We have become accustomed to the fact that the B2C e-commerce market offers a wide range of mature tools for building and managing online stores. The situation is slightly different in the B2B sector, where open-source e-commerce platforms are still an evolving category. That is why it is worth taking a closer look at Shopware - a modern, flexible e-commerce platform that offers a cost-effective alternative to many established solutions on the market. One of its key advantages is the ability to support both B2C and B2B sales within a single platform and infrastructure. In this article, you'll learn what makes Shopware stand out as an e-commerce platform for both B2B and B2C, which features it offers, when it is worth choosing the Enterprise edition, and in which business scenarios it can deliver the greatest value.
But first things first: what can Shopware do for your business?
In the B2B sector, Shopware is attracting more and more customer attention as a strong competitor on the open source market and a serious alternative to Magento. With Shopware, you can even build a very large e-commerce platform and benefit from many functionalities that successfully compete with legacy solutions.
What will you learn from this article?
- what makes Shopware stand out as an open-source platform for B2B and B2C,
- how Shopware implementation costs compare with Magento,
- which features are available in Shopware Enterprise,
- how the Shopware B2B Suite supports e-commerce operations.
What sets Shopware apart as a platform for B2C and B2B?
State-of-the-art technology
The Shopware platform is based on proven, stable and modern technologies such as the PHP framework Symfony and Vue.js. The system architecture is flexible, efficient and easy to use.
Flexibility and freedom to grow
The Shopware platform has been developed using open source technology, which provides a high degree of flexibility and freedom. This allows it to become the basis of any successful e-commerce strategy and facilitates the creation of solutions for a global community.
API First
With its API First approach, Shopware is a tool that allows full customization to meet the needs of e-commerce and existing ecosystems and complex infrastructures. The platform's flexible core allows for a free combination of different components and systems, thus laying the foundation for new business models.
Customer experience
Individually tailored to your target groups, visually appealing content allows you to tell engaging stories and capture your customers' attention. With engaging, harmonious and consistent content, your customers can identify with your brand and the values it represents. With Shopware, you’ll create a fresh experience for your audience on your platforms. You can add extensive content sections with photos, texts, sliders and multimedia.
Everything under control
Different sales channels can differ in terms of assortment, language or even currency and attract different customers. With Shopware, you can control every sales channel from the same place, regardless of whether it's a classic online shop, social media platform, app or stationary point of sales.
You handle all sales in a single infrastructure, both B2C and B2B.
Intuitive operation
The interface is clear and transparent, and navigation is intuitive - both in the B2C and B2B models. Content management is easy and the powerful CMS allows you to create unique category views, landing pages or lookbooks.
What business challenges does Shopware solve?
Choosing an e-commerce platform is not just a technology decision. It is equally important to understand which business challenges the new solution should address. Shopware has been designed for organizations that want to grow their online sales without being limited to a single business model or sales channel.
Shopware most commonly helps businesses address the following challenges:
| Business challenge | How Shopware helps |
|---|---|
| Managing both B2B and B2C sales | Supports both business models within a single platform |
| Managing multiple sales channels | Centralizes omnichannel sales management |
| Integrating business systems | API-first architecture enables seamless integrations |
| Scaling the platform | Flexible open-source architecture that grows with the business |
| Managing digital content | Advanced CMS and Experience Worlds for creating engaging content |
Investing in Shopware B2B. Which version should you choose?
Shopware offers two models:
- Professional – aimed mainly at B2C and definitely sufficient for this form of sales,
- Enterprise – an even more comprehensive model, including functionality and support for B2B.
How much should you invest in the Shopware for B2B (Enterprise) model? More than in SaaS solutions for a year, but less than in very complex tools dedicated to business.
What is the difference between Shopware and Magento? Unlike Magento, for example, the fee is a one-off - you pay once and then use the license and support for as long as you use Shopware. In addition, the fee does not depend on the size of the business, including shop traffic and revenue. The licence cost is always the same for everyone.
How does the Enterprise Edition improve day-to-day operations?
Shopware Enterprise is designed for organizations with sales processes that are more complex than those of a standard online store. In practice, this means greater control over users, orders, budgets, and the purchasing workflows typically found in B2B commerce.
The additional features available in the Enterprise edition help streamline the day-to-day work of sales, procurement, and customer service teams. Customer organizational structures, multi-level order approvals, individual budgets, and advanced quotation management allow the platform to reflect the way the business operates instead of forcing teams to adapt their processes to system limitations.
