Shopify agency Hamburg for brands that ship into Germany and the EU

    Our team in Hamburg builds Shopify stores for brands and trading companies that import goods, hold stock in Germany and sell to consumers and resellers. We connect the store to ERP and warehouse and take responsibility for data and sign-off, so that orders reach fulfilment without manual work.
    Request a project reviewSee cases from northern Germany
    Conversion rate at Gusti Leder
    +45%
    Gusti Leder to go-live
    8 weeks
    SMILODOX from kick-off to go-live
    2 months
    Shopify Plus Partner since
    April 2022
    Three women in SMILODOX activewear taking a selfie, a padel player and runners under palm treesMan carrying a brown leather messenger bag in front of a grey wallBouquet of orange roses against a light backgroundHands bending and rolling a blue Freiluftkind insole against a mint-green backgroundBearded man applying an eye serum roll-on under his eye in warm side light.Row of Cianni perfume bottles with black caps on a light reflective surface.Middle-aged woman walking along park steps in golden evening light.Woman applying PHARMOS NATUR facial spray in warm sunlight.Glass ampoules moving through a filling line in Heel's productionHand fastening a wooden chronograph watch with a green dial on the wristTwo More Money More Love outfits in motion: pink check jacket and white jersey with the number 10Man in a white T-shirt and black boxer briefs sitting on the floor of a loft by a window frontYoung man in a white Deputy T-shirt with mountain print in front of a wooden chaletTable tennis bat with red rubber standing on a dark surface in a pool of light

    Why do brands run their German and EU business through Hamburg?

    Hamburg is Germany's largest seaport, and a whole trade economy has grown around it: importers, wholesalers, mail-order companies and logistics providers.

    A brand that brings goods into the EU often lands them here, stores them nearby and ships across Germany and into neighbouring countries. In that setup the ERP is the system of record. The store sells what the warehouse reports, at the prices the ERP holds.

    We therefore decide first which system owns which data. Products, prices and stock come from the ERP. Shopify runs storefront, checkout and customer accounts. Every order returns to the ERP with payment method, tax and delivery address. German companies often use JTL, weclapp or Xentral, and the page on system integration describes how we connect them. For selling to several EU countries from one warehouse, see Shopify internationalization.

    Which clients from Hamburg and northern Germany do we work for?

    Gusti Leder in Rostock makes leather bags and sells them across Europe. Its Shopware store handled international markets only in fragments. We migrated more than 1,000 products, built an engraving configurator as a custom app, connected the ERP through a REST interface and set up Shopify Markets for the DACH countries, France and the United Kingdom. The store went live after eight weeks without interrupting daily business, and the conversion rate rose by 45 percent. Read the Gusti Leder case study.

    SMILODOX is registered in Hamburg and sells sportswear to consumers and to retailers. Both groups buy in one Shopify Plus setup, each with its own prices and its own area. The relaunch took two months from kick-off to go-live. The SMILODOX case study shows the steps, and the page on Shopify B2B explains the model.

    BlumeIdeal in Krummhörn, East Frisia, delivers flowers and had outgrown Shopware 5. The move to Shopify Plus took 50 days, the DNS switch about five minutes, and no order was lost. Delivery dates with cut-off times run through JTL-Worker Cloud. The conversion rate is 33 percent above the old store. Details are in the BlumeIdeal case study.

    Is the team on site in Hamburg?

    Members of our team work in Hamburg and run workshops at your office, where purchasing, warehouse and accounting can join. The company is registered in Breisach am Rhein near Freiburg. Our entry in the Shopify Partner Directory lists 19 reviews with a rating of 5.0.

    Why a Shopify agency that starts with the ERP?

    Most problems after a relaunch appear between store and ERP. We settle that part before anyone talks about design.

    • ERP integrations with evidence

      Gusti Leder runs on a REST interface to its ERP, BlumeIdeal on JTL-Worker Cloud.

    • Several EU markets from one store

      Gusti Leder sells in the DACH countries, France and the United Kingdom through Shopify Markets.

    • Consumers and resellers together

      At SMILODOX in Hamburg, both groups order in the same Shopify Plus setup.

    Which companies are a fit for our Hamburg team?

    We fit brands and trading companies whose store depends on ERP, warehouses and more than one customer group.

