Transforming traditional companies into digital ones – how to get started

Digital transformation very often starts in companies with one simple sentence: “we finally need to do e-commerce”. Sometimes the impulse is a decline in the effectiveness of traditional sales. Sometimes it is pressure from customers, who increasingly ask about the possibility of placing orders online. Sometimes it is competition that has launched a B2B platform or marketplace. Sometimes it is the management board, which sees the rising costs of manual service. Sometimes it is the sales department, which is no longer able to handle the growing number of inquiries, price lists, offers, documents and order statuses without greater support from technology.

The problem is that the decision itself to “go digital” is not yet transformation. Launching an online store, B2B panel, ordering platform or new system does not automatically mean that the company becomes digital. Very often, a traditional organization transfers its existing problems into technology: manual processes, scattered data, unclear responsibilities, no single source of truth, historical exceptions, undocumented commercial terms, dependence on individual people and a way of working based on emails, spreadsheets and phone calls.

Then digitalization does not simplify the company’s operations. It only creates a new layer on top of old chaos.

That is why the transformation of a traditional company into a digital one should not start with choosing a platform, website layout or list of features. It should start with understanding how the company really works. How it sells. How it receives orders. How it serves customers. Where data is created. Who knows the commercial terms. What the document flow looks like. How the warehouse works. What information goes into ERP. Which processes are repetitive. Where customers most often need contact with a sales representative. Which activities can be automated and which still require a human.

From our perspective at CREHLER, the most important question at the beginning of transformation is not: “what system should we implement?”. A much more important question is: “what way of operating the company do we want to build with technology?”.

Why traditional companies can no longer postpone digitalization

For many years, many trading, manufacturing and distribution companies could grow without an advanced digital channel. Sales were based on relationships, sales representatives, regular customers, phone calls, emails, PDFs, spreadsheets with price lists and manual order handling. This model worked as long as the scale was manageable, customers accepted longer response times, and the number of sales channels and integrations was limited.

Today, this model is increasingly no longer enough. Customers, including B2B customers, expect access to information in near real time. They want to see prices, availability, order statuses, documents, purchase history and cooperation terms without having to wait for a response from a sales representative. Companies want to develop sales in new markets, integrate marketplaces, automate service, use data, implement AI, improve customer experience and reduce operational cost.

This direction is also visible in market data. Eurostat indicates that in 2024, enterprises in the European Union generated 19.49% of total turnover from e-sales, covering orders through websites, applications or other electronic sales channels. This shows that digital sales are no longer an add-on, but an increasingly important part of the turnover of companies in Europe. (ec.europa.eu)

At the same time, the European Union, as part of the Digital Decade programme, monitors progress in digital transformation until 2030 in areas such as digital skills, infrastructure, business digitalization and digital public services. The very fact that business digitalization is one of the key strategic areas at the European level shows that we are not talking about a temporary trend, but about the direction of economic development. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu)

For traditional companies, this means one thing: the lack of digital transformation is no longer neutral. It is no longer just “the absence of a new channel”. It becomes a limitation in scaling sales, serving customers, using data, automation, recruitment, foreign expansion and building competitive advantage.

Digital transformation does not start with technology

The biggest mistake we see in companies starting transformation is treating technology as the starting point. The company starts with the question: “what store should we implement?”, “should we choose SaaS or open source?”, “how much will the platform cost?”, “how quickly will we launch e-commerce?”, “what features should we have at the start?”. These are important questions, but they should not be the first ones.

The first question should be: “what exactly do we want to change in the way the company operates?”.

If a traditional company today operates mainly through sales representatives, emails and manual processes, it is necessary first to understand which elements of this model are value and which are limitations. Customer relationships are value. Sales representatives’ knowledge is value. An individual approach to the customer may be value. But manually rewriting orders, searching for documents, sending the same price lists, confirming availability, handling repetitive questions and lack of visibility of data in one place are not an advantage. They are an operational cost.

McKinsey, in one of its studies on the operating model, indicates that an operating model is the backbone of an organization because it defines how the company delivers value to customers, operates on a daily basis and implements strategic goals. This is very important in the context of digital transformation, because technology does not operate in a vacuum. It strengthens or organizes the operating model, but it will not replace its conscious design. (mckinsey.com)

That is why digitalization should be treated as a change in the operating model, not only as the implementation of a tool. An e-commerce platform, PIM, ERP, WMS, CRM, marketplace, AI or marketing automation make sense only when it is clear what role they play in the entire company ecosystem. Otherwise, the company may buy modern systems that will handle old problems in a slightly more digital form.

