Shopware has announced that it will release two new software features: Flow Builder and Guided Shopping. This will make it easier for shop owners to customise the open source software.

The new updates were announced at this year’s Shopware Community Day in Schöppingen, Germany. This was the eleventh edition, and 5.000 participants from all over the world came together to discuss challenges of digital retail.

While the event started out as a small company exhibition, the large number of attendees and interesting speaker line-up show the growth of the global ecommerce community. Figures such as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Gary Vaynerchuck were part of the line-up of 92 speakers.

Automating processes

Shopware CEO Sebastian Hamann introduced two new software features. The first one is Flow Builder. This helps retailers automate their business processes, without having to write any code. Business owners without any development experience will thus be able to customize the software to their needs.

“Over the last couple of months, we have seen how important it is to react quickly to changing markets and be able to support emerging digital business models. The Flow Builder makes it easier than ever to intelligently model and automate these new processes”, says Hamann.

Interactive shopping events

The other feature is named Guided Shopping, which enables shop owners to create interactive events from their Shopware website. They can now start live video events for customers on to highlight products, without having to switch between a presentation tool, video conferencing system and store system. As this generates a way for shop owners to engage their customers, Shopware expects that Guided Shopping will reinforce brand loyalty.