The Shopware Community Day 2023 was a wonderful event that now comes to your home as well. Starting today, you can watch all the videos of the speaker sessions for free! In this post, we will look back at the two days and take a glimpse at the most beautiful and important moments.
Here's what it's all about:
Overview: What went down when and where?
This year, the Shopware Community Day took place as a two-day event: starting with the Developer Day on May 24th and followed by the Merchant Day on May 25th. The location, after four years, was once again the Duisburg-Nord Landscape Park, which never fails to impress with its heavy industrial charm and breathtaking lighting.
With over 700 attendees in total, the event featured 38 speakers who delivered a diverse range of 22 talks, creating a comprehensive program. Moreover, there was ample time and space for networking in a relaxed ambiance, and both days concluded with vibrant aftershow parties to wind down and connect.
What is the Shopware Community Day?
Have you never heard of the Shopware Community Day before? Well, it's about time you did. Back in 2011, it started as a humble in-house expo showcasing Shopware solutions. Fast forward to today, and the Shopware Community Day has transformed into an established ecommerce event. Year after year, the Shopware community comes together to dive into the latest updates and trends in Shopware and the ecommerce industry, all while fostering a vibrant atmosphere of inspiration, expertise, and networking.
The Developer Day's highlights (May 24th)
On Monday, many participants already headed to Duisburg to take part in the Hackathon organized by FireGento e.V., including a pre-party for the first day of SCD.
The ground we stand upon
The Developer Day itself commenced on Wednesday morning with a captivating presentation by none other than Shopware's founder and Co-CEO, Stefan Hamann. Using an old-school overhead projector, he and Rico Neitzel took the audience on a nostalgic journey, delving into the origins of Shopware, revealing its first lines of code, and sharing the captivating story behind both the software and our thriving community.
The catalyst
Following that, there was a presentation by Michael Telgmann on the future of Shopware 5. As previously communicated, this version, originally released in 2015, will no longer receive official support from 2024 onwards. Michael showcased alternatives for users who are unable to upgrade to the current version, Shopware 6. He discussed both SafeFive and the potential for the community to take over.
Your new tool: Composable Frontends
Ramona Schwering took the spotlight to introduce the new Composable Frontends toolkit. It enables the rapid creation of independent and highly customizable frontends for Shopware. Ramona provided valuable insights into the toolkit's ideal use cases and offered a comprehensive understanding of its technical workings.
Running Shopware at scale – Shopware SaaS
In the subsequent presentation, Jens Küper delved into Shopware SaaS and the underlying technologies, as well as customer-specific software solutions built upon them.
Communication is a two-way street
Following that, the spotlight turned to community engagement in the evolution of Shopware. As an open-source software, community involvement is a fundamental aspect of Shopware's philosophy. Martina Linnemann shed light on the product feedback portal, serving as a platform to collect valuable input and ideas from users, enabling faster implementation and realization.
This is your future
Sebastian Seggewiß offered a glimpse into what lies ahead, providing insights into the future development of the Shopware administration. The focus was on the extensibility of the administration and the goals pursued during the development of the Admin SDK.
You can’t build on sand
Daniel Nögel and Sander Mangel unveiled another forward-looking subject. They delved into our software architecture and explored the extent to which we are moving away from the monolithic system as we move forward.
Community vs. Shopware
Next up, it was game time. Following the tradition from the previous SCD, the Shopware Crew took on the community in a friendly competition. Instead of a typical Family Feud, this year featured an AI-powered Cody Contest. The two teams, comprising three members each, were challenged to use StableDiffusion to generate an image of Shopware's beloved developer mascot, Cody Blou, perched on a desk. In the end, the Shopware team's cuter rendition of Cody (second image) emerged victorious, claiming the win.
We rise above and beyond
The subsequent talk by Christian Dangl (dasistweb) is an absolute must-see. Christian skillfully illustrates how the community turned an almost impossible ecommerce project into a reality. While the project itself is fictional, it is based on a collection of real-life occurrences that Christian weaves together into a captivating narrative. In this presentation, enlightening insights are intertwined with entertaining stage presence, creating an engaging experience that shouldn't be missed.
Tales of hope and despair
To conclude the event, another game was in store. Taking inspiration from lateral puzzles, the objective was to uncover what had transpired by asking only "yes" or "no" questions. Fabian Blechschmidt assumed the role of the game master, playfully shedding light on technical scenarios and setting the gears in motion within the minds of many.
