Choosing the right eCommerce platform: A comparison of OXID and Shopware

What is OXID eShop?

Oxid eShop is an open-source eCommerce platform developed in Germany, offering businesses a solution for building and managing online stores. While it provides essential features like product management, order processing, customer management, marketing tools, and customizable design templates, it's worth noting that it may not offer as many features as some other platforms. Nonetheless, its customisable and scalable nature makes it suitable for businesses of all sizes. Additionally, the platform supports multiple languages and currencies, appealing to businesses with international operations. Moreover, Oxid eShop benefits from a dedicated community of developers who contribute to its ongoing improvement and development.

What is Shopware?

Shopware is a leading eCommerce platform developed in Germany. It provides a powerful solution for businesses to create and manage online stores. Shopware is known for its flexibility, scalability and rich feature set, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes, from small start-ups to large enterprises.

Key features of Shopware include customisable design templates, an intuitive content management system (CMS), robust product management, marketing tools and a wide range of extensions and plugins to extend functionality. It also offers support for multiple payment gateways, shipping options and multilingual capabilities, allowing businesses to reach a global audience.

One of Shopware's differentiators is its focus on providing a seamless shopping experience through innovative features such as storytelling capabilities, emotional shopping experiences and advanced personalisation options.

Shopware offers several editions tailored to the specific needs of businesses, including Community Edition (open source), Professional Edition and Enterprise Edition, each offering different levels of features and support.

Differences between Shopware and OXID  

Shopware and OXID eShop are both popular eCommerce platforms, but they have some differences in terms of features, architecture, and target audience. Here are some of the main differences between the two:

Symfony vs PHP

Shopware: Built on Symfony, Shopware follows a modular architecture that allows for flexibility and scalability. It uses modern technologies and follows best practices in software development.

OXID eShop: OXID eShop is built on PHP and uses its own framework. It has a modular architecture that allows for customisation but may not be as flexible or modern as Shopware in terms of the technology stack.

Shopware has more advanced features

Shopware: Known for its extensive feature set, Shopware offers advanced features such as storytelling capabilities, emotional shopping experiences and advanced personalisation options out-of-the-box. It also offers a wide range of marketing tools and integrations.

OXID eShop: OXID eShop offers a wide range of features for creating and managing online stores, including product management, order processing, customer management and marketing tools. Although it lacks some of the advanced features of Shopware, it provides a solid foundation for eCommerce operations.

Differences on flexibility

Shopware: Shopware offers extensive customisation options through its theme system, plugin architecture and API. This allows developers to create unique shopping experiences and tailor the platform to specific business needs.  

OXID eShop: OXID eShop also offers customisation options through themes, modules and extensions. While not as flexible as Shopware in terms of architecture, it still allows for significant customisation to meet the needs of different businesses.

Suitable for businesses of all sizes

Shopware: Shopware is suitable for businesses of all sizes, from small start-ups to large enterprises. It is designed for businesses looking for a modern, feature-rich eCommerce platform with a focus on user experience and innovation.  

OXID eShop: OXID eShop is also suitable for businesses of different scales, with a focus on scalability and reliability. It is a solid choice for businesses looking for a stable, customisable eCommerce solution with a strong community and support network.

Why Shopware is the better option?

Collaborative options and licence models: Both Shopware and Oxid eShop offer community editions along with commercial licensing options. The availability of Professional and Enterprise Editions provides users with additional features and support options.  

Backend User Interface: Shopware's backend interface has been praised for its ease of use and intuitive design, which sets it apart from Oxid eShop. This difference has been noticeable since Shopware 5 and has continued with the release of Shopware 6.  

Market share in Germany: Shopware has gained significant market share in Germany, becoming one of the top online shop software providers in the country. This can be seen in the market share statistics for eCommerce platforms, as well as by the usage distribution in Germany.

Module-based approach: Shopware uses a module-based approach that allows for easy integration of additional functionality through modules, plug-ins and interfaces. This flexibility allows users to tailor the platform to their specific needs.  

Performance: Shopware is known for its high performance, even when handling large product catalogues with many variants. This scalability is important to ensure a smooth and efficient shopping experience for customers.

We are an experienced eCommerce agency specialising in Shopware solutions, dedicated to assisting you on your eCommerce journey. Whether you're looking to launch a new online store, optimise your existing Shopware setup, or require ongoing support, we're here to help. Contact us today to discuss your eCommerce needs. We look forward to hearing from you!

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