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- Kategorien:
- Categories:
- Performance
- Shopware
Management Summary
The Rosenheim Spice Mill faced clear limits with its rapidly growing WooCommerce shop: performance issues during peak loads, limited personalization, rising UI/UX requirements, and a lack of BFSG compliance. advance.media migrated the shop to Shopware 6, integrated the ERP and POS system, optimized the frontend, and laid the foundation for personalized features such as a virtual spice shelf. maxcluster provided a scalable, highly available infrastructure to support it.
That pays off:
- 16.6 percent increase in organic traffic from Google (3-month comparison 09–11/25 vs. 09–11/24)
- 55 percent increase in Google impressions over the same period
- increase in the conversion rate from 3.76 percent to 5.58 percent
In a nutshell
Customer: Gewürzmühle Rosenheim
Industry: Food / spice manufacturer
Platform: Shopware 6
Website: www.gewuerzmuehle-rosenheim.de
Agency: advance.media – Die Ideenküche GmbH
About Gewürzmühle Rosenheim
Gewürzmühle Rosenheim is an owner-managed spice manufacturer with several of its own branches, selling its spices and blends both in-store and via a rapidly growing spice online shop since 2020.
Initial situation & challenges
Since 2020, Gewürzmühle Rosenheim has been running its own online shop and has recorded exceptionally strong growth ever since. With growth rates of over 90 percent per year, both the technical requirements and customers’ expectations regarding speed, stability, and user guidance increased.
The previous WooCommerce solution did run on a high-performance server infrastructure, but especially during peak times it repeatedly reached its limits. Add-to-cart and checkout responded more slowly and not always reliably,, which had a negative impact on the shopping experience and trust. At the same time, the support effort increased, because more and more questions about using the shop and the checkout process came in.
In addition, personalized shopping experiences —such as individual recommendations, suitable recipe ideas, or a virtual spice rack with inventory overview—could only be implemented to a limited extent with the existing setup. At the same time, the requirements increased for a modern, accessible frontend,, especially with regard to the BFSG requirements.
The online shop was also to be more closely integrated with the stores and the existing ERP system : vouchers, bonus points, and discounts were to be usable across channels—regardless of whether customers shop in-store or online.
This combination of growing traffic, multichannel requirements, a desire for personalization and regulatory requirements made a fundamental relaunch necessary.
The key challenges
From this starting point, several clearly defined tasks emerged for the project:
- Replacing the organically grown WooCommerce stack in favor of a future-proof, scalable solution
- Ensuring stable performance even under heavy load, especially during checkout
- Establishing end-to-end multichannel processes between six stores, the ERP system, and the online shop
- Creating a sustainable foundation for personalized customer journeys
- Implementing a modern, user-friendly frontend while taking into account the BFSG requirements
- Introducing new features such as a gift configurator, recipe hub, and virtual spice rack, without impacting performance
- Minimizing risk during replatforming and ensuring a smooth go-live
Solution and hosting setup
To address these challenges, advance.media relied on a combination of a new shop system, an optimized user experience, and the right infrastructure. Based on Shopware 6 and the proven hosting environment at maxcluster, a modern, scalable e-commerce setup was created that meets both technical and design requirements.
A key component was the replatforming from WooCommerce to Shopware 6. As part of this changeover, the checkout systems of the six branches were migrated to Pickware and seamlessly integrated into the new system. This created end-to-end multichannel processes—from buying and redeeming vouchers to crediting bonus points and using discounts, regardless of whether customers shop in-store or online To reliably achieve the project goals, advance.media relied, among other things, on:
System integration & processes
Switching the branch POS systems to
- Pickware POS and connecting them to Shopware Tight integration of the shop,
- Pickware ERP system and POS system Harmonizing and expanding interfaces to reduce manual work
- User experience & conversion
Revising UI and UX with clear, intuitive user guidance
- Optimizing the checkout flows to reduce drop-offs
- Implementing the frontend with BFSG-relevant requirements in mind
- Personalization & added value for customers
Introducing a gift configurator for custom product sets
- Building a recipe database with matching ideas and tips from the spice mill
- Preparing a virtual spice shelf with stock overview and recommendations after login
- Vorbereitung eines virtuellen Gewürzregals mit Bestandsübersicht und Empfehlungen nach Login
For customers, the new system therefore offers both functional and content-related added value. At the same time, the technical foundation was chosen so that future expansions – such as additional personalization features – are possible without another platform change are.
