Don’t look for a system. Look for an advantage
Why choosing an e-commerce platform is a decision about your company’s future – not just about technology
Where does true e-commerce growth begin?
Many companies treat the decision to choose a sales platform as an IT project. They start with a checklist: design aligned with the brand book, integration with Amazon, payments system, a size filter. The next step is to look for a system that “meets the requirements” and allows for a quick launch of online sales. From the perspective of many departments, it’s just another implementation task.
But online commerce – especially in B2B or competitive markets – no longer works like a packaged application you simply launch and maintain. A successful e-commerce platform is an extension of your business model. It determines the direction in which your company will grow. That means the question shouldn’t be “which system?”, but rather: what do you want to achieve as a company – and what kind of advantage should your technology deliver?
Technology is a tool, not the solution
At CREHLER, we always start our projects by defining the business objective – not listing features. We begin with a conversation: What problem are you trying to solve? Which sales processes are inefficient? Where are you losing customers, time, or control? What are the real limitations of your current setup – whether that’s an old platform, an Excel catalog, or orders placed over the phone?
These are questions that go beyond IT. They touch on sales operations, information flow, team structure, and customer expectations. Only with this understanding can you choose a technology that truly supports transformation – not one that simply replicates the status quo.
What happens when you choose a “ready-made system”?
Companies that prioritize short-term convenience and opt for SaaS platforms often hit a wall early on. The cost of entry may be low, but the price of limited flexibility is high. A sales model that works well for one segment quickly becomes a barrier in another. Introducing new features takes weeks because it depends on the provider’s support. Automating warehouse workflows or setting custom discount rules turns out to be impossible. Eventually, teams start building “workarounds,” “manual steps,” and “temporary fixes” just to keep things running. That’s a dangerous moment – because the company not only loses efficiency, but starts reorganizing itself around the limitations of the technology, instead of the other way around.
Shopware: a space for processes that really work
That’s exactly why we choose to work with Shopware. Not because it’s trendy. Not because it’s open-source. But because it allows us to design real, business-driven architecture – tailored to your company, not the other way around.
Shopware enables the creation of platforms that grow with your business. Instead of a one-size-fits-all solution, you get the freedom to define your own purchasing rules, user roles, pricing structures, authorization models, delivery schedules, and integrations with ERP, WMS, PIM, marketplaces, or payment systems. You can create staging and testing environments, develop new features iteratively, and keep improving the platform without interrupting daily operations. You have direct control over how the cart functions, how discounts are calculated, and how the system behaves under high loads or complex orders.
For companies that see e-commerce not as a side channel, but as the core of their sales strategy – this flexibility directly translates into business performance.
Transformation starts from within
What separates successful implementations from costly missteps is mindset. Companies that achieve long-term results don’t ask “what can this system do?” – they ask “can this system support the way we work?”
Implementing an e-commerce platform should never be handled by IT alone. It’s a cross-functional process that requires the involvement of sales, customer service, logistics, procurement, and often also legal and executive teams. Why? Because your platform touches all these domains. And if it’s meant to work effectively, it has to reflect real-world processes and support their evolution – not reduce them to “what the system allows.”
CREHLER: building value through implementation
At CREHLER, we don’t “build webshops.” We design and implement complex e-commerce solutions that function like well-structured business processes. We don’t work from templates. We don’t select a system before understanding your company. And we don’t disappear after launch.
What sets us apart is not just the technology – but our method. We run workshops. We map your internal workflows. We develop custom integrations. And we support your long-term growth. We build platforms that evolve with you – whether you’re in B2C or operating a highly structured B2B environment with individual pricing, user hierarchies, authorization flows, and advanced analytics.
Don’t look for a system. Look for direction.
Choosing to implement a new sales platform is a turning point for your business. That decision will determine whether you gain an advantage – or a limitation. Whether your customers experience speed, convenience, and personalization – or walk away. Whether your team operates efficiently – or gets stuck managing exceptions manually.
That’s why before you choose a system, ask yourself: Where do you want your business to go? And what kind of technology will help you get there?
If you don’t want to answer that question alone – we’re here to help.
