Shop System
A shop system is the software a company uses to run an online store: it presents products, guides customers through the ordering process and handles payment and order intake. The shop system forms the sales front end, while stock, prices and orders usually come from a connected ERP system.
A shop system is the software that makes it possible to run an online store. It displays the product catalog, guides customers from the first click through the cart to payment, and receives the resulting order. The shop system is thus a retailer’s digital sales floor – comparable to the store premises, the shelves and the checkout of a brick-and-mortar shop, only fully mapped into software and available around the clock.
Technically, a shop system consists of two halves: the storefront, meaning the visible surface with home page, categories, product detail pages and checkout, and the backend, where operators maintain products, set up payment methods and manage orders. In practice a shop system rarely stands alone but is part of a larger system landscape: product data often comes from a PIM, stock and prices from the ERP or inventory management system, and payments run through connected payment providers. The shop system is therefore the sales channel, not the data hub.
At a glance
- Shop system = software for running an online store (sales front end)
- Two parts: storefront (customer view) and backend (administration)
- Core functions: product catalog, cart, checkout, payment, order intake
- Draws stock, prices and products mostly from ERP/PIM, not maintained itself
- Operating models: SaaS/hosted, open source, headless or website builder
Components of a shop system
A complete shop system covers the entire path from browsing to order confirmation. This includes the product catalog with categories, filters and search, the product detail page with images, descriptions and variants, the cart as well as the checkout, where shipping method, payment method and address are captured. This is complemented by customer accounts, discount and voucher logic, tax and shipping cost calculation as well as a backend for managing products, orders and content.
Storefront: the customer view
The storefront is everything visitors see in the browser. It determines design, loading speed and usability, and thus significantly influences the conversion rate – the share of visitors who actually buy. Modern storefront design is responsive, meaning it works equally on smartphone, tablet and desktop, and is geared toward fast, low-distraction purchases.
Backend: the operator view
In the backend, operators set up the shop and keep it running: create or import products, configure payment and shipping methods, view orders and maintain content. If stock and prices are connected to an ERP, this maintenance shifts away from the shop backend toward the leading system – the backend then merely displays the data instead of managing it.
How a shop system works
The process begins with the page request: when a visitor opens a product page, the shop system loads the associated data – name, price, availability, images – and presents it in the storefront. When the customer adds products to the cart and proceeds to checkout, the system collects the delivery and billing address, chosen shipping method and payment method and calculates the total amount including taxes and shipping costs.
On completing the purchase, the shop system hands the payment over to the connected payment provider and, after successful authorization, creates an order. This order is the central record that is subsequently passed to the ERP or inventory management system, where invoicing, stock posting and shipping are triggered. In return, the stock is reduced and – ideally in real time – mirrored back to the shop, so that nothing is sold that is no longer in stock.
Shop system and ERP system working together
A shop system is specialized in selling, not in the commercial processing behind it. As soon as a retailer processes more than a handful of orders per day, serves several channels or has to post transactions in a legally compliant way, the shop backend alone is no longer sufficient. Then an ERP system takes the leading role for product master data, stock, prices, orders and documents, while the shop system connects to it as a pure sales channel.
The connection is made via an interface (API) or middleware. Through it, new orders flow from the shop into the ERP and current stock levels as well as prices flow back into the shop. This creates a clear division of labor: the shop sells, the ERP manages. This separation is the basis for clean processes – for example ensuring that a product just sold in the physical warehouse or via a marketplace no longer appears as available in the online store either.
Distinctions: shop system, marketplace and PIM
Around the shop system there are related systems that are often confused but have different roles.
Shop system vs. marketplace
A company’s own shop system belongs to the retailer; they determine design, prices, customer data and product range themselves. A marketplace like Amazon or eBay, by contrast, belongs to an operator on whose platform many retailers sell – for a fee and by that operator’s rules. Many retailers use both in parallel and control the channels via a central ERP in a multichannel or omnichannel approach.
Shop system vs. PIM
A PIM (Product Information Management) is the data source for product information – descriptions, attributes, images, translations – from which several channels are fed. The shop system displays this information in the storefront but does not hold it as the leading source. Those running only one channel often manage without a PIM; with several channels it ensures consistent product data everywhere.
Operating models and DACH specifics
Shop systems differ greatly in operating model and depth. Hosted SaaS solutions run as rental software in the cloud and are quick to get going, but less freely customizable. Open-source systems give full control over code and hosting but require technical know-how in return. Headless commerce approaches separate storefront and backend via APIs, which allows maximum design freedom. Website builder and homepage systems, in turn, are aimed at beginners with a small product range.
In German-speaking countries, the legal framework places special demands on a shop system: mandatory information such as the imprint, cancellation policy, base price and shipping cost disclosure, a legally compliant button solution in the checkout as well as GDPR-compliant handling of customer data must be covered. Invoices and documents must also be archived in a GoBD-compliant way – a task usually handled not by the shop system itself but by the connected ERP. When selecting a system, it is therefore worth looking at how well a shop system supports these DACH-specific requirements and the connection to accounting and inventory management.
Example
Example: From click to posted order
A retailer of outdoor equipment runs an online store on a SaaS shop system and additionally sells via a marketplace. Its ERP holds the product master data, stock and prices. When a customer buys a rain jacket in size L in the shop, the shop system checks availability, guides the customer through the checkout and hands the payment to the payment provider.
After successful payment, the shop creates the order and sends it via the API to the ERP. There the invoice is generated, the stock of the variant “Jacket L” is reduced by one and shipping is triggered. The new stock level is reported back to the shop and the marketplace, so that the last available jacket is not sold twice anywhere. The entire process runs without manual re-keying – the shop system sells, the ERP handles the processing.
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