The Challenge

An industrial machinery dealer specialized in high-value equipment needed to facilitate tender-based procurement processes. Their sales model required customers to submit bid requests, receive counter-offers, and navigate complex multi-level approval chains before finalizing purchases.

Critical Pain Points

  • Shopware's standard checkout designed for direct purchases, not bidding
  • No native support for multi-party tender negotiations
  • Complex approval chains required for B2B compliance
  • Need for complete audit trails for regulatory compliance
  • Managing counter-offers and bid revisions

The client needed a completely reimagined workflow where customers would browse products, submit tender requests with detailed specifications, engage in back-and-forth negotiations, and route approvals through organizational hierarchies before final purchase authorization.

The Solution

I architected a comprehensive custom plugin that fundamentally transforms the Shopware checkout experience into a sophisticated tender management platform, replacing the standard cart-to-purchase flow with a request-negotiate-approve workflow tailored for B2B industrial sales.

Technical Implementation

Custom Entity Architecture

Extended Shopware's entity system to create tender-specific data models including bid requests, negotiations, approval workflows, and revision history, all integrated seamlessly with existing order infrastructure.

Vue.js Bidding Interface

Built a reactive frontend with Vue.js that replaces the standard checkout with an intuitive tender submission interface, allowing customers to specify requirements, attach documents, and track bid status in real-time.

Multi-Level Approval Workflow

Implemented a flexible approval chain system with configurable routing rules, automated notifications, and role-based permissions ensuring proper authorization at each stage of the tender process.

Admin Tender Management Dashboard

Created a comprehensive admin interface for managing incoming tenders, issuing counter-proposals, tracking negotiation history, and generating compliance reports with complete audit trails.

Results & Business Impact

€8.5M Revenue Generated in First Year

Platform facilitated over €8.5 million in industrial machinery sales during year one, handling equipment ranging from €50,000 to €2 million per unit with 42 active tender processes in the first 6 months.

Win Rate Increased to 68% vs 45% Previously

Digital tender process improved proposal quality and responsiveness, boosting win rate from 45% to 68% while onboarding 24 new enterprise customers through the platform.

Tender Cycle Time Cut in Half

Process automation and streamlined workflows reduced tender cycle from 6 weeks down to 3 weeks, while administrative workload dropped by 90% through digital bid management.

Complete Audit Trail & Compliance

Encrypted bid submissions, timestamped approvals, and comprehensive logging ensure full regulatory compliance and transparency for high-value procurement processes.

Technologies Used

Shopware 6 PHP 8 Symfony Vue.js MySQL Custom Entities B2B Platform

Project Details

Industry
Industrial Machinery / B2B
Location
Germany
Project Type
Custom Plugin Development
Duration
12 weeks

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