FilmPal develops, produces, and distributes film solutions for architecture and automotive applications. The company was running its online store on an older version of Shopware 5, with a design that was no longer user-friendly and performance that needed improvement. The store also included custom configuration options that required manual management.FilmPal approached 2Hats Logic Solutions to migrate the store from Shopware 5 to Shopware 6, redesign the customer-facing experience, and improve how it managed its custom configurators. The project also involved developing a new Shopware theme and ensuring the store's custom functionality continued to work on the new platform.
FilmPal: Shopware 6 Migration, Redesign & Configurator Development
THE PROBLEM
An Outdated Store Experience and Limitations with the Existing Shopware Setup
FilmPal's existing online store needed improvements in both usability and performance. The design was not as user-friendly as it needed to be, making the overall shopping experience less intuitive for customers. The store's performance also needed attention to provide a faster and more responsive experience.
The store also relied on custom configuration options, but the existing functionality was not working as expected, and managing the configurations involved manual work. Improving this required changes to both the customer-facing configurators and the way they were managed in the backend.
At the same time, the store was running on an older version of Shopware 5 that could not use the standard Shopware Migration Assistant. This made moving the existing store data to Shopware 6 more complex and required a different approach to complete the migration.
THE CHALLENGES
Managing a Complex Migration while Rebuilding Custom Configurators
The project involved more than moving the store from Shopware 5 to Shopware 6. FilmPal also had three custom configurators with complex pricing and product combinations that needed to work correctly on the new platform. At the same time, the store had several other custom features and plugin dependencies that had to be considered during development.
Handling complex configurator requirements and pricing calculations.The three configurators involved different interactions between the storefront, backend, pricing logic, and other components. Understanding the requirements required multiple discussions, frontend sessions, demo pages, Figma designs, and documentation before the implementation could be finalised.
Adapting the configurators to B2B pricing.B2B pricing was introduced after the initial configurator requirements had been defined. The existing configurator therefore did not account for the customised B2B prices. The pricing logic had to be updated so the configurators used the applicable B2B pricing.
Keeping custom pricing consistent with analytics tracking.The price calculated by the configurator was not initially being passed correctly to Google Tag Manager. The tracking used the product's default price instead of the actual configured price, requiring an update to the tracking logic.
Managing compatibility with other plugins.The configurators had to work alongside existing plugins, including Back in Stock Notifications and Shopware Commercial. Compatibility issues were identified during development, and the implementation was adjusted accordingly.
Migrating data from an older Shopware 5 version.The existing Shopware 5 store could not use the standard Shopware Migration Plugin. Upgrading Shopware 5 which supports the migration plugin, was first considered, but the cost made this approach impractical. A custom migration plugin was therefore required to move the store data to Shopware 6.
Handling product variants and SEO URLs during migration.Shopware 5 and Shopware 6 handle variant URLs differently. The existing URL structure could not be transferred directly for all variants, so the differences in Shopware 6's SEO URL and canonical URL handling had to be considered and agreed with the client before implementation. The parent product uses the same URL in both Shopware 5 and Shopware 6.
Implementing custom shipping-cost calculations.The store required shipping costs to be calculated based on combinations of bundleable, non-bundleable, and assembly products in the cart. The standard Shopware shipping rules could not fully cover these combinations, so the required calculation logic had to be handled separately.
THE SOLUTION
A Redesigned Shopware 6 Store with Custom Configurators and a Tailored Migration Approach
We migrated FilmPal's store from Shopware 5 to Shopware 6 while redesigning the storefront and rebuilding key custom functionality for the new platform. The project started with new designs for the homepage, listing pages, detail pages, and all three configurators. The configurator designs were reviewed with the client before development to understand the requirements, confirm the expected user flow, and establish the backend architecture needed to manage the configurations. The three configurators were then developed with a focus on making product configuration easier for customers and simpler to manage in the backend. The implementation was also adapted to support FilmPal's B2B pricing, ensure the calculated configurator price was passed correctly to Google Tag Manager, and maintain compatibility with other plugins used by the store.
Custom migration from Shopware 5 to Shopware 6
Since the existing Shopware 5 version could not use the standard Shopware Migration Plugin, we developed a custom migration plugin. Data was extracted from the legacy database using SQL queries, converted into CSV files, and imported into the new Shopware 6 store through the custom plugin. The migration also included handling the differences in variant SEO URLs between Shopware 5 and Shopware 6. After discussing the URL structure and canonical URL behaviour with the client, the URLs were implemented according to Shopware 6's standard handling.
Custom functionality for the new store
We also developed custom logic for the store's shipping-cost requirements. The solution evaluates the combination of bundleable, non-bundleable, and assembly products in the cart and calculates shipping costs based on the required packaging rules.
Alongside the migration and custom development, we improved the website's overall performance and responsiveness. On-page SEO requirements were also reviewed throughout development to ensure the key elements were properly implemented on the new store. The result was a Shopware 6 store with a refreshed storefront, improved configurator experience, and custom functionality adapted to FilmPal's requirements.
THEN
NOW
THE RESULT
A Smoother Shopware Migration and Improved Store Experience
FilmPal now has a redesigned Shopware 6 store with a more user-friendly interface and improved performance. The three configurators provide a clearer configuration experience for customers, while the updated backend architecture makes the configuration options easier to manage. The custom migration approach allowed the store data to be moved from the older Shopware 5 version to Shopware 6 without relying on the standard migration plugin. The custom functionality, pricing logic, shipping calculations, and plugin integrations were also adapted to work with the new platform.
