The Wortmann Group's success targeting diverse customer segments

Wortmann: one of the leading footwear manufacturers and distributors in Europe

The Wortmann Group, Detmold, known primarily for its Tamaris brand, is one of the largest shoe production and distribution companies in Europe and is considered the market leader for fashionable women's shoes. The collections are sold in over 70 countries and more than 10,000 shoe stores worldwide. In addition to the top brand Tamaris, the group includes the brands Marco Tozzi, Caprice, Peter Kaiser and Jana. The group also includes Novi Footwear International Co. Ltd. in Hong Kong, which counts numerous global brands and retail chains among its customers. Internationally, the group has almost 1,000 employees. Around 25,000 people work for the Detmold-based company worldwide.

The challenge

A key challenge for the Wortmann Group lay in the complexity of its extensive B2B customer database. While complexity is common in the B2B sector, Wortmann’s requirements stood out. The company needed to serve diverse customer segments – each with different delivery times, and product portfolios depending on market, customer group, and season – requiring a highly customized and flexible shop system. Additionally, a wide range of order processes, from store orders to main and repeat orders as well as pre-orders, had to be precisely mapped in the system. This placed high demands on the shop platform’s flexibility and performance, with a clear focus on accurately reflecting customers’ purchasing workflows.

Alongside these core challenges, Wortmann had two further priorities for Shopware 6: first, a substantial improvement in shop performance, as the integration of multiple business logics had previously led to performance bottlenecks on Shopware 5; and second, streamlined operational processes, with shop managers seeking a faster, more efficient way to build and manage shop pages. In the face of these complex requirements, Shopware 6 emerged as the ideal solution. The Wortmann Group ultimately chose to base its future digital strategy and development roadmap on this advanced and future-ready platform.

Shopware 6 for complex B2B business needs

With the switch to Shopware 6, the Wortmann Group has successfully modernized its B2B ecommerce landscape. The project team developed five specialized B2B shops and seamlessly integrated them into a centralized B2B portal. While each shop features its own unique theme, together they deliver a consistent, unified shopping experience across three languages: English, German, and French.

The migration also gave Wortmann the opportunity to fully leverage Shopware’s Shopping Experiences, customizing them with numerous bespoke elements in a responsive grid system. The company further optimized its complex inventory management process, ensuring that B2B customers enjoy a smooth and reliable purchasing journey. Impressively, all of these enhancements came without sacrificing performance – in fact, page speed improved by an outstanding 200%.

Wortmann was especially impressed with the frontend capabilities of Shopware 6, particularly the redesigned Shopping Experiences. While Shopware 5 offered similar functionality, the Shopware 6 version is far more intuitive and offers even greater flexibility in design. This not only elevates the customer experience but also streamlines backend processes, significantly reducing the time and effort required for the shop team to create and manage pages.

Digital Sales Rooms for exceptional customer service

The Wortmann Group has taken its customer service to the next level by integrating Shopware’s Digital Sales Rooms as a progressive web app (PWA) solution. Through a personalized web link, customers are invited to an interactive environment where they can browse products independently or participate in guided sales consultations with direct purchasing options.

This innovation enables Wortmann to offer fully remote customer appointments – providing powerful support to its field sales team of over 160 representatives.
Digital Sales Rooms have become the ideal extension of Wortmann’s traditional B2B shop, enhancing personal customer engagement in the digital space. This feature creates a flexible, customer-focused experience and strengthens Wortmann’s sales approach by seamlessly combining the convenience of ecommerce with the value of personalized consultation.

Read more: One year after introducing Digital Sales Rooms

Looking ahead: Wortmann sets new B2B benchmarks with Shopware

With the launch of Shopware 6, the Wortmann Group has ushered in a new era of B2B ecommerce. By seamlessly blending self-service features with advanced sales tools like Digital Sales Rooms, the project reflects Wortmann’s forward-thinking and innovative approach. What began as a transformation driven by the challenges of the pandemic has evolved into the long-term integration of powerful digital sales solutions. The Digital Sales Rooms, in particular, have surpassed expectations – impressing both customers and employees – and stand as clear proof of the system’s future-readiness.

The project takeaway is unmistakable: the smart use of digital technologies and the reimagining of traditional business models are invaluable assets in today’s fast-moving market. Looking ahead, Wortmann is committed to continuing this path, with plans to further enhance its B2B ecommerce ecosystem by expanding the use of Shopware into its physical showrooms.