Shopware is currently advertising that the new version 5.2 is not just a release, but the last step towards open source. Why? Subshop licenses are now registered free of charge. For you, this means that you save real money. Until now, one license had to be purchased for each shop. In the future, you can run as many shops as you like, as long as you use the same infrastructure.
In addition, all premium plugins previously encrypted with IonCube will be delivered unencrypted in the future. Of course, this makes developers' hearts beat faster and you as a customer can now make (or have) adjustments much more easily. Thanks to code refactoring, outdated features have been removed and new, future-oriented functions have been integrated. Which are they? We have put together the most important ones here.
Internationalization meets usability
With the new version, Shopware focuses primarily on optimized usability and internationality: multilingualism is playing an important role for more and more shops. From now on you can finally translate texts in the shopping worlds directly. In addition, the shopping worlds can now be freely grouped and adapt fully automatically to all end devices. The cumbersome creation of several shopping worlds is no longer necessary. You can easily make changes using drag & drop. The focus of the new version is clearly flexibility and time savings for the user.
Arrived in the world of merchandise management
Another highlight of the new release is the integration of "Pickware": If you use the Professional Edition or the Professional Plus Version, the ERP system with all its functions is automatically available to you free of charge. Synchronization problems are a thing of the past, because you now have access to a single data storage system. Welcome to the world of professional marketing! Consulting competence at a high level
The new premium plugin "Shopping Advisor" promises more advisory skills. Especially with increasing competition, you have to stand out from your competitors online and offer advantages. The new plugin queries your customers' wishes and provides targeted product recommendations based on their respective preferences. A special highlight is the customizable sidebar advisor: Customers often find it difficult to select the right item, especially when it comes to more sophisticated products with many different features. The consultant asks specific questions and repeatedly displays interim results until your customer has found the perfect product.
New sales opportunities through custom products
Customizable products are in increasing demand: shirts with self-designed prints, customized notebooks... The DIY industry is booming and creativity is very popular. Use this opportunity to generate sales and offer your customers the opportunity to be creative themselves: Thanks to the new "Custom Products" plugin, you can now offer your customers the opportunity to create products according to their own wishes in a step-by-step mode to design. The respective price is displayed in real-time mode. The personally created products can then be forwarded to friends as a permalink. At the same time, you benefit from free advertising for your shop.
What does that mean for you? Don't worry, the creation of the respective products is very easy: In the backend you can create templates for the corresponding articles, which the customer can adapt according to his wishes.
What should be considered when switching?
Before you update to the new version, please note the following points:
Be sure to make a backup
Minimum requirements for 5.2 are PHP version 5.6.4, Ioncube Loader 5, Shopware 5.0.0 or higher (an update from Shopware 4 does not work!)
The ionCube Loader is required for encrypted third-party plugins
Important: The Emotional Template no longer works with 5.2
Are the plugins compatible? Are incompatible plugins uninstalled?
Thanks to code refactoring, deprecated features have been removed (marked as "deprecated"). Customizations based on the old code will no longer work after the update
Due to the SEPA conversion, the payment method “direct debit” no longer works either. However, old orders can still be called up
As of 5.2, all extensions are open source, and the subshops are also free in the Community Edition (after the update, please remember to cancel existing licenses, otherwise the costs will continue to apply)
The purchase price is now maintained directly in the article's master data and can no longer be maintained on a scale basis
Customers who are already using the old Pickware module will continue to receive updates from Vision for a transitional period, but the module is no longer compatible with Shopware 5.2
Customers of the DHL plugin have incompatibility problems, so please do not update to 5.2 in this case On the Shopware website you will find a detailed list of what you definitely need to think about before making the switch. In addition, detailed instructions for the update are available there.
Is the switch worth it?
We definitely say yes! The new features equip your online shop for the future. Many functions such as the direct ERP connection were long overdue, but are clearly convincing with a number of new advantages that will benefit you and your customers. However, Shopware 5.2 has a small drawback: From this version, the Shopware 4 Emotional Templates are no longer supported. If you want to continue using this, you should stay with version 5.1.
If you want to know which release is coming up next and which bug fixes are planned, then take a look at the Shopware roadmap here.
By the way: If you want to benefit from the free possibility of several sub-shops in the future and would like to access a central data source, we recommend the PIM system infuniq. This can be used excellently as a data hub for integrating your shop data