Payment and shipping methods in the Shopware and Magento systems

There are many alternatives on the market today for creating professional online stores. The best known are PrestaShop, Magento, Shopify, Shopware and WooCommerce. Shopware is an innovative German solution for creating online stores 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. It is an excellent platform for creating modern and innovative online stores, characterized by its ease of use and emotional appeal to customers when shopping.

The main advantages of this store system are

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

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

The store system Magento is not as widespread on the German market as Shopware. In the UK, however, it is very popular. Magento is known for its expandability. It allows you to create extensive product catalogs. Besides its extensibility advantages, Magento shows great flexibility. You can create a multilingual site or multiple sites to suit any market. Magento 2 has been on the IT market for over 5 years and almost all users of this store system have migrated from Magento 1 to Magento 2. If you do not know how to migrate from Magento 1 to Magento 2, contact Magento Shop Agency.

Payment methods

What is important for customers when choosing payment methods?

To gain the trust of consumers, conversion optimization experts recommend offering customers different payment options so that they can choose the one that creates the most trust in them or best suits their needs. A safer, more varied shopping experience should be offered with more guarantees than in a brick-and-mortar store if possible.

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

• Security of the place where it is purchased
• Amount to be paid
• If interest-free monthly payments are offered
• If a direct discount is offered
• Preselection of a payment method
• You will receive points credit on your 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 offering payments via PayPal, it's not hard to see why PayPal has such a place in the market. PayPal is now available in 202 countries and can process 25 currencies. According to Statista, PayPal is one of the most popular payment methods among German shoppers. 48% of users pay for their internet purchases using this payment provider.

The PayPal Plugin is integrated in Shopware 6.

Purchase on account

Buying on account is particularly popular with shoppers 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 later.

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

Direct debit

Direct debit or 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 mentioned above, this payment method is also included as standard in Shopware, or you can use Ratepay Payment Plugin.

Instant bank transfer

Sofortüberweisung is one of the fastest payment methods. Customers initiate a transfer immediately when shopping online. There is no need to open online banking afterwards and carry out the transaction. This payment method is implemented in Shopware 6 by the Klarna Payments plugin.

Paydirect

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

The most popular payment methods in the UK

PayPal

PayPal is also one of the most common payment methods in the UK. It is also available in Magento 2 directly 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 online, claims Statista research (as of 2019).

Credit card or debit card

37% prefer to pay for their online purchases by credit 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 each popular with 3% of UK shoppers. The main function of Google's electronic wallet is contactless payment in stores. Users can also pay for their purchases on websites or in mobile apps. Many online companies (for example 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 that allows Amazon customer accounts to be used at online stores that do not belong to Amazon without having to disclose payment details. Thanks to Amazon Pay, retailers can offer their customers a familiar and standardized checkout experience. Internet shoppers can use the address and payment information already stored in their Amazon account to check out - without having to create an account or re-enter their billing and shipping information. The Amazon Pay for Magento 2 module is available to users free of charge. As a Magento alternative, Shopware also offers an Amazon Pay Plugin, which is also offered free of charge.

Apple Pay

Apple Pay is a mobile payment service that allows you to make contactless payments stored on your 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 quick 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 Plugin for Apple Pay setup from Stripe, which is also available to users free of charge.

Shipping methods

According to Statista data, the following criteria are considered relevant for online shoppers when selecting the shipping method:

• The price. Users choose the shipping service provider according to the delivery costs.
• Delivery to your home or work at any time
• Delivery to home or work within the specified time
• The speed of shipping
• Collection from the store
• Courier service
• Delivery to the collection point

The most popular shipping methods in Germany

DHL

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

In Shopware, this shipping method can be integrated free of charge using the DHL Shipping plugin.

DHL für Magento is also free of charge.

Click and Collect

Click and collect is a retail method that allows consumers to "click" and buy online and then "pick up" in a store. This allows users to collect their purchases instead of having them delivered. According to Statista, 27% of online shoppers use this option.

Hermes

Hermes is the second largest parcel service in Germany with 16,000 pick-up points in Germany. Hermes is in 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 favorable conditions compared to the post office. With this shipping service, it is not the weight that is important, but the size. The plugin Hermes Paketversand Adapter is available in the Shopware Store, but is not yet compatible with Shopware 6.

DPD

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

The most popular shipping methods in Great Britain

Royal Mail

According to a study from 2019, Royal Mail is the most popular parcel delivery company in the UK. More than half of respondents, 52.7 %, prefer this option. With 23,000 collection points, Royal Mail is the most popular delivery method among UK shoppers. In 2019, the parcel service distributed 1.22 billion parcels.

You can install a module for Magento, e.g. Royal Mail Parcelforce Worldwide Shipping, to integrate this shipping method in the webshop.

Hermes

The parcel delivery company Hermes mentioned above is also very popular in the UK. Over 4,500 pick-up points in the UK guarantee the service provider such popularity. Magento store operators can find a free module for working with this shipping method on the Marketplace.

Parcelforce Worldwide

Parcelforce Worldwide is a courier and logistics service in the United Kingdom. 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 enables, among other things, the integration of this shipping method in Magento webshops.

Conclusions

As we can see from the information presented, payment methods and shipping methods are similar in Germany and the UK. PayPal is in first place among all possible options in both countries, and common store systems (Shopware in Germany and Magento in the UK) offer corresponding modules straight out of the box. Other payment options can be covered using free or paid modules.

In terms of shipping methods, shoppers prefer to use their own domestic logistics services. DHL is available free of charge in both store systems, but Royal Mail is only available for Magento, as Shopware is more geared towards German users.