Where to start? With a process map, not a list of features

The first step should be process mapping. Not in the form of a general description of “sales, warehouse, invoice”, but in the form of a concrete understanding of how an order, information and responsibility really flow.

It is necessary to see where the customer gets information about the offer. How they ask about the price. How they confirm availability. How they place an order. Who receives it. Who checks the terms. Where the order goes. Who corrects the data. Who issues documents. Who informs the customer about the status. Who handles a complaint. Who knows the exceptions. Which activities are performed manually. Which happen outside the system. Which depend on one person.

In traditional companies, it very often turns out that the process does not exist as a process. It exists as a set of habits, team knowledge, files, emails, arrangements with customers and exceptions that everyone considers “normal”. As long as the company operates on a small scale, such a model may survive. When the need arises to develop e-commerce, automation or enter new markets, it starts to become a barrier.

A process map allows you to understand what really should be digitalized. Sometimes the most important problem is not the lack of an online store, but the lack of organized product data. Sometimes the biggest barrier is not the frontend, but inconsistent prices in ERP. Sometimes the customer does not use the online channel not because the platform is inconvenient, but because they do not see their commercial terms. Sometimes e-commerce does not grow because the integration with the warehouse does not show reliable availability.

Without such a diagnosis, a company can implement a platform that looks correct, but does not solve the most important operational problems.

Second step: organizing data

Digital transformation of traditional companies very often stops at data. The company wants to launch e-commerce, but it turns out that product data is scattered across Excel files, supplier descriptions, PDF catalogues, folders with photos and the ERP system. It wants to implement B2B self-service, but individual prices are partly in ERP, partly in spreadsheets and partly in the heads of sales representatives. It wants to automate sales, but it does not have a single source of truth for product availability. It wants to implement AI, but the data is not complete and consistent enough.

In a traditional company, data was often created to support current internal work. In a digital company, data must be ready to work in channels, systems and automations. This is a completely different level of requirements. A product cannot have only a name and a price. It needs attributes, images, descriptions, variants, documentation, categories, translations, technical data, logistics information and relations with other products. A B2B customer cannot be only a record in ERP. They need roles, permissions, terms, history, limits, documents and organizational context.

That is why very often one of the first elements of transformation should be PIM or at least a project to organize the product data model. Without this, e-commerce may launch, but it will be difficult to scale. Every new market, marketplace, language, sales channel or AI feature will require additional work because the data foundation has not been prepared.

The same applies to customer data, orders, price lists and stock levels. A digital company must know which systems are sources of truth. ERP may be the source for prices and orders. PIM for product data. WMS for availability and warehouse operations. CRM for sales relationships. The e-commerce platform for customer experience and the sales channel. If these roles are not clearly defined, transformation very quickly turns into a series of point integrations and manual workarounds.

Third step: choosing the first scope of transformation

Traditional companies often try to digitalize everything at once. They want a new platform, full integration with ERP, PIM, WMS, CRM, marketplaces, B2B, B2C, cross-border, marketing automation, AI, personalization and an advanced customer panel. The ambition is understandable, but too broad a scope at the start may increase project risk.

A better approach is to choose the first scope of transformation that has real business value and allows the company to build a foundation for the next stages. For one company, this will be a B2B platform with individual prices and order history. For another, organizing product data and implementing PIM. For a third, integrating e-commerce with ERP and automating orders. For a fourth, a customer portal that relieves sales representatives and customer service. For a fifth, entering cross-border sales.

The most important thing is that the first stage should not be a random MVP understood as “the cheapest version of the store”. It should be a minimal but strategic scope that solves a specific problem and creates a foundation for development. A good transformation MVP does not mean an unimportant project. It means a consciously limited stage that allows the company to start working digitally without trying to implement everything at once.

At CREHLER, we very often help companies precisely at this stage: to separate what is needed at the start from what should be planned in the roadmap. This is important because traditional companies often have a very large number of needs, but not all of them should be implemented simultaneously. Transformation requires priorities.

Fourth step: understanding the role of e-commerce in the whole company

In a traditional company, e-commerce is sometimes treated as a separate sales channel. There is the sales department, there are sales representatives, there is the warehouse, there is ERP, there is marketing, and next to it appears the “online store”. This way of thinking very quickly limits the potential of transformation.

