Shopware & Navision or Business Central

Nav123: Navision, Showare, OrderApp

Please also read this article: Webshop? Who is it for?

Fast & inexpensive implementation

The functions for a Shopware web shop described here can - based on experience - be available in your Navision or Business Central within 1 (one!) week from the start of the project to functional operation ! Even with Navision Dynamics/365 Business Central RTC, project times of 2 weeks are realistic - if you follow my recommendations as far as possible.

Other functions, such as illustrated price lists, illustrated offers with long texts & properties, app integration, online or print catalogs can then be based on the same data model within a few days, nothing has to be maintained twice! What you have once entered for your Shopware webshop in Navision and Business Central can be used profitably.
The topic of "illustrated offers" alone can be a good reason for my PIM system:

Screenshot eines aus Navision 2009R2 erstellten bebilderten Angebot inklusive technischer Eigenschaften der angebotenen Artikel, Unbegrenzte Langtexte und Produktabbildungen (Artikelfotos, Produktfotos)
Screenshot of an illustrated offer created from Navision 2009R2 with technical features of the items offered, unlimited long texts and product images such as item photos and product photos.

Massive funding programs

Have you postponed your webshop online presence for various reasons up until now? And now you had to find out how your foresighted competition passed by at high speed during the Corona period? Good news! Now you can make up for your shortfall with generous government funding! Presumably, a similarly generous funding program as the 2021 “Go-Digital” of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWI) will never be launched again. Medium-sized companies who have not woken up until now will probably not be able to strive in the future either.
However: Time is short! You should find out about the possible aids very soon, e.g. on the BMWi website and start implementing them with an authorized consulting company as soon as possible.

Real REST-API interface

The connection to the Shopware web shop system takes place on API level , so there is generally no need to make any adjustments in Navision & Business Central when the version of Shopware is updated. In addition, the data in Shopware can easily be updated from any workstation. There is also no need to install .Net or anything else on the Business Central or Navision side.

This works fully automatically with the scheduler available by me for Navision / Dynamics NAV or the task queue in Business Central! Well-thought-out routines ensure that only changes are transferred to the web shop, which leads to a high synchronization speed.

Shopware

Shopware is the web shop star among Internet shop systems. Just as fast, simple and easy to use as Navision (Microsoft Business Solutions Dynamics NAV or Business Central).

With my interface you connect these two worlds and make them appear "as if from a single source". For Nav logically from 2.01, 2.60, 3.01, 4, 5, Nav RTC 2013, 2015,2017, Business Central. The screenshots were taken from Navision 2009R2 because they look better there and are easier to understand.

NO file interface

The file interface of the Shopware webshop system was more of a crutch than an aid when it was introduced many years ago. My friendly advice for whatever you do: NEVER use this file interface to exchange data between Business Central or Navision and your webshop Shopware!

How it looks with other shopware systems (e.g. Magento, Ecoplan, woocommerce, Oxid, plentymarkets, Sana Commerce), I cannot and I do not like to judge.

Free and non-binding demonstration

Give me 90 minutes of your time and I will show you in an entertaining demonstration what user comfort, ease of use, speed in data maintenance, flexibility in webshop control from Navision really mean.

I promise you: Afterwards you will see "Navision-integrated PIM" and "Navision / Business Central with Shopware" with completely different eyes and ask yourself how you could work so incredibly complicated for so long. After that there will be no more argument against Shopware, and no more argument for an external PIM (Product Information Management) system.

No adjustment IN Shopware necessary

Plugins supplied free of charge make the handling of variants much easier. The unusual handling of image files (multiplication of media files with each upload) by Shopware is also very easy to use thanks to a free plug-in: No more media corpses in Shopware! And no other adjustments within your Shopware web shop either, which makes updates extremely easy.

Complete data model

Image files, instructions, long texts, technical (filterable!) properties: All these data can be managed directly in Business Central & Navision and are also available for Navision!

Database publishing (e.g. with Leaflet or Indesign), illustrated offers with long texts and characteristics, search in Navision and Business Central for articles with specific properties: Everything on a uniform database.

An additional, external PIM is no longer required: This saves you double training, increased license costs and long training periods in different systems. A perfect integration of two different worlds and a perfect bridge between different processes. There is no easier way to get into the e-commerce business.