Shopware Enterprise version – an application for B2B e-commerce
If you decide to purchase Shopware Enterprise, you can choose between two versions:
- The basic version contains functionality usable in both B2B and B2C. It’s the cheaper of the two, but it does not have features dedicated strictly to B2B.
- The B2B Suite – is the most extensive version, created for B2B sales.
Basic Enterprise version (without B2B)
Search function – boost the position of selected products or categories
You can use features that allow you to boost the sales of selected products, e.g. those with high margins or from a supplier with whom you have an attractive contract. Certain categories can be searched for more often than others.
You can also decide how many products, categories or manufacturers appear in quicksearch and on the results page.
OR
Publisher function – control changes on the platform
The Publisher function allows you to follow the history of changes, browse previous versions or view the authors of the changes. For example, you can verify whether a given offer was visible at a given time.
Multi-server environment - use several servers to increase platform efficiency
Multi-server environment available in the basic version of Enterprise (without B2B) allows you to decide whether a different server should be responsible for ordering processes than for serving the catalogue. In addition, you can set up several front-end servers to share the traffic, create a High Availability architecture, and add an external caching tool to the required server (to reduce the load on the site by making content previously downloaded by users to other users).
A multi-server environment allows you to increase the performance of the platform in the event of heavy traffic on the site; specifically, it:
- Prevents page elements from taking a long time to load,
- Can handle many orders simultaneously,
- Increases the stability of the platform,
- Prevents overloading.
Shopware Enterprise in B2B Suite version
The B2B Suite version offers functionalities designed for B2B sales.
B2B customer account – assign different rights to your employees
Every B2B project is different. With the ability to configure user accounts, you can assign different roles to your employees and tailor the platform's functionality to your business and company structure.
The account configuration allows you to precisely assign rights and roles on the website, control the budget, create quick orders and manage contacts and addresses.
A B2B customer account enables you to use the following functions:
- Company structure management
- Statistics
- Company orders and acceptances
- Product lists
- Quick ordering
- Quotation
- Product numbering
How to take advantage of the configuration option for the accounts of different employees in practice?
- Give one administrator rights to manage all departments of the company or different companies.
- Set up different billing addresses for different departments (or different delivery addresses, but with a common billing address).
- Limit a given company’s or department's purchasing budget, or create several budgets to be used by different departments.
- Control the budgets of each reseller.
- Prevent a particular customer from buying certain products or exceeding a certain number of orders.
- Manage access to specific functions, whether at the company, department level, or individual level.
Orders and approvals – have control over what your employees buy and what changes they make to the site
Shopware Enterprise gives you the ability to accept and edit changes made to the site, such as deleting or adding products. Among other features, you can:
- Set budget limits for orders placed by your employees,
- Block orders that exceed your budget,
- Block users from ordering specific products (e.g. employees can order the stationery necessary for work at will, but promotional gadgets for customers only after your approval).
Product lists – enter flexible criteria for creating lists
In Shopware, each user can create their own shopping lists. Lists can be shared (e.g. several people can have access to the same lists) and linked to a budget. They can also be downloaded, imported using the fast-order function and also sent to others.
When is such a functionality the most useful? For example, when you want to:
- Have a list of the 300 most frequently purchased products.
- Prepare lists of your favourite recurring purchases and seasonal purchases.
- Create a new department in your company and provide it with a ready-made list for its first purchases.
Quick orders – reduce the time needed to place an order
You can use the function to import csv, xls, and xlsx orders from a file of any structure, as well as import your own product numbers. This is especially useful if you want to quickly import missing goods from your internal system.
You also have the possibility to add to the basket or create new lists to quickly complete the order without verifying the products (because you know them by heart).
Making offers – place and receive attractive offers
Shopware's B2B features allow you to get better offers or discounts on products, e.g. for large orders. In addition, you can (personally, as a business owner or by authorising specific people) accept and change offer parameters, approve discounts for customers on multiple purchases, or view the entire offer history.
Custom product names and numbers - find products the way you like them
With Shopware, you can conveniently catalogue and sort your products according to the names used by your employees. Among other things, you can add and import your own product names and numbers, which, once saved, can be automatically handled by the Fast Order and the Order list search engine.
In addition, you can pass the mapped list (including the naming scheme) to other users and set the given parameters only for specific accounts.