So that these measures work in day-to-day operations, the infrastructure also had to grow. At the infrastructure level, Gewürzmühle Rosenheim therefore continues to rely on the maxcluster architecture
The Shopware 6 platform runs on a highly available managed web cluster with an active/passive server architecture and redundant NVMe SSDs. Caching layers such as Varnish, in-memory databases such as Redis , as well as high-performance search technologies ensure short response times and flexible search and filtering functions. Resources such as CPU, RAM, and storage can be adjusted without downtime – ideal for seasonal peaks and marketing campaigns.
However, a smooth implementation did not depend solely on system architecture and hosting. Organizational factors also contributed significantly to the course of the project: professional project management, close collaboration between the digital agency, the customer, and the SEO agency, as well as the active contribution of experience and expertise from everyone involved.
Why maxcluster
The Rosenheim Spice Mill had already had positive experiences on the maxcluster infrastructure gained. The decisive factor for the new expansion stage was the combination of e-commerce specialization, stable performance, and direct expert support.
maxcluster designs and operates scalable, fail-safe, and high-performance managed web clusters for online shops and e-commerce applications. With a sophisticated cluster architecture and the use of caching, database, and search technologies, optimal loading times are achieved – even under heavy traffic. The specialization in e-commerce systems also ensures high reliability and practical recommendations for architectural questions.
For the Rosenheim Spice Mill and advance.media, the following points were particularly decisive:
Performance & Scalability
- Stable operation even during peak loads and marketing campaigns
- Flexible scaling of resources without downtime
E-commerce focus
- Deep understanding of Shopware setups and typical e-commerce scenarios
- Proven best practices for caching, search, and performance tuning
Collaboration
- Direct access to experienced technicians instead of a call center
- Fast response times in case of faults & proactive monitoring
How strongly this collaboration was experienced in day-to-day project work
The replatforming process from WooCommerce to Shopware was an exciting project that ran smoothly thanks to the close and reliable collaboration with maxcluster and everyone involved. What was particularly valuable for us was how pragmatically and solution-oriented we were able to tackle challenges together. As with other projects, you have to the lightning-fast response time of the maxcluster team highlight – that helps especially with time-critical issues.
Dominik Vollath, Managing Director of advance.media
This approach is also appreciated on the customer side
The relaunch was an important step into the future of our spice manufactory online shop. Working with advance.media and maxcluster was always open, constructive and goal-oriented. The interaction between our checkout systems in the branches, the ERP system and the Shopware shop as the central component has taken our digital processes to a new level and has massively облегчated our day-to-day work. We particularly appreciate how well everyone involved coordinated with each other – this allowed us to successfully implement the switch to Shopware without any detours.
Simon Mendel, Managing Director, Gewürzmühle Rosenheim.
Results
How well the interplay of the new shop system, optimized user experience, and the right infrastructure works is shown by a look at the results
In terms of visibility, the shop saw a clear increase in a 3-month comparison from 09–11/25 to 09–11/24: The organic visits from Google increased by 16.6 percent, at the same time, the Google impressions increased by 55 percent. On the conversion side, the conversion rate in the same period from 3.76 to 5.58 percent was increased.
In day-to-day operations, the changes are most noticeable in how the shop is used
- The former bottlenecks of the WooCommerce installation—especially under high load—no longer occur; add-to-cart and checkout run significantly faster and more stable.
- At the same time, the number of customer inquiries about using the shop and about checkout has noticeably decreased, which relieves the support team and improves the user experience.
Looking ahead, the new setup also creates a solid foundation for further growth
Thanks to the close integration of the shop, POS systems, and ERP system, vouchers, bonus points, and discounts can be used across channels. Together with the new and planned features around personalization, recipe inspiration, and a virtual spice rack, this creates a stable, expandable platform that future marketing and sales initiatives can build on directly
Conclusion
Overall, the project shows how an established e-commerce setup can be deliberately taken to the next stage of development with the right partners. Gewürzmühle Rosenheim faced the challenge of placing its rapidly growing e-commerce business on a modern, high-performance technical foundation.
The replatforming from WooCommerce to Shopware 6 by advance.media removed existing limitations and created the basis for a contemporary, intuitive user experience designed to be BFSG-compliant in the long term – including optimized checkout processes, multichannel capabilities, and personalizable content.
With the hosting infrastructure from maxcluster, the project gained the stability, scalability, and performance needed to reliably support further growth. The combination of Shopware 6, Pickware integration, personalization features, and the maxcluster architecture provides a robust foundation for Gewürzmühle Rosenheim’s next development steps – from new digital services to additional multichannel scenarios.
About advance.media – Die Ideenküche GmbH
advance.media – Die Ideenküche GmbH is an agency for web, design and online marketing based in Erbendorf. The team develops custom websites and online shops, handles concept development, screen design and technical implementation, and also offers complementary services in SEO and online marketing. This gives customers all digital services from a single source, from the initial idea through to ongoing support.