There are many alternatives on the market today to create professional online shops. The best known are PrestaShop, Magento, Shopify, Shopware and WooCommerce. Shopware is a forward-looking German solution for creating online shops that is becoming increasingly popular thanks to the many advantages it offers and its commitment to innovation and adaptation to the current needs of digital commerce. This is an excellent platform for creating modern and innovative online shops, which are characterized by their ease of use and emotional customer approach when shopping. 

The main advantages of this e-commerce system are:      

• Flexibility 
• Scalability 
• Search engine optimization 
• Integration with all sales channels 
• Different business models 

In recent years Shopware has been gaining popularity in the English-speaking market. The documentation is already available in English and the company recently opened its UK office.

The e-shop system Magento is not as widespread on the German market as Shopware. In the UK, on ​​the other hand, it is widely popular. Magento is known for its extensibility. It enables users to create extensive product catalogs. In addition to its expansion advantages, Magento shows great flexibility. One can create a multilingual site or multiple sites to properly adapt to each market. Magento 2 has been on the IT market for over 5 years, and almost all users of this shop system have migrated from Magento 1 to Magento 2.  

Payment Methods

What is important when choosing payment methods for customers?

In order to gain consumer trust, the experts at conversion optimization recommend offering customers different payment options so that they can choose the one that inspires the greatest confidence in them or that best suits their needs. A safer, more varied shopping experience should, if possible, be offered with more guarantees than in a stationary shop.  

There are the following factors that buyers consider when choosing a particular method: 

• Security of the place where it will be bought 
• Amount to be paid 
• If interest-free monthly payments are offered 
• If a direct discount is offered 
• Pre-selection of a payment method 
• Bonuses or credits for the next purchase 

The most popular payment methods on the German market 

PayPal 

With almost 305 million active accounts, more than 3.5 billion payments made and more than 69% of e-merchants payments made via PayPal - it's not difficult to see why PayPal occupies such a place in the market. PayPal is now available in 202 countries and can handle 25 currencies. According to Statista, PayPal is one of the most popular payment methods among German buyers. 48% of users pay for their online purchases using this payment provider.    

In Shopware 6 PayPal plugin is integrated. 

Purchase on account   

Purchase on account is particularly valued by buyers all over the world, especially in Germany. Purchase on account means that the user purchases and receives a product or service immediately, but only pays for it later.  

According to Statista, 21% of buyers prefer this type of transaction to all other online payment methods. In the standard version of Shopware, the four payment methods cash on delivery, invoice, prepayment and direct debit are activated. In the Shopware Store there are also other plugins for implementing this payment method, e.g. Ratepay Payment Plugin. 

Direct Debit 

Direct debit or payment by credit card are the most popular payment methods for 19% of users. With direct debit, the purchase amount is deducted directly from the customer's account. As already mentioned above, this payment method is also part of the Shopware standard, or you can use the Ratepay Payment Plugin . 

Immediate bank transfer (Sofortüberweisung)

Sofortüberweisung is one of the fastest payment methods, it is free and TÜV certified (which is a stamp of safety for German consumers). The customers trigger a transfer directly when shopping online. So you don't have to open online banking afterwards and carry out the transaction. The advantage of this payment that the transfer is immediate therefore there are no delays in shipping the goods from supplier to the customer. This payment method is implemented in Shopware 6 by the Klarna Payments plugin.  

Paydirect 

Is the online payment method used by German banks and savings banks. It is a good alternative to the most popular online payment methods and offers merchants numerous advantages. There is one for Shopware 6 free plugin for this payment method.  

The most popular payment methods in the UK 

PayPal PayPal 

Is also one of the most popular payment methods in the UK. It is also available in Magento 2 straight out of the box and, as in the Shopware case, is easy to configure. According to Statista estimates, there are over 66 million digital commerce users in the UK. And 49% of online shoppers from the UK use PayPal when shopping on the Internet, according to Statista research (as of 2019). 

Credit Card or Debit Card

37% prefer to pay for their online purchases by credit card or debit card. In Magento 2 you can set this payment option via the admin area.

Google Pay 

Google Pay and two other payment methods are popular with 3% of UK buyers each. The main function of Google's electronic wallet is contactless in-store payment. Users can also pay for their purchases on the websites or in mobile apps. Many online companies (e.g. Asos, Deliveroo, Ryanair) already offer this option. There is an official free module for Google Pay on Magento Marketplace

Amazon Pay 

Amazon Payments is a service with which Amazon customer accounts can also be used in online shops that do not belong to Amazon, without the payment data having to be disclosed. Thanks to Amazon Pay, merchants can offer their customers a familiar and standardized checkout experience. Internet shoppers can use the address and payment information already saved in their Amazon account to check out - without having to create an account or re-enter their billing and shipping information. The module Amazon Pay for Magento 2 is available to users free of charge. As an alternative to Magento, Shopware also offers an Amazon Pay plugin, which is also offered free of charge. 

