Online shop agency · Shopware · B2C / B2B / D2C
Online shop agency: We build your online shop from the idea to operations
You want an online shop that does not just look good but sells, talks to your inventory management system and grows with you? nextlevels GmbH is an online shop agency and Shopware Silver Partner based in Mönchengladbach and Düsseldorf. We plan, build and run shops for B2C, B2B and D2C: consulting, UX/UI design, development and integrations from a single team.
What does an online shop agency do?
An online shop agency plans, designs, builds and runs your web shop: from target group and assortment structure through design and shop system to payment methods, ERP integration, launch and day-to-day operations. At nextlevels, a manageable Shopware shop starts in the low five figures and goes live in 8 to 12 weeks. B2B or headless projects with ERP and PIM integration tend to take 4 to 6 months.
Just getting started and want to know what matters first? Our guide Get an online shop built: costs, process & choosing a vendor explains the basics.
Getting your online shop built: what you get from us
A successful online shop is not the result of good design alone. What counts is the interplay of fast shop technology, smooth checkout processes and a platform that scales with your growth. That is why we think about your shop from the customer's and the revenue side: short load times, a well-designed customer journey and cleanly measured conversion points.
Strategy & consulting
Goals, target groups, assortment, pricing logic, channels. We tell you honestly which setup makes technical and commercial sense, even if it turns out smaller than expected.
UX/UI design
Category pages, product detail pages and a checkout that make buying decisions easier, responsive on every device.
Shop development with Shopware 6
Clean architecture, maintainable code, automated tests. From more than 50 in-house plugins we reuse what has proven itself instead of reinventing the wheel.
Integrations
ERP, PIM, inventory management, payment, shipping and marketplaces, so stock levels, prices and orders stay in sync automatically.
Launch without losing rankings
Redirects, data migration and SEO basics, so your existing traffic comes along.
Operations & development
Hosting, monitoring, updates and performance. We monitor the server response times of our shops continuously with Tideways; on average they are below one second.
Who we build online shops for
B2C retailers with a large assortment
For Bike Discount, one of the big players in European bicycle retail, we migrated the shop from Shopware 5 to Shopware 6 while it kept running, with integration to DiVA and DiVA BC. The new shop handles around 6,000 orders a day and more than 100,000 products.
Manufacturers with products that need explaining
For Etikettenmeister we built a Shopware shop with a live configurator: customers design their label, see the price in real time and order directly. For Suthor we developed a complex product configurator on Shopware 6 and a multi-shop system with an interface to the CDH inventory management system.
Direct-to-consumer brands (D2C)
For Apple of Eden (Modern Footwear) we migrated the shop from Shopware 5 to 6, redesigned the brand world and customer journey and integrated the TB.One connector for marketplaces such as Zalando and Breuninger.
International manufacturers
For Mellerud, several country sites were merged into one Shopware 6 Enterprise shop, with ERP and PIM integration for central product data management and real-time stock levels.
Enquiry instead of checkout
Not every shop needs a shopping cart. For Xtreme Events from Mönchengladbach we moved the rental catalogue from WordPress to Shopware 6: 349 modules, 2,549 images and 934 redirects, with an enquiry basket instead of a checkout and optimised for search engines and AI systems in three languages.
Online shops from our practice
Bike Discount
EUROPAS BIG PLAYER IM ZWEIRAD SEGMENT6.000Orders / day- E-Commerce
- Shopware
Etikettenmeister
PERFEKTE ETIKETTEN. PUNKT.Live-Konfigurator+ ERP- E-Commerce
- Shopware
Suthor
VOM FÄHNCHEN BIS ZUR WIMPELKETTEProduktkonfiguratoron Shopware 6- E-Commerce
- Shopware
Apple of Eden
MODERN FOOTWEAR – STYLE MEETS COMMERCEShopware 5 → 6Migration- E-Commerce
- Shopware
Mellerud
SHOPWARE 6 ENTERPRISEMulti-CountryEnterprise store- E-Commerce
- Shopware
Xtreme Events
EVENTMODULE MIETEN PER ANFRAGEKORB349Modules migrated- E-Commerce
- Shopware
Become our next success story
Start your projectHow your online shop project runs
More on the individual steps: Requirements specification and Conversion optimisation.
Initial call (30 minutes)
You tell us what is coming up. We listen, ask questions and give you an honest assessment, including rough costs. No pitch.