And: Since all article data is available in a database, you can easily use an (my) app with data, create illustrated offers, create illustrated price lists, light up electronic catalog records for online or print catalogs ... This is how you use the data you have maintained for the webshop multiple times.

High Navision and Business Central competence

This connection comes from a programmer who has been programming Navision since 1994 (since 2017: Business Central), not from a web shop graphic designer who "also did something in Navision".

You will notice that immediately: a well-engineered and stable operation in Navision. I also don't run a general store like “we can do anything”. Unfortunately, that means too often: We can do everything a little, but nothing 100%.

Benefit from my Business Central and Microsoft Dynamics Navsion experience since 1993, combined with web shop / shopware experience since 2013. Hence the direct connection via the REST Api instead of any file interfaces from the last century. No Magento, no Ecoplan, no woocommerce, no oxide, no plentymarkets. And no Sana Commerce either.

Magento simply isn't because it's simple (from my point of view) to use, set up and maintain is far too complicated.

And the others? For me, the credo applies: If you want to become the market leader, work with the market leaders. There is always a niche solution for a niche task. But ... what if you grow and have increasing demands? Therefore: Only the sophisticated ERP Navision (Business Central) with the top dog Shopware, but that's right!

Free choice of hosting

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of ready-to-use showpare hosting solutions available. Since Shopware is available as an installation package, you can install and operate Shopware on practically any web space, including an existing one.

Navision only connects to the URL and the API key, which means you can easily move your showpare (from a Navision point of view) from one hoster to another!

I myself have been working with Dogato for years, here you can get a simple showpare domain for first steps for a measly 9 euros a month. Within a day you will have your own webshop shopware page up and running - I promise! And with the shopware integration described on this page, you are usually completely online with your Navision after about a week!

Elegant & practical workflow

Transfer your customers, your special prices, daily, hourly or even minute stock to the webshop. Set the payment and order status (new, paid, delivered ...) in Shopware directly and fully automatically from Navision or Business Central in real time. Use normal C / Side or AL programming with short and simple function calls for your own expansions: No vendor lock-in!

E.Commerce has never been so easy. And if you still need a suitable app for the web shop, we also have this on offer - with the same database!

You can elegantly display variants (sizes, colors, any other grouping properties) in your webshop, and still use your usual item list in Navision or Business Central.

-> The process of the conversion is carried out fully automatically by the Navision shopware interface (or the same solution in Business Central) based on the properties!

Even ALT texts for your product images are automatically created in Shopware by the interface from Navision (Business Central). Experience SEO optimization easier than ever.

SEO = Search Engine Optimization = search engine optimization. The preparation of your webshop data in a way that Google rewards with better places in the search results (PageRank).

Data backup and security

Since practically all master data, product data, item images and properties are stored directly in Navision (Microsoft Business Solutions NAV, Dynamics NAV, Business Central), you can easily restore the data in the shop from Navision or Business Central.

You need this if, for example, an employee has accidentally modified item data in the shop. The shopware interface synchronizes article and category master data periodically and as required.

Integration details

View in Navision (here: the native client up to 2009R2, view in Business Central differs)

Description of the process

View of the data automatically transferred to Shopware

Category tree (catalog structure, table of contents)

Maintain your catalog structures including the CMS functions category text, headline, meta information directly in Navison.

Text paragraphs

Forget the old 30 or 50 characters or even 250 character limits. Each text block can be up to 800 characters long in Business Central and Navision PIM - and there is an unlimited number of text blocks for each descriptive text!

The categories, long texts, descriptions, properties also work via the text blocks. This makes the subsequent correction of typing errors, standardization of texts and efficient translation into other web shop languages much easier. In this way, knowledge of the goods is hardly required for the translation!

Use and revise existing master data

The shopware interface can of course also react to the current situation with business logic. For example, items can be maintained as stock or discontinued items in Shopware.

Shopware can also automatically hide these after the sale. Ideal, for example, to differentiate used machines or customer-specific items from normal stock items. Of course, documents such as article passports or technical safety data sheets can also be offered for download.

Use your article master data such as prices, stocks, description ... to integrate them directly into your new Navision - PIM (Rroduct Information Management). You do not have to maintain any information twice!

Descriptive formulas

Furthermore, descriptive formulas help to have dozens or even hundreds of article names calculated completely automatically from group names, constants, properties and other data.

Say goodbye to the wild growth of your item descriptions!


