Shopware 6 project with Vierlande

As a leading wholesaler, Vierlande delivers high-quality food to restaurants and professional kitchens across Germany. Collaborating with the Vierlande team, we relaunched their website and developed a new B2B online shop using Shopware 6 Enterprise.
After initial workshops in early 2022, we launched the agile project in the fall of 2022.
The first step was to develop a fast, lean and responsive MVP shop to replace the existing shop. In addition, an ERP system had to be connected.
In the medium to long term, Vierlande’s goal is to shift customers from offline sales to the online platform to enhance customer service, including improved order acceptance reporting.
There are also plans to connect up to 10 additional storefronts for other companies to the online shop.

The primary challenge of this project was to implement the shop as an MVP within a relatively short timeframe. The extensive catalog and product range structure had to be taken into account, and a way had to be found to display customer-specific product ranges and prices.

Shopware 6 Enterprise Edition

Both the website relaunch and the B2B online shop were built using Shopware 6 Enterprise. All shop functionalities and product assortments are visible only to logged-in customers.
The goal was to guide customers from browsing to order completion with minimal clicks. To achieve this, the following standard functionalities of the B2B Suite were used, partly adapted or developed in-house.

• To give the website a distinct character, a variety of CMS elements were individually designed and developed.
• Field service functionality (SW standard)
  • Field service employees can access their customers’ accounts to provide swift support and assistance with orders.
• Order lists and saved shopping carts (SW standard):
  • This feature of the Shopware B2B Suite allows customers to save shopping carts, facilitating quicker and easier repeat orders.
• Modification of the Shopware standard listings
  • Listings differentiate between the full product range and items purchased in the last few months.
  • When customers log in, their specific product assortments are retrieved from the ERP system, allowing them to quickly enter quantities and add items to their cart, mimicking a digital order form.

UX UI

UX services:

• Target Group Identification Workshop
• Conception and wireframing for the entire shopping process
• Created intuitive and simplified mobile designs to expedite the order process
• Ensured a compact layout for quick content visibility and an improved user experience with simplified controls -> maintained uniformity across table views and interactive elements
• Used small category icons or text links with icons to enhance user navigation
• Paid special attention to optimizing table screens for field staff usability

UI services:

• Designed layouts based on the CI guidelines
• Used the CI color green for interactive elements to provide a “fresh” look
• Incorporated more white space, varied shapes, and modern interactions such as sliders and tiles for an engaging user experience
• Developed extensive screen designs prioritizing mobile-first principles and customized Shopware standard templates

The successful implementation of the MVP was a result of the excellent and collaborative efforts with the Vierlande team. The agile working methodology and prompt decisions by the PO significantly contributed to the project’s success. We are excited to continue our partnership with Vierlande under a software maintenance contract and look forward to implementing many more ideas to optimize the shop.

Vierlande supports professional kitchens by delivering fresh ingredients needed for daily meal preparation. With numerous locations across Germany, Vierlande ensures timely deliveries within twelve hours, maintaining close proximity to its customers in the restaurant and catering industry.