Johannes Weithas GmbH & Co. KG is a family-run dental company based in Lütjenburg, Germany. With over 70 years in the market, they specialize in composites, prosthetic teeth, and dental plastics. What sets them apart is their precision and long-term relationships with dental professionals across Germany.
Their B2B online store had been running on Shopware 5 with deeply customized functionality. With Shopware 5 reaching the end of life, they needed a partner who could migrate everything to Shopware 6.
Johannes Weithas - German Dental Medical Devices Supplier
Client Location: Germany
The Problem
Two complex Shopware systems requiring flawless migration
With Shopware 5 approaching the end of life, Weithas needed to migrate to Shopware 6. But this was far from a standard migration. Their existing setup was deeply customized, documented across a 50-page functionality specification. They operated two separate Shopware 5 instances loaded with custom plugins and business logic.
Every custom functionality had to be replicated in Shopware 6 without exception. The architectural differences between the two platforms made this a genuine concern. Losing even one feature during transition was not an option for the client.
Weithas also required the design to remain visually identical after the upgrade. Their loyal customers, dental labs, and practices order regularly and expect consistency. Even though Shopware 5 and Shopware 6 have entirely different theming structures, nothing could look different.
On top of that, the Shopware 5 site had serious performance issues. Product and category imports relied on a separate CSV tool with its own login. This clunky workflow costs the team valuable time on every single update.
Weithas needed an agency with deep Shopware expertise to handle this complexity. They wanted zero feature loss and a smooth transition for their end users. We proved to be the right choice.
The Challenges
Real challenges behind a complex Shopware migration
A migration of this scale and complexity doesn't come without hurdles. Here's what we encountered and how our team solved each one:
Protecting data during imports. The original import process reset product data before every cycle, which meant any error mid-import could lead to permanent data loss. We implemented a backup system that automatically restores all product data if an import fails, ensuring zero data loss under any circumstance.
Preventing duplicate article numbers. Product variants were being fully regenerated with each import, occasionally creating duplicate article numbers in the system. We rebuilt the logic to update only changed variants and introduced temporary article number suffixes during the update process to prevent conflicts, restoring the original numbers once complete.
Stopping import queue collisions. The import queue could be triggered multiple times simultaneously, causing conflicts and corrupted data. We added concurrency checks that prevent a new import from starting while one is already in progress.
Maintaining order-product links after migration. After the initial migration pass, orders were not correctly linked to their associated products. We resolved this by sequencing the migration, processing products first, then orders, and ensuring every order correctly referenced the right product records.
Recovering missing orders. Some orders were lost in migration due to mismatched product IDs between the Shopware 5 and Shopware 6 databases. We updated the migration mapping to use the correct product identifiers, recovering all orders accurately.
Preserving design across fundamentally different architectures. The client required an exact visual match of their Shopware 5 store, but Shopware 5 and 6 use entirely different theming structures. This was compounded by the presence of multiple plugins that conflicted with custom overrides. Our team systematically overrode default Shopware 6 behaviors and rebuilt the theme to match the original pixel-for-pixel.
The Solution
A migration with custom-built modules engineered for zero disruption.
We migrated both Shopware 5 instances to a unified Shopware 6 environment. Here's what we delivered:
Full Shopware 5 to Shopware 6 migration: both instances consolidated into a single, modern Shopware 6 store.
Pixel-perfect custom theme: rebuilt from scratch to match the original Shopware 5 design exactly.
Custom product import module: integrated directly into the Shopware 6 admin panel, replacing the old external CSV tool. Admins import products, variants, and categories via a single CSV upload. The module compares, updates, removes, and promotes entries automatically.
Location-based agent & consultant system: displays dealers and sales agents on the frontend based on the customer's IP. Dental labs show by geographic proximity. Agent data imports are fully automated via cron jobs.
Custom VAT logic: tailored tax calculation on shipping costs for German compliance.
Advanced search & filtering: refined product search to help dental professionals find what they need fast.
Smart delivery time calculation: dynamic estimates that factor in order time, weekends, and German public holidays.
The Result
An upgrade that preserved 70 years of brand trust.
The new Shopware 6 store is now live with every feature from the 50-page specification intact. The design is virtually identical to the previous version across every page and category. Weithas's long-standing customers can continue ordering without any learning curve or disruption.
Site performance has improved significantly compared to the old Shopware 5 setup. Page loads are faster, and the backend is noticeably more responsive under daily use. Product imports that once required a separate tool and login now happen within seconds inside the Shopware 6 admin panel.
Every custom functionality has been preserved and rebuilt natively for Shopware 6. The store now runs on a modern, actively supported platform with long-term security and scalability.
