As November draws to a close, let's take a look back at the latest releases. Look forward to a new feature for the Shopware AI Copilot, the Advanced Search 2.0, and the opportunity to help us improve our product.
A quick note: This blog post showcases all the highlights that were published this month – including those rolled out for the Shopware Cloud. Therefore, you will find a note for each feature indicating which form it refers to: self-hosted and/or Cloud.
Dive in, explore, and get inspired by the details in each section and our video!
Overview:
Be a part of the evolution: Enhance our product with data insights
Once you upgrade to the latest Shopware version, you'll find a new message on the admin dashboard – a chance to team up with us by sharing your data. Our goal is to make data-driven product decisions to further develop Shopware. By understanding how you and other merchants actually use Shopware, we can draw valuable insights. Which features are used most often? Which are not? And where can we make adjustments to make your daily work easier?
We're also gearing up to leverage this data for machine learning, propelling our AI ambitions forward. Shopware will be AI-driven in the future, and data is the foundation for turning our ideas into exciting features.
Up next, we're tackling a much-anticipated feature: An analytics and reporting service for Shopware.
Remember, your participation is entirely up to you. We pledge to handle your data with utmost care, processing it only with your green light and in strict compliance with regulations like GDPR. Rest assured, your data is transmitted securely, encrypted, and never shared without your say-so.
We would be very grateful if you could support us in adapting Shopware to your user needs and paving the way for innovation and progress. Ultimately, solutions should emerge from the data that benefit you and your business.
Curious to learn more? Dive into our blog post on Shopware's new data strategy.
This update is only for Shopware self-hosted.
In this video, Rachel shows you the highlight features of November.
Major Release Shopware 6.6 in 2024
We're gearing up for a major leap forward with the anticipated release of Shopware 6.6, set to make its debut in Spring 2024. Dive into our latest blog post for a sneak peek into the technical changes coming with the new major release. Stay tuned, as we'll be bringing you a detailed rundown of all the exciting new features separately.
Many improvements
Shopware 6.5.7.0 introduced numerous improvements, including maintenance mode support in the store API, refactoring of the media path, and many other enhancements. Check out the post on GitHub.
This is about features that are not included in the Community Edition. Take a look at our overview to compare the different Shopware plans and activate the Shopware Commercial extension to use the commercial features.
New AI Copilot feature: Excite your customers with search by context
The Shopware AI Copilot is like a virtual assistant revolutionizing your workflows through AI-powered automation. From writing your product descriptions to categorizing your clientele, swiftly exporting data, and beyond, it’s your go-to for smarter workflows.
What's new: A tenth feature has now been added to the AI Copilot. It's a context-based search aimed directly at online shop visitors. It allows potential customers to enter the purpose of their search in the search field, for example: "I'm traveling to Vietnam". The AI then cleverly displays three product sliders, each tailored to match the search query and its context. For instance, the shopper might see sliders for "tropical suitable outfits", "summer dresses", and "hiking shoes". This intuitive, user-centric tool is not just about delighting your customers; it's a gateway to amplified sales through savvy cross-selling.
The AI Copilot | search by context is available for all commercial Shopware plans. Dive into our documentation to discover how to activate and set up the context-based search.
Whether it's Shopware in the cloud or self-hosted: This feature is already available for both versions.
B2B Quote Management: Tailored offers for your business partners
In the business-to-business sector, customized pricing and individualized proposals are often key to sealing a deal. This is where our "B2B Quote Management" tool comes into play, offering unparalleled adaptability.
Here we go: Customers populate their shopping carts and reach out for a tailored quotation. You receive a message via email, and from your dashboard, you can oversee, adjust, and complete offers. Define specific prices per item, or apply an overall discount.
Feeling proactive? Create offers spontaneously and send them to clients directly, even without a prior request.
For the business customer, the procedure is just as clear and simple. They get notified about offers and can review them in their account on the storefront. Here, they have the option to either approve or reject the proposal. When accepted, the products with the negotiated prices and discounts are directly transformed into an order.
Our goal is to further enhance this functionality, with a focus on enriching the merchant-customer interactions. We aim to refine the communication flow from the request, initial offer, and final order, granting both merchants and customers more options for interaction.
This feature was already released for Shopware Cloud last month and is now also available for self-hosted.
Revamped and ready: The Advanced Search is back
Get ready to experience search like never before with the newly returned Advanced Search, now available for Shopware Evolve and Beyond. Compared to the conventional search in the online store, it's more efficient, user-friendly, and adaptable.
To further optimize the Advanced Search and bring it up to the latest technical standards, we removed it from past releases and have now revamped it. Many of you using our Advanced Search haven't updated since Shopware 6.4 due to this. But that's about to change: The Advanced Search is back in our latest release – now more performant, up-to-date, and loaded with UX enhancements!
Ready to upgrade to Shopware and explore the revamped Advanced Search? Dive into our developer documentation for all the details on installation and configuration. Given its complete technical overhaul, remember to set up your search index and settings afresh.
As of now, the revamped Advanced Search is exclusive to Shopware self-hosted and new cloud customers. We're working on making it available to existing cloud customers soon.
We wish you lots of fun and success with all the improvements and new features of the latest version. Update now
We extend our heartfelt thanks to all GitHub contributors for their pull requests that have been incorporated into this version. 💙