Apple Pay 

Apple Pay is a mobile payment service that enables you to make contactless payments that are stored on an iPhone, Apple Watch or Mac with compatible Touch IDs. It is also possible to use this service to pay on the internet or in mobile applications. Apple Pay offers a fast and easy payment experience in a secure environment. With the free module of Braintree Payments for Magento 2 you can add this payment method. For Shopware there is also a plugin for Apple Pay setup from Stripe, it is also available to users free of charge. 

Shipping methods

According to Statista information, the following criteria are relevant for online buyers when choosing the shipping method: 

• The price. The users choose the shipping service provider based on the delivery costs.  
• The delivery to your home or work in any time 
• Delivery to your home or to work in the prescribed time
• The speed of shipment 
• The pickup from the store
• Courier Services
• Delivery to the assembly point 

The most popular shipping methods in Germany 

DHL

DHL, the German parcel and letter express service, is the most popular shipping service provider in German e-commerce. 84% of the top 500 online shops according to e-commerce net sales in Germany in 2020, for which information about the shipping service providers used is available and known, use DHL as their shipping method. DHL is in first place in many areas of the parcel market in Germany. In 2019 the Total revenue of Deutsche Post DHL € 63.34 billion. The company has 29,000 locations in Germany. 

This shipping method can be integrated into Shopware free of charge using the DHL Shipping plug-in.  DHL for Magento is also free.

Click and Collect

Click and Collect is not a usual delivery, it is a way of trading that allows consumers to 'click' and buy online, then 'collect' at a store, by picking up their items, rather than having them delivered. 27 % of the online shoppers use this opportunity.

Hermes 

Hermes is the second largest parcel service in Germany with 16,000 collection points in Germany. Hermes took first place in the price-performance category for courier, express and parcel service providers. The biggest advantage of Hermes shipping is that it offers very favourable conditions compared to the post office. With this shipping service, it is not the weight that is important, but the size. The plug-in is available in the Shopware Store, but it Hermes Parcel Shipping Adapter is not yet compatible with Shopware 6. 

DPD  

DPD Germany is part of the international DPD group, an international transport and delivery company for parcels weighing less than 30 kg, mainly in the express market. This is the international parcel delivery network of the French La Poste Group. There are 7,000 pick-up points in Germany these days. DPD Adapter powered by Pickware gives Shopware shop operators the opportunity to present this shipping method in the online shop and work with it qualitatively.   

The most popular delivery methods in the UK  

Royal Mail  

According to a study in 2019 is Royal Mail is the most popular package delivery company in the UK. More than half of the respondents, 52.7%, prefer this option. With 23,000 pick-up points, Royal Mail is the most popular shipping method among UK buyers. In 2019, the parcel service distributed 1.22 billion packages.  

A module can be installed for Magento, in order to integrate this shipping in the web shop.  

Hermes 

The parcel delivery company Hermes mentioned above is also very popular in Great Britain. Over 4,500 pick-up points in the UK ensure the service provider is so popular. The Magento shop operators will find a free module on the marketplace for working with this shipping method.

Parcelforce Worldwide 

Parcelforce Worldwide is a UK courier and logistics service. Parcelforce Worldwide operates its collection and delivery services through a network of 54 “local” depots. The aforementioned module for Magento Royal Mail Parcelforce Worldwide Shipping method enables, among other things, the integration of this shipping in the Magento web shop.

So, Royal Mail is the most popular package delivery company  (37 percent), followed by Hermes (35 percent), Parcelforce (22 percent), DHL (20 percent) and DPD (also 20 percent). Extension for DHL Shipping for Magento 2 is here. Extension for DPD for Magento 2 can be found here.

Conclusions

As we can see from the information presented, the payment methods and shipping methods in Germany and the UK are similar. PayPal is the most preferred payment method of all possible options in both countries, and common shop systems (Shopware in Germany and Magento in the UK offer appropriate modules directly from the box. Other payment options can be covered with the help of free or paid modules.

As for the shipping methods, buyers prefer their own domestic logistics services. DHL is available free of charge in both shop systems, but Royal Mail is only available for Magento, as Shopware is more geared towards German users.