, such as Amazon. Software as service (SaaS) tools allow customers to “rent” online store infrastructures or open-source tools that companies manage using their in-house developers. 

What is Shopware?

Shopware was founded in 2000 in Germany and is an open-source platform which it has been since 2016. One of the best aspects of the platform is that it was created by users for users. One unfortunate part is that the creation occurred more than 20 years ago, when E-commerce technology was still in its infancy. 

Because of this, the platform’s usability and software quality were both rather high. But with each passing year, it was falling deeper and deeper into the sand of old technologies. The higher the standards in terms of design and technology increased, the harder it was to adhere to them until the Shopware team chose to clear the decks one day. 

The owners’ mission was to provide every Shopware merchant with the ability to establish a personalized look. However, with the release of Shopware 5, it was clear that all the attempts to get a more attractive and engaging web shop experience that helps merchants keep in front of the competitors required more and more resources. And in the long term, the entire platform would not be commercially viable. 

Shopware 6 saves the day

To solve this issue, Shopware 6 has come to the rescue. It became well-known among e-commerce platforms worldwide and has a new system that uses the most advanced technologies while implementing the best Shopware features. Magento experienced a similar situation when its second version was released. However, the latter focuses less on the needs of smaller merchants and more on those of large corporate clients. 

The general platform for Shopware and Shopware 6 is designed for customers of various sizes. Where remarkable flexibility is required, it provides it. And where admin-friendly solutions are sufficient, complexity is not. It is a new era of Open-Source-E-Commerce. 

Shopware is an open-source e-commerce platform based on a modern technology stack with the latest version powered by Symfony and Vue.js. It is focused on an API-first approach and provides the opportunity to run different sales channels. 

Shopware 5 and Shopware 6 are the two most popular versions used by local German merchants and companies all over the globe. According to the official source, they are preferred by almost 100k brands. So, it stands to reason that Shopware is excellent and very suitable for E-commerce. 

If you want to build your own web shop with React.js or have questions relating to e-commerce development platforms or other apps, read our blog posts for Shopify and Shopware. Our dedicated outsourcing team can be your collaborator in e-commerce.