A modern e-commerce platform should not be a separate add-on. It should be the operational layer of sales, connected with the company’s data, processes and systems. In B2B, it can take over part of the handling of repetitive orders, provide customers with documents, show individual prices, support quoting, handle roles and approvals and reduce the number of inquiries to sales representatives. In B2C, it can integrate online sales, marketplaces, warehouse, marketing automation, personalization and customer service. In a hybrid model, it can connect B2B, B2C, D2C, marketplace and cross-border sales into one ecosystem.

Shopware, in materials concerning the B2B Ecommerce Compass 2026, emphasizes that intelligent B2B commerce is based on digital maturity and a solid, scalable e-commerce foundation that enables automation, long-term growth and agentic commerce. This is an important direction because it shows that e-commerce is no longer just a frontend, but the foundation for the next stages of digital development. (shopware.com)

That is why it is worth asking at the beginning what role the platform should play in the company in two, three and five years. Is it supposed to be only a channel for placing orders? Is it supposed to relieve sales representatives? Is it supposed to support international sales? Is it supposed to integrate marketplaces? Is it supposed to be a customer portal? Is it supposed to become the foundation for AI, automation and agentic commerce? The answer affects the architecture from day one.

Fifth step: integrations as a foundation, not an add-on

In traditional companies, key processes are very often already partly handled by systems: ERP, warehouse, accounting, CRM, logistics systems, tools used by sales representatives, supplier files, marketplaces. The problem is that these systems do not always create a coherent ecosystem. Data is transferred manually, exported to files, corrected in spreadsheets or passed between departments by email.

Digital transformation requires changing this model. Integrations are not a technical add-on at the end of the project. They are one of the most important elements of architecture. They determine whether the customer will see the correct price, whether the stock level will be up to date, whether the order will go to ERP, whether the document will appear in the customer panel, whether the product will be published correctly on the marketplace, whether data will be available for reporting and automation.

In a traditional company, many errors could be “caught manually”. In a digital company, processes must work on a larger scale and with fewer interventions. This means that integrations must not only be implemented, but also designed: with a clear direction of data flow, a defined source of truth, error handling, monitoring, retries, logs and responsibility for maintenance.

If integrations are designed accidentally, transformation becomes fragile. The platform may work on the frontend, but the sales process will still require manual control. This is one of the most common reasons why e-commerce in traditional companies does not deliver the expected efficiency.

Sixth step: changing the role of people in the organization

Digital transformation does not mean that the system replaces people. It means that people stop performing some repetitive activities and can focus on higher-value work. This is especially important in companies that have built sales on commercial relationships for years.

A sales representative should not be a system for checking availability. Customer service should not manually send documents that the customer can download from the panel. Marketing should not have to ask several departments for product data every time. The e-commerce manager should not manually reconcile data between ERP, PIM and the platform. The operations department should not correct orders that could have been correctly transferred through integration.

Digitalization therefore changes roles. The sales representative becomes an advisor and relationship manager, not an order administrator. Customer service focuses on real problems, not repetitive questions. The e-commerce manager manages the process and channel development, instead of manually putting out errors. IT and the technology partner not only implement features, but take care of architecture, integrations and ecosystem stability.

This requires internal communication. The team must understand why the company is changing, which processes will be moved into the system, what will be automated, which decisions still require a human and how everyday work will change. Without this, transformation may encounter resistance, even if it is technologically well designed.

Seventh step: choosing a platform that will not block development

Only after understanding processes, data, integrations and goals is it worth moving on to the technology decision. The platform should respond not only to today’s scope, but also to future scale. A traditional company that starts transformation often does not need all advanced features immediately. However, it needs an architecture that will not block the next stages.

This is particularly important in companies that plan to develop B2B, cross-border, marketplace, omnichannel, integrations with ERP/PIM/WMS/CRM, headless, personalization, automation and AI. The platform must be flexible, but not chaotic. It should allow the company to manage multiple channels, work with different customer models, handle complex product data, integrate with systems and develop without having to build everything from scratch each time.

Shopware is a good example of a platform that can support companies in this model, because it combines an API-first approach, integration capabilities, architecture flexibility and features important for complex B2B scenarios. Shopware B2B Components include, among others, quick orders, employee management, quote management, shopping lists and approval rules and rights, i.e. elements particularly important for companies that want to move the purchasing processes of business customers to the digital channel. (shopware.com)

However, no platform will carry out the transformation by itself. The value of the implementation is determined by how the architecture is designed: how processes are mapped, where the data comes from, how integrations work, how the company manages the catalogue, how B2B customers are served, which processes are automated and how the platform will be developed after launch.

