shopware Archives - BHOOST

Reading Time: 4 minutes

In this guide you will find all the instructions that will explain what you need to consider before installing Shopware 6 and will guide you through the installation process.

Before installation

Before installing Shopware, you should pay attention to some requirements. Let’s see together what they are what they are.

You can typically run Shopware on a self-hosted server.

Htaccess adjustments

The htaccess file is a configuration file of your web server. Among other things, it specifies which users have access to the shared files and folders. With an htaccess file you have the option to allow access to your store only to selected users.
During installation you should do without htaccess protection or use the following solution.

AuthType Basic
AuthName "Please login."
AuthUserFile /path/to/.htpasswd

<RequireAny>
    Require expr %{THE_REQUEST} =~ m#.*?\s+\/api.*?#
    Require valid-user
</RequireAny>

System requirements

Before installation, make sure your system meets the system requirements for Shopware 6 .

If you are unsure of any of the requirements, we recommend that you consult the server hoster to make sure these requirements are met.

Routing Setting

Also, I recommend that you change the web server’s routing settings if necessary.
A corresponding Apache-based example is shown below.

Shopware-installazione

Remember to replace _SHOPWARE_DIR and _HOST_NAME_ with your settings.
You will also notice that the document root directory points to the / public folder in the Shopware 6 installation directory.
This is required because the frontend and admin interface are behind it, so you don’t need to refer to the public directory in the URL in the browser to call the frontend or admin interface.

Shopware Download

After making sure that the system requirements for Shopware 6 are met and that your web server’s routing settings are configured correctly, you can download the Shopware 6 installer and unzip it to the desired directory on your system. Also make sure that the unzipped files and directories have write permissions.

Run the installer

After downloading Shopware all you have to do is extract it to the desired directory on your system. Make sure the unzipped files and directories have write access.
To run the installer, simply visit your store URL and you will be greeted by the Shopware 6 installer, which will walk you through the installation step by step.

You can also change the language of the installer. The language can also be changed at any time by using the country abbreviations in the lower right corner of the screen.
By clicking on Next you can continue the installation.

Installazione-pagina-start

Check the system requirements

In the second phase of the installation, the system requirements are checked to see if they are met. The arrow buttons list the requirements, the folded menu shows which requirements are not met or which settings can be optimized.

General terms and conditions

In the next step you can read the license under which Shopware is licensed. To continue the installation, you must accept the license terms.

Database configuration

After acceptance of the Shopware license, the login credentials to the Shopware database are entered. You can create an empty database for installation in advance, or the installer can create one for you.

To create a new database you need to check the New database box and enter a name for the database.
If one or more databases already exist, they will be listed in the Database Name field after entering the user and password .
Select the database intended for Shopware.

Please note that existing databases must be empty to import the tables needed for Shopware.
If you see advanced settings, you can also specify the database port and (optional) a socket.

database_shopware

Database import

In this step the Shopware database is imported. Click Start Installation to start importing the database.

The installation wizard will inform you that the installation is complete. Click Next to proceed with the configuration.

Configuration

In the last step you specify the basic settings for your shop:

The store email address will later be the global email address from which all emails are sent.
The default system language specifies which language this installation will use as the default. This affects both the frontend and the admin area.
You have the following predefined currencies to choose from: Euros, British Pounds, US Dollars, Polish Zloty, Swiss Francs, Swedish Kroner, Danish Kroner, Norwegian Krone, and Czech Krone. The currency you choose here will be entered by default in the shop with the currency factor 1. You can add multiple currencies directly or add multiple currencies with the corresponding conversion factors later.
The area starting from the admin email address field defines the admin user for the Shopware 6 admin interface. Enter your relevant data here. If needed, you can create and manage additional users in the administration interface after installation.

Note that the default language and currency cannot be changed later.

Shopware6-configurazione

Conclusion

The installation is now complete and the installer will automatically redirect you to the admin interface. To log in use the admin user you just created to set up your Shopware 6 store.

Source: Shopware Guide

How to choose the most suitable platform for your e-commerce

Reading Time: 3 minutes

When a merchant decides to undertake an E-Commerce business, the first challenge he encounters is to choose a platform.

In fact, there are many possibilities: Magento, PrestaShop, Woocommerce, Shopware etc, all have their positive and negative sides. But above all, each one has its specificities, which may or may not adapt to your needs.

As with many other products, it is not as easy as searching on Google for “the best e-commerce platform”. There are many factors that should be taken into consideration before making this choice.

For example, you should consider the costs related to opening your online business, costs that are not only related to the price of the platform itself. Any additional functionality you may need will typically be provided by paid apps/extensions or by custom development. And this fact also requires an additional budget.

This is why it becomes essential to make the right considerations. You will find some key elements you should look into before jumping into a new ecosystem below.

Understanding your business and its characteristics

First, we must understand that all E-Commerce platforms provide more or less the same basic functionality. However, the various business models are unique and have specific needs.

This is why the requirements for an E-Commerce platform must cover more than just basic functionality.

So you need to understand what makes your business unique and how you intend to engage your customers.
One way, for example, may be to provide discounts for different goods, according to predefined rules. As a result, customers with a matching set of products in their cart should receive a discount. The discount system should include many factors that play a role in generating the final price.

In some rare cases, maybe only one thing is required in addition to the basic functionality provided by most platforms. In other cases, there are at least a couple of other extra features that are a must for a merchant’s business.

Define the right e-commerce structure

Another example is related to site search. In general, we can outline two main categories of the E-Commerce store structure:

The first has as the main idea to “guide” customers through the catalog, use different configurators/wizards to create a correct set of products in the cart.
The second is the research-oriented approach. An excellent example of the latter is a market like Amazon.

So, if your store is going to use the second search-oriented model, you’ll need a well-organized search on your website. In this case, well-organized means support synonyms, stopwords, filters, suggestions, etc.

Also, it would be great to have AI-based research.

With these two elements of your business model, you can check the capabilities of the different platforms on the market. The main goal is to find a platform that covers the scenarios mentioned.

Stay one step ahead …

In addition to the functionality we were talking about above, it also makes sense to think about perspective. Most likely, if you are aware enough, you will not put everything in the very first version of your store.

This means that in choosing the platform, you will have to take one that is scalable. In this case, it makes sense to check the capabilities of the different platforms, considering the features planned for the future.

At some point in time, you will face the situation where no platform covers your particular business needs. So, you need a third party solution or developer team that will bring the missing features.

Therefore, you must take this aspect into consideration. If you see that you may need a lot of custom development in the future, it is good to check the price attached to this type of business for the different platforms available.

Consider the size of your catalog

Another thing you should consider is the size of your catalog and visitor base. If you have a million SKUs and more, it may not be easy for some platforms to manage this amount of data.

Or, if your business model will use flash sales with hundreds of orders per minute, it could be overkill for most platforms as well.

In this case, you must therefore consider the characteristics of the various platforms, whether or not they can support a large number of products, but not only.

In fact, you must also define a hosting and its characteristics, especially if you have a lot of products and a lot of traffic. The choice of hosting also leads you to additional costs to consider.

If you are interested in a quotation, contact us and we will find the right hosting for your needs!

Choose the right solution for you

To sum up, when choosing an E-Commerce platform, you must first think about the following factors:

Functionality that the platform provides outside the box.
Features that can be easily added to basic functionality.
How many “unique” business cases do you have and how expensive it will be to reflect them in the e-commerce store now and in the future.
The size of your catalog now and in the near future.
Number of customers you expect now and in the future.
What is the ROI in terms of maintaining and improving your store.

There are many other factors to consider, but in this guide we have described the most common ones, then it is up to you to decide according to your needs.