Requirements & concept
Together we write down what the shop must be able to do. For larger projects this becomes a requirements specification that makes offers comparable.
Design
Wireframes and designs for the most important page types, aligned with your brand.
Development & integrations
Iterative, with regular interim versions on a test system.
Data migration & testing
Products, customers, orders and redirects, so nothing gets lost in the move.
Launch & optimisation
Go-live, monitoring and then data-driven conversion optimisation.
What does it cost to have an online shop built?
The honest answer: it depends on the scope. As a guide for Shopware 6 projects:
| Project | Typical range | Duration at nextlevels |
|---|---|---|
| Standard B2C shop | from around €15,000 | approx. 8–12 weeks |
| Shop with configurator, custom features or migration | individual, depending on scope | depends on the project |
| B2B shop with ERP integration | up to around €120,000 | approx. 4–6 months |
Typical market ranges, not binding prices. Running costs for hosting, licence where applicable and maintenance come on top.
In detail in our cost overview Shopware costs & prices 2026.
Good to know: Shopware is free and open source as the Community Edition. The Fair Usage Policy has applied since 24 March 2025. If the annual GMV of the shops linked to your Shopware account exceeds €1 million, you need at least the paid Rise plan for account and store.
How to recognise a good online shop agency
Before you have an online shop built, a short check is worth it. These questions help you compare, whether you talk to us or to another agency.
Are there real references of your size?
A shop with 100 products has different requirements than one with 100,000 items and thousands of orders a day. Ask to see projects similar to yours and for a contact person at the client.
Who actually develops?
Ask whether the team is employed in-house or whether parts go to subcontractors, and whether you can talk to the developers directly.
How are integrations built?
ERP, PIM and inventory management are the biggest effort in most projects. A good agency asks early about your systems and data flows.
Who owns the code?
Clarify whether you receive the source code and access and whether the shop can be developed further without the agency. With us you work without lock-in.
What do operations look like after the launch?
Updates, security, monitoring and performance decide whether your shop is still fast and secure in two years.
Is the offer comparable?
Flat prices without a list of requirements are hard to assess. A short requirements specification makes offers comparable and protects both sides from misunderstandings.
B2B online shops: what else matters
In B2B trade, a single person rarely buys on impulse. Customer-specific and tiered prices, approval processes with roles and budgets, quick order by item number, quote requests and handing the order over to the ERP are standard. Shopware 6 provides the B2B Components for this. Whatever the standard cannot cover, we build as a plugin. More on our Shopware B2B page.
Why Shopware for your online shop?
We specialise in Shopware 6 because for most mid-sized retailers and manufacturers in Germany it is a strong overall package: open source without lock-in, strong B2B features (roles, approvals, tiered prices, quote requests), a large ecosystem and full control over your data. If your project is a better fit for headless commerce, for example app-like frontends, we use Shopware as the commerce backend with a custom frontend.
In detail: Shopware agency
Moving or modernising an existing shop?
Many projects do not start from scratch. Whether Shopware 5, Magento or WordPress: we migrate products, customers and orders, set up redirects and protect your rankings. More: Shopware migration · Magento to Shopware
Why nextlevels as your online shop agency?
On site: offices in Mönchengladbach (Konrad-Zuse-Ring 12) and Düsseldorf (Lorettostraße 54), plus projects all over Germany. See Shopware agency Mönchengladbach and Shopware agency Düsseldorf.
One team for everything
Strategy, design, development, integrations, hosting and marketing from a single team, with a direct line to the developers.
Experience in figures
More than 12 years of experience, 50+ in-house plugins, more than €500 million in annual shop revenue in the shops we look after.
Technology that holds up
Shops like Bike Discount with around 6,000 orders a day run stably even at peak load.
Honest
4.9 ★ on Google. We also advise against a project if it does not pay off for you.
What does it cost to have an online shop built?
How long does it take until my online shop is live?
Which shop system is the right one?
Can you connect my shop to my ERP?
Do you also take over an existing shop?
Do you look after the shop after the launch?
Do you only work with companies from NRW?
Ready for your successful online shop?
Whether improvement or fresh start: an informal conversation has never hurt anyone. 30 minutes with one of our partners, no pitch, with an honest assessment. Reply within one working day.
- 30 minutes
- no pitch
- Reply within one business day
Paul Kalisch
Executive Partner
Reply within one business day
- You tell us what's coming up
- We listen and ask questions
- You get an honest assessment, including rough costs