The most common pitfalls at the beginning of transformation

The first pitfall is trying to digitalize chaos. The company wants to implement a platform without first organizing data, processes and responsibilities. As a result, the system becomes a new place where old problems are visible.

The second pitfall is too broad a scope at the start. The company wants to implement everything simultaneously, which makes the project difficult to control and architectural decisions are made under pressure. Phasing is better, but it should be based on strategy, not on random cutting of features.

The third pitfall is treating e-commerce as a marketing project or solely an IT project. Digital transformation affects sales, operations, data, warehouse, finance, customer service and the management board. If the project is closed within one department, it will quickly encounter limitations.

The fourth pitfall is the lack of a business owner. The platform may be implemented technically, but if no one on the company’s side is responsible for process development, customer adoption, data quality and measuring results, transformation stops after go-live.

The fifth pitfall is the lack of success metrics. The company launches the platform, but does not know whether the project has actually reduced the number of manual orders, shortened service time, improved data availability, increased the share of the digital channel or relieved sales representatives. Without metrics, it is difficult to manage transformation.

How to measure progress in digital transformation

Digital transformation should not be evaluated only by whether the platform has been launched. Go-live is important, but it is not the end of the process. Much more important is whether the way the company operates has changed.

It is worth measuring what percentage of orders goes through the digital channel, how many of them do not require manual correction, how many customers regularly log in to the platform, how often they use order history, documents, offers, quick orders and self-service. It is worth checking whether the number of repetitive inquiries to sales representatives has decreased, whether the order handling time has shortened, whether the number of data errors has decreased, whether the product publication process is faster, whether integrations work stably and whether the team can develop the channel without constantly putting out fires.

In B2B, measuring the adoption of key customers is particularly important. If only smaller customers use the platform, while the most important customers still work outside the system, it is worth checking what they are missing: prices, documents, roles, approvals, integrations, quick orders, quoting, statuses, history or trust in data.

Operational metrics also matter in digital transformation. How long does it take to prepare a product for sale? How many times does an order require manual correction? How many inquiries concern status or documents? How much data is manually moved between systems? How many exceptions require the intervention of a sales representative? These are the indicators that show whether the company is really becoming digital or only has a new platform.

The role of CREHLER: from strategy to implementation

At CREHLER, we look at digital transformation of traditional companies as a process that combines strategy, technology, data, integrations and operational change. We do not start with the implementation of the store itself. We start with understanding how the company works and what should change thanks to technology.

We analyze sales processes, product data, customer model, integrations, ERP, PIM, WMS, CRM, the work of sales representatives, order handling, documents, price lists, roles, sales channels and business goals. Only on this basis can a platform be designed that will not be just a new interface, but a real element of the company’s transformation.

In Shopware-based projects, it is particularly important to us that the platform is ready not only for the first stage, but also for further development. Traditional companies rarely go through full transformation in one step. First, they organize data, launch a B2B or B2C channel, integrate ERP, automate orders, implement PIM, develop a customer portal, enter marketplaces, add new markets, and later prepare for AI, personalization and more advanced sales models.

That is why architecture must be designed with the future in mind. If the company makes accidental decisions at the start, in two years it may turn out that every next stage is expensive and difficult. If it builds a solid foundation from the beginning, transformation can develop in stages, without constantly rebuilding the basics.

Our role as a technology partner is not only to deliver the system, but also to help organize decisions. What should be implemented now? What should be prepared for the next stage? Which processes should be simplified? Which data should be organized? Which integrations are critical? Where is the platform standard enough, and where is customization needed? How can we avoid transferring old problems into the new system?

From a traditional company to a digital organization

Digital transformation does not mean that the company should stop being itself. It is not about abandoning relationships, the experience of sales representatives, industry knowledge and an individual approach to customers. It is about stopping the reliance of development on processes that do not scale in the digital world.

A traditional company may have a huge advantage: it knows its customers, knows the market, has experience, relationships, a product, history and trust. Digital transformation should strengthen this advantage, not replace it. A well-designed platform allows customers to buy faster, sales representatives to advise better, operations to work more efficiently, the management board to make decisions based on data, and the company to develop sales without proportionally increasing service costs.

That is why the question “how to start digital transformation?” should not immediately lead to choosing a tool. It should lead to a conversation about processes, data, customers, integrations and the company’s operating model. Only then does technology become the right answer.

At CREHLER, we help companies move from a traditional sales model to a scalable digital ecosystem based on Shopware. If your organization wants to start digital transformation, it is worth beginning by organizing how sales, customer service, data and operations really work. This is where the difference begins between implementing an online store and making a real change in the way the company operates.