    • You hold stock in Germany

      Your warehouse or fulfilment partner needs orders in a fixed format and sends back tracking numbers.

    • Your ERP owns products and stock

      The store should display this data, not keep a second copy.

    • You sell to resellers as well

      Price lists, payment terms and minimum quantities should live in the same store.

    • You ship to several EU countries

      Tax, language and delivery times differ per country and need to be correct in checkout.

    When we are probably not the right fit

    • Your ERP has no interface and is not meant to get one.

    • Stock will be maintained by hand in the store for good.

    • There is no time for test orders with real data before launch.

    Brands we work for

    • Close-up of a black performance shirt with the white Smilodox logo on the chestSMILODOX
    • Hands opening a brown leather Gusti messenger bag and showing the inner compartmentsGusti Leder
    • Colourful meadow bouquet with sunflower, chamomile and alstroemeria in front of a wooden wallBlumeIdeal

    What do companies ask our Hamburg team for?

    How does a Shopify project with ERP integration run?

    1. Map the systems

      We record ERP, warehouse, shipping and accounting and note which system owns which data.

    2. Define the interfaces

      For products, prices, stock, orders and returns we decide direction and frequency of the data flow.

    3. Build store and integration

      Theme and interfaces are built side by side and filled with real data early.

    4. Test orders

      Orders of every kind run from checkout into the ERP and back before launch, including cancellation and return.

    5. Switch over

      Open orders are carried over, then the domain changes.

    What has to be settled before you ship into the EU?

    1. Importer of record

      Someone brings the goods into the EU and pays duties. The store needs to know whether prices include them.

    2. VAT per country

      Sales to consumers in other EU countries are taxed at the rate of the destination once you pass the EU-wide threshold.

    3. Warehouse locations

      Each warehouse is a location in Shopify. Rules decide which one ships an order.

    4. Returns address

      German customers expect a domestic return address and a refund that arrives without asking.

    5. Product data in German

      Units, sizes and mandatory product information are part of the product record.

    6. Order format for fulfilment

      The logistics partner defines the format. We build the interface to match it and test it with real orders.

    Projects from Rostock, Hamburg and East Frisia

    Three published projects for clients in northern Germany. The figures are taken from each case study.

    View cases

    Questions from trading companies and importers

    Do you have people in Hamburg?

    Yes. Our team in Hamburg joins workshops and sign-offs at your office. Development runs across a distributed team, and the company is registered in Breisach am Rhein near Freiburg.

    Can Shopify work with a third-party fulfilment provider in Germany?

    Yes. The provider is set up as a location, receives orders through an interface and returns tracking numbers. We agree the format with the provider before we build.

    Which ERP systems do you connect?

    In published projects we connected a proprietary ERP through REST for Gusti Leder, JTL-Worker Cloud for BlumeIdeal, weclapp for Blankroast and PlentyMarkets for Hairshop Pro. For SAP we have a separate page.

    Do we need one store per EU country?

    Usually not. Gusti Leder sells in the DACH countries, France and the United Kingdom from one store with Shopify Markets. Separate stores make sense when assortment or legal entity differ.

    Can business customers order in the same store?

    Yes. Shopify Plus holds business customers as company profiles with their own catalogs, prices and payment terms. SMILODOX uses one setup for both groups.

    What happens to open orders on the day of the switch?

    They move with the store. At BlumeIdeal all open orders and the order history were carried into the new store.
    Products migrated for Gusti Leder
    1,000+
    SMILODOX from kick-off to go-live
    2 months
    BlumeIdeal to go-live
    50 days
    Basket value at BlumeIdeal
    +29%

    What our clients say

    • “That was the calmest launch we’ve ever had.”

      Carolin Kampik

      Director Data & Technology, Groundies

    • “I can only recommend NICCOS - highly motivated, extremely fast execution, and customization was never an issue. Thanks to NICCOS we migrated from Shopware smoothly; it was one of the best decisions of the year.”

      Sebastian Braas

      Managing Director, BlumeIdeal

    Tell us about your ERP before we talk about the theme

    Name your ERP, warehouse locations and customer groups. We tell you which interfaces your project needs and where the risk lies.

    Request a project reviewView cases

    NICCOS

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