Torwegge: A family business rooted in tradition
Founded in 1956 as a castor and wheel business operating out of a garage in Bielefeld, Torwegge GmbH & Co. KG is now one of Europe's leading suppliers of wheels, castors, conveyor technology, transport technology and handling technology, and intralogistics solutions. The team at the family business, which has already been around for six decades, advises its customers from the B2B sector on all aspects of the available products and develops suitable solutions according to their requirements – always with the aim of shaping the future.
Successful implementation in 9 months
The family firm's previous online shop ran on Magento 1.9. For the relaunch, Torwegge looked for a shop system that matched the current level of development. The choice fell on Shopware 6. "The decisive factor for us was that with Shopware 6 we have a modern and innovative shop system as a basic building block as well as modular add-ons for further developments in ecommerce," explains Christoph Haak, Head of eCommerce at Torwegge.
Support from the Shopware Partner Network
For the implementation of the project, Torwegge enlisted the support of Shopware Gold partner WEBneo Thanks to the agile and project-focused cooperation, the migration from Magento 1.9 to Shopware 6 was completed within 9 months. The online shop is hosted by certified Shopware hosting partner Profihost with Profihost Flex Server hosting scenario.
Extended reach through numerous sales channels
Linking sales and communication channels plays an important role in ecommerce in order to offer customers an optimal shopping experience. "We offer our customers a variety of interlinked channels in both sales and communication in order to respond optimally and quickly to individual needs," explains Christoph Haak, "The interlinking of the channels offers us the opportunity to get closer to the customer and to focus on their own experiences and needs." The shop's customers are also offered a unique buying experience with added value through the use of a total of five Shopping Experiences.
Shopware 6 impresses with performance and individuality
The switch to Shopware 6 enabled both better performance and individual design options in the frontend, as well as with regard to the technical interfaces. Due to this, Torwegge expects an overall increase in turnover of 10% this year. Further advantages achieved are the possibility of depicting the variants, the optimised item structure in the new online shop as well as the time-oriented design with creative freedom. In total, customers can browse through 144 categories in the new online shop, divided into 4 main categories as well as various sub-categories. Currently, there are over 31,000 items, with 7,000 already online.
Implementation of special features with Shopware 6
With the help of Shopware 6, special features that meet the company's specific requirements could be implemented. Among other features, Torwegge’s new online shop offers the option of live price calculation from Navison as well as stock and availability display. The order history was also linked to the Navison ERP system. The quick search is done via specific product numbers as well as mapping. By creating new interfaces to the ERP and PIM systems, it was possible to achieve more agile order processing and thus save time in the daily work in the shop.
In addition, the shop benefits from a list view with range bar, pictogram in the listing of the main properties as well as a detailed view with the corresponding information. In order to be able to display individual prices and availabilities to registered users, the company decided on a personalised template.
Further plans for the future
The Torwegge Group has given positive feedback on the relaunch of the online shop: "We’ve been able to achieve a shop with many new facets and clever ideas. We are now anticipating further optimisations in the area of usability," says Christoph Haak. In the future, the company is planning versions in more languages for European countries, configurators and an expansion of the product range for the new online shop. A connection between the online shop and the head office in Bielefeld as a POS will also be created in the future.
