ERP with Shopware Interface

Shopware is the leading German-rooted e-commerce platform, headquartered in Schöppingen, and has a strong position in the German Mid-Market B2B and configurable-products segments. Shopware 6, the current generation, is a Symfony-based PHP application with an API-first architecture, replacing the older Shopware 5 line. The ERP integration question is both well-supported — Shopware has a healthy connector ecosystem — and locally specific, because Pickware, a Schöppingen-based ERP sitting inside the Shopware administration interface, is uniquely Shopware-native. This page describes the integration patterns.

Shopware 6 architecture and API

Shopware 6 is built on Symfony with an API-first design: every administration action is mediated by an internal API, and the same API surface is exposed externally for integration. The Admin API uses OAuth 2.0 with integration credentials and offers comprehensive coverage of products, prices, stock, orders, customers and customer groups. The Sync API allows bulk operations; the Store API serves the storefront. Most ERP connectors built for Shopware 6 use the Admin API as the primary path. The shift from Shopware 5 to Shopware 6 has forced a renewal of the connector estate; buyers should verify that their chosen connector is genuinely Shopware-6-native rather than a Shopware-5 adapter with a thin compatibility layer.

Pickware as Shopware-native ERP

Pickware is a German ERP and warehouse-management product designed specifically for Shopware merchants and running as a plugin inside the Shopware administration interface. The Pickware family includes Pickware ERP, Pickware WMS (with mobile scanning), Pickware POS (with KassenSichV TSE support) and Pickware Versand for shipping. Because Pickware sits inside Shopware, there is no separate ERP-Shopware integration to maintain: the product, stock, order and customer data structures are shared with Shopware natively. For merchants under roughly EUR 5-10 million revenue who want a single-vendor stack tightly coupled to Shopware, Pickware is the lowest-friction option in the DACH market. Merchants whose business case requires a more powerful ERP typically use a different connector.

Plugins and third-party ERP connectors

For merchants using a different ERP than Pickware, the Shopware Store offers connector plugins for the major German Mid-Market ERPs: Sage 100, JTL-Wawi, weclapp, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Microtech, SelectLine, Xentral and others. A complete connector covers two-way master-data sync, real-time stock updates, order import with shipping and payment-method mapping, and return processing. A thin connector may handle only product push and order pull on a schedule. Buyers should evaluate the connector against actual operational requirements; reference customers at similar volume are the most reliable indicator. For SAP S/4HANA and NetSuite, integration is typically built via CPI or iPaaS rather than a store plugin.

PIM, B2B Suite and tax handling

Shopware 6 includes native product information management capabilities stronger than those of competing platforms at the same price point, which often leads merchants to keep the product master in Shopware rather than in the ERP or a separate PIM. This is a defensible architecture for catalogues up to several thousand SKUs; for larger or attribute-heavy catalogues, a dedicated PIM (Akeneo, Pimcore, Contentserv) sits between the ERP and Shopware. The Shopware B2B Suite extends the platform with company accounts, role-based purchasing, contract pricing and quote workflows; the ERP connector must understand these structures. German tax handling follows the same pattern as for other platforms: country-of-consumption tagging in Shopware, OSS reporting via the BZSt through DATEV-compatible export, and KassenSichV TSE support on the POS side via Pickware POS or a separate solution.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should we use Pickware or a separate ERP with Shopware?

For Shopware-centric merchants under roughly EUR 10 million revenue with relatively standard fulfilment requirements, Pickware offers the lowest integration friction because it shares Shopware's data model natively. For larger merchants, merchants with complex multi-channel needs (Amazon, eBay, retail), or merchants with international subsidiaries running on a parent ERP, a separate ERP (JTL-Wawi, weclapp, Xentral, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Sage 100) with a Shopware connector is typically the better fit. Pickware does not pretend to be an enterprise ERP.

Is Shopware 5 still supported, and what is the migration path?

Shopware ended major investment in Shopware 5 several releases ago and has set an end-of-life date that Shopware Group publishes in its support timeline. The migration path is to Shopware 6, which is architecturally different enough that data migration tooling exists but customisations and plugin estates typically need re-implementation. Most Shopware 5 connector estates have been re-built for Shopware 6 by now; merchants still operating on Shopware 5 should plan a migration deliberately rather than continuing to invest in the legacy line.

How does the Shopware B2B Suite affect ERP integration?

The B2B Suite introduces company accounts (a buying organisation with multiple users, roles and approval workflows), contract pricing and quote workflows. The ERP integration must accommodate these structures: an order from a company account links to a multi-level customer hierarchy in the ERP, the approval workflow may need to write back into Shopware, and the quote-to-order conversion should flow cleanly through the integration. Connectors that predate the B2B Suite typically need an explicit upgrade to handle these objects.

Can Shopware integrate with non-German ERPs at the same level as German ones?

Technically yes, the API surface is the same regardless of which ERP connects. In practice, the connector ecosystem in the Shopware Store is heavily DACH-flavoured because Shopware's installed base concentrates in DACH. NetSuite, Salesforce Commerce-adjacent setups and SAP S/4HANA all integrate cleanly with Shopware via iPaaS or partner-built connectors, but the level of off-the-shelf integration content is lower than for the German Mittelstand-native ERPs.