There is no doubt that an online shop needs a good overall usability and should follow a mobile first approach in most cases. But on top of that it’s important to see the shop through the customer's eyes and to provide the right information in the right places. With this in mind, you can create user interfaces that not just work, but also follow a strategic concept, which will improve the customers shopping experience. Shopware provides a great and extendable open source platform to build upon. By using the plugin system and Shopware’s powerful API, we can implement solutions, which solve issues of merchants and create unique shopping experiences for their customers.
When we create a plugin that will be published in the Shopware store, we follow the principle that it should not feel like a plugin at all. Neither to the merchant nor to the customer. We try to build our plugins on top of Shopware’s architecture intentions and aim for UX/UI, which perfectly fits into the existing one. Depending on the issue the extension tries to solve, we try to provide a general solution which can be configured in reasonable places by merchants, delivers a consistent look and feel to customers and provides a foundation other developers can build on. When we have a new idea, we develop a proof of concept first and if it works we try to rethink and refine it further before developing the final plugin.
In the past we have spent a lot of time moving in administration interfaces of various CMS and ecommerce systems, as well as Shopware’s UI since day one. Comparing systems and finding missing features can be a great starting point for creating a new plugin idea. The best case scenario however, is when a customer discovers a problem that is not unique to them. Often this can be the beginning of a great plugin idea, which not only helps your client but has the potential to help a lot of Shopware’s users too. In the end our main goal is not to solve our own problems, but to provide solutions to challenges users are facing. However the only real way to test whether the idea works as intended, is to publish the plugin in the store and gather feedback.
Even in plugin development the ‘not invented here’ syndrome can be strong. If you run into a limitation with Shopware’s existing features, it is likely you are not the first person to do so. Make sure to search for possible workarounds provided by the awesome Shopware community as well as existing solutions in the community store before thinking about making your own plugin. But even if there is an existing solution, don't let it stop you from creating a more efficient, more usable and overall better approach, if you really can provide one. In this case it can be helpful to reach out to the official plugin manufacturer support team and ask for some advice. Of course Shopware wants to offer a wide range of plugins in their store instead of many plugins that try to solve the same issue in similar ways.
Many people often think about plugins being a great opportunity for passive income. As always reality is a bit different. If you want to sell your plugins for money, you will need to be ready to provide the best support possible to your customers. The Shopware team is also very eager to publish new versions with exciting new features, bug fixes and periodically breaking changes, which you will need to keep up with as a plugin developer. But it’s all worth the effort when receiving 10/10 reviews by some awesome customers. (Yay!)
Sometimes it can be hard to really understand your clients position in the market, their business model as well as how their customers might think and approach the shopping process. Trying to find the best solution will often demand taking a step back and asking the right questions. This can be challenging for you as a consultant as well as for the client who, in the end, pays the money. However, mastering these challenges together as a team, gaining new important knowledge and seeing the results work out for the clients and their customers is the best part about this kind of work.
