CUSTOM DEVELOPMENT

Shopware B2B Tender Bidding Platform

How we built a custom Shopware solution for complex tender bidding on industrial machinery, opening a new B2B sales channel.

The Challenge

An industrial machinery manufacturer wanted to expand their B2B sales model beyond traditional RFQs. They needed a platform that could handle complex tender processes for high-value equipment sales (€50K-€2M per unit) with multi-stage bidding, technical specifications, and compliance requirements.

  • No existing e-commerce platform supported their tender workflow requirements
  • Complex multi-stage approval process with multiple stakeholders
  • Needed sealed bid functionality with time-based reveal mechanisms

Off-the-shelf tender management systems were either too expensive or couldn't integrate with their existing Shopware ecosystem. They needed a custom solution built natively in Shopware.

Our Solution

We architected and developed a complete tender management system as a custom Shopware 6 plugin, purpose-built for their industrial machinery sales process.

Digital Automated Workflow by Tender Status

1

Draft → Published

Tender managers create tender specifications and publish them to the portal, triggering automated email notifications to qualified bidders

2

Open for Bidding

Bidders access tender details and submit encrypted sealed bids through the digital portal

3

Bidding Closed → Under Review

System automatically closes bidding at deadline, decrypts all sealed bids simultaneously, and presents them in a comparison dashboard for evaluation

4

Pending Approval → Approved

Multi-stage approval workflow routes winning bid through finance, legal, and management for digital sign-off with full audit trail

5

Awarded → Order Processing

Automated notifications sent to winning and unsuccessful bidders, and tender data synced to ERP system for order fulfillment

Tender Creation Portal

Admin interface for creating tenders with equipment specs, timelines, and qualification criteria

Sealed Bidding System

Encrypted bid submission with automated time-based reveal and ranking

Approval Workflows

Multi-stage approval chains with role-based permissions for procurement teams

Key Features Delivered

  • Customer dashboard with status-based filtering (Open, Under Review, Won, Lost) and real-time tender tracking
  • Multi-checkout functionality for won tenders, allowing bulk order processing across multiple awarded contracts
  • Role-based access control (Tender Managers, Bidders, Approvers, Finance)
  • Automated email notifications for tender events (new tenders, bid deadlines, award announcements)
  • Bid comparison dashboard with side-by-side evaluation tools
  • Audit trail logging for compliance and procurement transparency
  • Integration with existing customer accounts and ERP system

Results

24+
Enterprise Customers
First 6 months
50%
Faster Cycle Time
vs manual process
100%
Digital Workflow
Fully automated
90%
Less Admin Work
Time savings
  • Successfully onboarded 24 enterprise customers through the tender platform
  • Average tender cycle time of 3 weeks from submission to award
  • Streamlined tender administration with automated workflows and digital approvals
  • Platform successfully handles all tender-based sales in DACH region

Technical Stack

Shopware 6.5 PHP 8.2 Custom Plugin Architecture Vue.js (Admin Extension) MySQL Encryption (OpenSSL)

Need Custom B2B Functionality?

We build custom Shopware solutions for complex B2B workflows that off-the-shelf platforms can't handle. Let's discuss your requirements.

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