What was the most anticipated event in November for online merchants? Black Friday, without a doubt. But there are also several things that happened last month that are especially important for Shopware store owners and anyone evaluating the platform.

With Shopware’s November updates, we’re seeing a heavy focus on aspects like UX, security, and privacy. This isn’t a surprise, since all three are trending for online businesses and we will see it’s importance rise over the upcoming months and years.

Please read a more detailed description below on what updates did Shopware store owners benefit from last month.

1. User-friendly error handling during checkout (UX)

User-friendly = happier customers = more revenue.

The checkout process is a crucial part of the whole shopping experience. With this month’s update, Shopware is making it even easier to optimize.

Right now when a payment error occurs during checkout, your customers will be able to understand what happened easier and still complete the purchase with a different payment method. The guidance system and messaging are simpler and clearer.

Why should you be excited about it? In fact, 39% of customers will simply give up purchasing from your store if they encounter a payment error.

That’s why optimizing the error experience is important for your revenue, and Shopware now helps you take care of that.

But that’s not the whole story.

There will still be plenty of customers who will leave your store. To make sure you can get them back and keep them in the loop, you will be able to choose when an e-mail notification will be sent.

Important – this change affects outgoing e-mails. Please visit the Settings -> Event actions sections to adjust the new settings.

2. New Product Search Keywords (UX)

A properly set-up search engine can be a lifesaver for your customers (and your business).

Your customers might not always be aware of what they are looking for or what is the exact product’s name.

They may search for your brand on Google and land on your homepage. If your store’s navigation is not intuitive, finding the right product can be hard enough to abandon your store and look for it in your competitors’ ones.link

In both scenarios, they will first head to that search bar in your store’s header.

The hard part with setting up search right?

You have too many things to consider. Search results relevance is mostly tied to the data you already have displayed about your product. Product names, descriptions, categories names. So how can you squeeze in additional words by which your customers can find the desired product?

You no longer have to worry about that.

With Search Keywords, you can define by which additional keywords your customers can find a specific product without making a mess in your titles and descriptions.

3. Individual Sortings AKA product listing order (UX)

The Default Effect states that the most frequently chosen settings or options are the ones presented as default. The same thing applies to eCommerce and sorting your product listing.

This means that whatever product sorting you have enabled by default, you can make good use of it to support your sales and stock management. That’s how most of your customers will browse your store – using default sorting.

Let’s consider the following use case:

You have overstock items taking your warehouse space. It’s either not free or can be better used for high-sales products.

With a “Product stock” sorting criteria you can put your overstock items at the top of the product listing. That will get them in front of more customers, give them a sales boost, and free up your inventory.

Other sorting conditions include:

  • Release date
  • Product stock
  • Product review
  • Product list price
  • Product name
  • Product number
  • Sold units
  • Custom field

4. Deactivate filter options with no results (UX)

Filtering is one of the fastest and most convenient ways for your customers to find the exact product they need.

If you offer several product variants based on color, size, or other product properties, it becomes much easier to navigate for your customers.

But there’s one problem with product filters – they are not always accurate. How many times have you used a filter in an online store just to see that there are no relevant products available? That’s bad UX and if it happens several times you probably would leave and look for the product elsewhere.

Your customers won’t have to experience this anymore.

If you have any filters that would return no suitable products, they will simply be greyed-out and unavailable for your customers to tick.

5. Access Control List (Security)

A highly anticipated feature that is finally available to all Shopware store owners.

An Access Control List (also known as Roles & Permissions) is a management system that lets you create specific roles inside your Shopware admin panel.

With this new addition, you can limit what options and data are available to users with specific roles. This may be especially useful if you’re managing a large number of employees to declutter their admin panel or limit access for external agencies.

Summary

All the updates we saw from Shopware in November let us predict the course in which the platform is being developed, and it surely is aligned with merchants’ best interest. Here you can also find an official Shopware roadmap. If you’re considering Shopware for your next eCommerce project, feel free to contact us!