Product cataloguing in practice:
- Add alternative names for products you use every day in your company to increase your work efficiency.
- Use the ability to quickly search for several products (you can assign a common name to a group of products).
- Add new employees to the system and streamline their work by sending them name mapping lists.
Ghost mode – log in on behalf of the customer
You can log into your customer's account to handle their permissions. You can place orders on their behalf or change their profile settings. Why would you need this function? To solve customer problems even more efficiently and effectively. For example, when:
- You can't handle the system yourself,
- You want to see if a particular product is visible in a particular customer's account,
- A customer places an order over the phone – you can complete the order for the customer, and the customer only needs to complete the transaction.
From our experience
“An e-commerce platform quickly becomes part of a wider business ecosystem. As the number of sales processes, users, and integrations grows, the ability to expand the platform without rebuilding the entire solution becomes increasingly important.” - Katarzyna Bończyk, Head of Growth, Tandemite
A good example is the project delivered for ZARYS International Group, where a Shopware-based B2B platform was integrated with Pimcore PIM, SAP, and Microsoft Azure. This allowed the solution to support sales, product data management, and the continued development of business processes.
Summary: Is Shopware the right choice for your business?
Shopware is a flexible open-source e-commerce platform that can be adapted to an organization's existing IT ecosystem and individual sales processes. Its extensive integration, content management, and multichannel capabilities make it suitable for both B2C sales and more complex B2B models.
The Enterprise Edition and the features available in B2B Suite make it easier to manage customer accounts, user roles, budgets, order approvals, quotations, and product lists. This supports the day-to-day work of sales, procurement, and customer service teams while allowing the platform to evolve alongside the organisation's needs.
Shopware is particularly well suited to companies that want to manage B2B and B2C sales within a single platform, build an architecture ready for future growth, and integrate their online store with ERP, PIM, CRM, and other business systems.
Are you planning a Shopware implementation or considering whether the platform is the right fit for your business? Contact our team. We will review your requirements, design an appropriate solution architecture, and help you implement a platform aligned with your organization's objectives.
FAQ
What B2B features does Shopware Enterprise offer?
Shopware Enterprise with the B2B Suite module provides features designed to support complex B2B sales processes. These include customer organization management, user roles and permissions, purchasing budgets, multi-level order approvals, product lists, quick ordering, quotation management, and the ability to assign custom product names and reference numbers.
How does B2B Suite differ from the standard Enterprise Edition?
The standard Enterprise edition includes features for both B2B and B2C businesses, such as multi-server environments, Publisher, and advanced search capabilities. B2B Suite extends the platform with functionality specifically designed for business-to-business sales, including customer organization management, purchasing workflows, and advanced business account management.
How does the Enterprise Edition improve day-to-day operations?
The Enterprise edition supports organizations managing complex customer structures, purchasing processes, and user permissions. Features such as budget management, multi-level order approvals, B2B account configuration, and quotation management help streamline the daily work of sales, procurement, and customer service teams while allowing the platform to reflect the way the business operates.
Can Shopware manage multiple companies within a single platform?
Yes. Shopware allows businesses to create complex organizational structures for B2B customers. A single platform can manage multiple companies, departments, and users, each with their own roles, permissions, and purchasing budgets.
How does budget management work in Shopware B2B Suite?
Administrators can assign budgets to individual departments, teams, or users and define purchasing limits. The platform also allows orders exceeding predefined budgets to be routed through an approval workflow before they can be completed.
Does Shopware support multi-level order approval workflows?
Yes. Shopware allows businesses to configure approval workflows that match their organizational structure. Orders can require approval from designated users before they are processed, helping organizations control spending and comply with internal purchasing policies.
How does Shopware support international sales?
Shopware enables businesses to manage multiple sales channels from a single platform while supporting different languages, currencies, and markets. This makes it easier to expand internationally without having to build and maintain separate e-commerce platforms for each country.
Can Shopware create custom customer organization structures?
Yes. The platform allows businesses to mirror their customers' organizational structures by creating departments, assigning users to specific business units, and defining individual permissions, delivery addresses, budgets, and purchasing workflows.
Is Shopware suitable for complex procurement processes?
Yes. Shopware Enterprise with B2B Suite is designed to support organizations with sophisticated purchasing workflows. Features such as quotation management, product lists, quick ordering, purchasing budgets, and multi-level approvals help streamline procurement processes for large organizations and B2B customers.