Navision is guaranteed to create uniform and correct item descriptions for you!

Technical characteristics

Produkteigenschaften selber klassifizieren mit einer durchdachten Attributverwaltung
Technical product properties can be maintained very easily, and new property columns can be created in a second. The properties are also immediately available as a filter in Shopware
  • Define any number of your own properties per group
  • Define for each property whether it is a number property, text, code, etc. This makes the later translation of your data into foreign languages much easier.
  • You can also easily define variants (such as color or size) using the properties.

Item groups

Maintain each article group in the PIM very easily

  • Standard descriptive texts for this group
  • Image assignments to this group and also individually for each item
  • Search terms
  • Technical characteristics

Differential prices and minimum quantities

My Shopware integration gets the quantities, quantity conversion, minimum quantities and graduated prices for shop-relevant customers as well as the list price display directly from the Navision master data. This means that you do not need to maintain any additional price lists for your Shopware webshop!

Selection and display of minimum quantities, graduated prices. Determination takes place automatically from the master data of Business Central & Navision
Anzeige des automatisch von Navision / Business Central <> Shopware berechneten Basispreises entsprechend der Grundpreisverordnung gemäß Preisangabenverordnung (PAngV)
Display of the converted price per unit of quantity (basic price) in the immediate vicinity of the final price if goods are offered by weight, volume, length or area.

Formation of variants as easy as winking

Simply specify for a property whether it is variant-determining, and the webshop will display these items as variants. It has never been so easy to define sizes, colors, patterns, etc. as variants in Shopware.

Shopware Variantenbildung durch Gruppierung in Navision / Business Central
Creating and selecting variants has never been easier than with Navision & Shopware and my PIM!

Simply define the properties of the articles. Without additional work in Shopware, these are available to you across groups as filter and search criteria in the entire shop.

Well-thought-out group maintenance

Übersichtliche Produktlistendarstellung für eine effektive Stammdatenpflege
Maintain your master data directly in the PIM with never-before-seen convenience

Simply select the items you want to add to a group in the item list. This allows you to add hundreds of items to a group in a matter of seconds.
And then finally have homogeneous sorting regardless of article numbers!

Automatic accessories & item recommendations

Let Navision do the tedious article recommendation! Specify whether a 2nd group generally fits this group, or only certain articles from it.

For example, using properties such as “The outer diameter of the accessory group must at least correspond to the inner diameter of the current group”, saucepan lids can be automatically assigned to saucepans.

Or the inside diameter of the Gardena hose coupling must exactly match the hose diameter of the garden hose. Cross-selling articles can be created in next to no time.

Zubehör- und Cross Selling Produkte einfach erstellt
Maintain 100% matching accessories with little effort for a comfortable shopping experience for your customers

Updating Shopware order data

Of course, order data can also be written back to your Shopware webshop via the Navision Shopware REST Api interface.

In this way, customers can easily be kept up to date on the payment or delivery status. In addition, the web shop remains the central element for further communication with the customer.

Store Navision or Business Central tracking information (parcel tracking, shipping tracking) directly in Shopware and enable your customers to monitor their own shipping.

And YOU save valuable time in your customer care.

Trackinginformationen für DPD, DHL, Hermes etc direkt aus Shopware - von Navision / Business Central automatisch gepflegt
Make it easier for your customers to track shipping orders via self-service directly in Shopware and thus avoid unnecessary phone calls with your customer service in a customer-friendly way. For all parcel service providers such as DHL Deutsche Post, dpd, UPS, Hermes ...

Creation of accounts receivable in Shopware

Regular customers from Navision can be created in Shopware at the push of a button, including a start password. Your (scale) prices are also automatically written from the regular standard Navision tables in Shopware.

Shopware Ansicht Staffelpreise und Mindestbestellmengen
Differential prices, order quantity jumps, minimum order quantities, special customer prices: everything comes directly from Navision

Elegantly correcting small problems

The Shopware REST-API interface also monitors annoying properties of the Shopware media management, so that e.g. when re-importing article images, these are does not stored twice in the media memory.

Contact

Regardless of whether you come from Hesse (my location is Kassel), the neighboring federal states such as Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia or Thuringia: My service is available nationwide in Germany and in German-speaking and English-speaking countries.
Simply contact me and we can have a chat to find out how I might be able to help you.