Important to understand
Shopware 6 is not an evolution of Shopware 5 – it's a complete rewrite. This means: There is no automatic upgrade path. A migration is always a project.
1 Before Migration: Take Inventory
Before you start the actual migration, you need a clear picture of your current shop:
Checklist: What you should document
- Installed plugins – Which are essential, which are no longer needed?
- Theme customizations – Custom CSS/JS, template overrides, custom blocks
- Integrations – ERP, payment providers, shipping carriers, newsletter tools
- Data volume – Number of products, categories, customers, orders
- Custom fields – Additional fields on products, customers, or orders
2 Finding Plugin Replacements
Not every Shopware 5 plugin has a Shopware 6 equivalent. Some functions are now in the core, others need to be custom developed.
| SW5 Feature | SW6 Solution |
|---|---|
| Shopping Worlds | Shopping Experiences (Core) |
| Emotion Elements | CMS Blocks (Core) |
| Additional Fields | Custom Fields (Core) |
| Variant Configurator | Variants (Core, significantly improved) |
| Individual Pricing | Rule Builder (Core) |
For specialized plugins (e.g., product configurators, B2B features), you should search the Shopware Store for alternatives early or plan for custom development.
3 Data Migration
Shopware provides an official Migration Assistant. It migrates:
Migrated
- • Products & Categories
- • Customers & Addresses
- • Orders
- • Media
- • Manufacturers
- • Properties
NOT Migrated
- • Shopping Worlds/CMS Pages
- • Theme Customizations
- • Plugin Configurations
- • Cross-Selling Rules
- • Reviews (partially)
Practical tip
Run the data migration multiple times: First on a test system, then again shortly before go-live with current data. The Migration Assistant supports delta migrations.
4 SEO Redirects
URLs change during migration. Without redirects, you'll lose rankings and your customers will land on 404 pages.
Example: nginx redirect
# Old Shopware 5 URLs to new SW6 URLs
rewrite ^/example-category/$ /category/example-category/ permanent;
rewrite ^/detail/index/sArticle/(\d+)$ /detail/$1 permanent;Important: Create a complete list of all indexed URLs (Google Search Console, Screaming Frog) and map them to the new URLs.
5 Common Pitfalls
Customer Passwords
Shopware 6 uses a different hashing algorithm. Old passwords are automatically converted on first login – but inform your customers that they may need to log in again.
Media URLs
Images are stored under different paths in SW6. If you have images linked in description texts, these URLs must be updated.
Order Status
The status system is structured differently in SW6. Make sure your ERP integration correctly processes the new statuses.
Newsletter Subscriptions
Double opt-in status must be migrated correctly, otherwise you'll violate GDPR.
6 Go-Live Checklist
- Final data migration completed
- All redirects active and tested
- Payment provider in live mode
- Email delivery tested (order confirmation, etc.)
- ERP synchronization running
- Caches cleared, indices rebuilt
- DNS TTL reduced beforehand (for quick switch)
- Monitoring set up