Has all of this sparked your curiosity? You can watch all the featured presentations for free on YouTube.
The Merchant Day's highlights (May 25th)
The affable Claire Oelkers once again assumed the role of moderator for the Merchant Day. In the morning, she greeted the audience, who eagerly awaited the keynote address. Soon after, Sebastian Hamann, Founder and Co-CEO of Shopware, took the stage and delivered a captivating keynote on the ever-evolving landscape of ecommerce.
The Shopware keynote: Build the exceptional
Sebastian Hamann highlighted how the Covid-19 pandemic and the growing influence of the younger generation as consumers have brought about lasting changes in ecommerce. "AI-powered tools will not only enable employees to independently find efficient ways to solve problems, but catapult their companies to the forefront of the competition".
With that in mind, he handed over the floor to colleagues who provided deeper insights into the following topics:
The Shopware AI Copilot
Shopware has unveiled the AI Copilot. Mark Stanley presented the new and groundbreaking feature set that offers eight practical functions for merchants to leverage. Artificial intelligence assists in various tasks, such as creating and optimizing landing page texts, defining product properties, generating a summary of product reviews, and much more. It's worth delving into the details in this interview with the product experts and watching the feature's introduction in the video.
B2B Components
Vanessa Brauch introduced the new B2B Components. The current B2B Suite is being completely rebuilt, both technically and in terms of content. Instead of using a complete package, merchants can choose and combine different components that are perfectly tailored to their requirements. The components will be released gradually in 2023. A glance at the roadmap reveals that 50% of the new features in 2023 will have a B2B focus.
Adaptive flows and Composable Frontends
Moritz Naczenski provided insights into the possibilities of setting up adaptive flows. Over the past year, the Flow Builder has been further expanded, allowing users to adapt it even better to their use cases and customize it to their processes. Additionally, Composable Frontends, the new toolkit highlighted by Ramona Schwering the previous day, was also a central topic.
After the keynote, there were more slots featuring top-notch speakers.
The future belongs to all of us
Cassie Kozyrkov's (Google) presentation focused on the trending topic of artificial intelligence and machine learning. How can you leverage the potential, what are the opportunities, and what are the challenges?
Next level B2B sales – with Shopware & Digital Sales Rooms
Marcel Korzen (Wortmann), Felix Schmalenberger (Wortmann), and Martin Weinmayr introduced the Shopware tool Digital Sales Rooms. The Wortmann Group has already successfully implemented it and provides insight into the hybrid showroom concept of the Tamaris brand.
All the latest from Shopware
Aaron Schaarschmidt, Jonas Fuchs, and Stefan Dillage presented what we have promised on our roadmap, what we have released, and what is planned for the future. This included further insights into the groundbreaking AI Copilot and exciting information about the Shopware roadmap.
Developing a brand building ecommerce system: YT Industries & Shopware
Michael Höhn (YT Industries) shared in his presentation the advantages of Shopware 6, YT Industries' journey with Shopware, and the migration plans from version 5 to 6.
What you always wanted to know about cloud, PaaS, and SaaS but never dared to ask
Jonas Kröger (Platform.sh) fearlessly tackled complex subjects and provided easily understandable explanations regarding the different solutions.
Exploring Consumer Splintering: Finding your audience in fragmenting and shifting cultural environment
Thea Thaning (Trendbüro) delved into target groups and the current trend of fragmentation, along with the associated solutions through technological innovations.
All eyes on generative artificial intelligence
Frank Puscher (Speakers Delight) knows exactly where everyone's attention is focused. In his presentation, he and his guests addressed the latest developments surrounding AI.
How to build and sustain a successful ecommerce strategy
This topic was discussed by Vera Vaubel and Karen Verstraten (Stabilo) alongside Markus Diekmann (Shopware, Scale, Rose Bikes) and Tina Müller, the newest member of the Shopware Supervisory Board.
A big thank you
We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all the speakers, partners, the organizing team, and the Shopware community for an exceptional SCD 2023! 💙
Now Available: Videos from SCD 2023
Looking to dive deeper into some of the sessions? No worries! Starting today, you can access most of the videos from the Developer and Merchant Day. Grab a bag of popcorn and get ready to enjoy the show.
