European Paytech Shopware Cloud: Cloud-native Shopware app delivered in under 3 months, opening the cloud merchant market without touching the existing on-premise plugin.
Snapshot
Client
Leading European digital payment provider
Industry
Fintech / Payment Technology / E-Commerce
Geography
Europe
Size
Not specified
Challenge
Cloud-native product extension without disrupting existing on-premise customer base
Services
Shopware Cloud app development, API-first architecture, Shopware Store publication, merchant onboarding design
Duration
Ongoing
Team
Not specified
API-first,
backend-less Shopware Cloud app
Published
on th
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Client Context
The client is one of Europe’s leading digital payment providers, with an established merchant base and a long-standing Shopware integration delivered as an on-premise plugin. The on-premise plugin had served the client’s merchant customers well across years of traditional Shopware deployments. It was a stable, proven integration and it was built for a model of software delivery that Shopware was moving away from. Shopware’s shift toward its cloud-native SaaS platform, Shopware Cloud, opened a new and growing merchant segment. Cloud-native Shopware operates on a fundamentally different architecture to the self-hosted version: no on-premise server, no direct plugin installation, no access to the underlying PHP application. On-premise plugins do not run on Shopware Cloud. They cannot be adapted to do so without a ground-up rebuild. The client had a defined market opportunity and a hard architectural boundary preventing them from capturing it.
The Challenge
The architectural gap between Shopware’s on-premise and cloud environments is not a configuration difference. Shopware Cloud operates on an API-first, backend-less app model where all integrations are built as self-contained apps communicating through Shopware’s APIs, with no access to the server layer. The client’s existing on-premise plugin, which relied on direct PHP integration and server-side access, could not be ported. The cloud app had to be built independently and from the ground up. The constraint on the existing customer base was equally firm. The on-premise plugin served a significant, active merchant base. Any disruption to that plugin, whether through architectural changes forced by the cloud build, shared codebase decisions, or release conflicts, would generate support escalations and damage merchant relationships. The cloud build and the on-premise plugin needed to coexist without interfering with each other. Speed was a business requirement. The Shopware Cloud merchant segment was growing. Every quarter without a cloud-native solution was a quarter of market share conceded to competitors who had already made the transition.
The Approach
Gradion designed and built the Shopware Cloud app as an independent product, architecturally separate from the existing on-premise plugin. The app was built to the API-first, backend-less model required by the Shopware Cloud environment: no server-side dependencies, no shared state with the on-premise plugin, full compliance with Shopware’s app architecture requirements. The independence of the build was a deliberate design constraint, not a side effect. By keeping the cloud app architecturally isolated, Gradion ensured that the on-premise plugin continued to operate unchanged, with its release cycle, codebase, and merchant integrations entirely unaffected. Merchants on self-hosted Shopware experienced no disruption. The app was built to be interoperable across both cloud and self-hosted setups, merchants operating mixed or transitional environments could use the client’s payment solution across both without friction. Onboarding was designed for non-technical users: installation through the Shopware Store required no developer involvement, with a guided setup flow that reduced the support overhead typically associated with payment plugin activation. The app was published directly on the Shopware Store, ensuring discoverability and a standard installation path for all Shopware Cloud merchants. The full build, from scoping through Store publication, was completed in under 3 months.
The Results
Shopware Cloud market unlocked a previously inaccessible and growing merchant segment made accessible without architectural compromise Under 3 months delivery from scoping to live on the Shopware Store Zero disruption to on-premise users existing plugin and its merchant base unaffected throughout the build and post-launch Published on Shopware Store standard installation path, accessible to all Shopware Cloud merchants Accelerated merchant onboarding non-technical installation flow reduced support load associated with new merchant activation Competitive positioning reinforced client confirmed as a future-ready payment provider capable of serving the evolving Shopware ecosystem
Services & Technology
Services delivered
- Shopware Cloud app architecture and development
- API-first, backend-less integration design
- Shopware Store publication
- Non-technical merchant onboarding design
- Interoperability design across cloud and self-hosted Shopware
- Legacy plugin isolation and coexistence strategy
Technology stack
- Shopware Cloud (app model, API-first)
- Shopware App Framework
- REST API integrations
- Shopware Store distribution
Engagement model
Focused product delivery
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