The Syllabus of the Solution Specialist exam/certification

 

During the planning and creation of the Shopware Solution Specialist certification, a comprehensive syllabus was created. This listed all the areas that were to be included in the subsequent training and certification.

The following is an overview of the contents of the syllabus:

 

General ecommerce knowledge

1.1.SEO – Overview
1.1.1.Content Strategy
1.1.2.URL Best Practices
1.1.3.Keywords Best Practices
1.2.Security – Overiew
1.2.1.Understanding different types of SSL encryption.
1.2.2.Commonly-used password policies and which to use for a given merchant.
1.3.Payment Service Providers
1.3.1.Installation of payment gateways, where to find if particular market has a local payment gateway
1.3.2.How to implement a payments strategy, wire transfer, credit card, apple pay and how to choose the right provider
1.3.3.Ability to buy now pay later and integrating with ERP, invoice consideration buy now pay later
1.4.GDPR / Cookies
1.4.1.GDPR obligation of the shop communication policies etc and technical requirements
1.4.2.Data protection requirements outside of EU
1.5.Google Analytics / data tracking
1.5.1.How to configure Google Analytics (Basic standard) including GA4
1.5.2.Google Extended commerce integration and how to do it
1.5.3.Google tag manager installation recommendations and threads
1.5.4.Differences and issues Google Universal analytics vs GA 4
1.6.Types of ecommerce platforms (SaaS, Opensource, Headless, Proprietary)
1.6.1.Helping merchants decide whether to use a PWA / Headless
1.6.2.Shopware Positioning versus other ecommerce platforms
1.6.3.Understanding of strengths / weaknesses and business drivers of different types of ecommerce platform – at different scales

 

Shopware 6 architecture and concepts

2.1.Shopware 6 domains
2.1.1.Understanding of basic Shopware 6 domains (Frontend, Backend, API, Headles
2.2.Shopware 6 technology Stack
2.2.1.Shopware 6 basic technology stacks recognition
2.2.2.Shopware Frontends (Headless) stack
2.2.3.Basics of Shopware 5 vs Shopware 6
2.2.4.Full Function vs lean platform
2.3.Plugin Store
2.3.1.Apps & Plugins
2.3.1.1.Basic App Architecture (Data storage, hosting)
2.3.1.2.Private Apps
2.2.1.3.Plugin usage
2.3.2.Knowledge of typical extensions and categories available on marketplace
2.3.3.Marketplace submission rules and quality expectations, expected service that needs to be provided
2.4.Editions & Shopware 6 products
2.4.1.Knowledge of New Shopware 6 Editions (Rise, Evolve, Beyond)
2.4.1.1.ICP of each edition
2.4.1.2.Features of each edition
2.4.2.Support SLA
2.4.2.1.Leveraging Shopware SLAs
2.4.2.2.Understanding what’s included in Shopware SLA
2.4.2.3.Understanding how to report a request to Shopware
2.4.3.Understanding which edition of Shopware 6 would be recommended for a Merchant with particular requirements
2.5.Ecosystem and Resources
2.5.1.What is the recommended process for submitting information on issues and bugs
2.5.2.Where and how to find community help
2.5.3.How to use Shopware support resources (subscription)
2.5.4.Where to find technology providers (payments, hosting)
2.6.2.6. Sales channels
2.6.1.2.6.1. Recognizing sales channels idea and purpose
2.6.2.2.6.2. International sales channel configuration
2.6.32.6.3. Sales Channel Strategies
2.6.4.2.6.4 How to setup sales strategy for different countries, different languages and currencies”
2.6.5.2.6.5. Tax challenges per country, sales within EU, sales outside of EU, sales including B2B VAT tax calculation and VISE confirmations
2.6.6.2.6.6. How does Shopware 6 operate with US local taxes
2.7.Low Code/No Code
2.7.1.Flow Builder and Rule Builder
2.7.2.Integration issues
2.8.Order management / fulfilment challenges
2.8.1.Shipping options and cost configuration in SW6, free shipping confirmation, international shipping
2.8.2.Integration with external fulfilment services
2.8.3.Matrix rates size, weight, costs

 

Successful Shopware 6 implementation

3.1.Requirement gathering
3.1.1.What needs to be asked to understand how merchant needs align with default Shopware 6 functionality?
3.1.2.How to determine the best fit for Shopware service offering?
3.1.3.How do you find unknown pieces of functionality that are still critical to a merchant's business processes?
3.2.Ensuring that project is on track
3.2.1.Determining critical functionality paths for project milestones.
3.2.2.Aspects of the agile project lifecycle.
3.3.Data migration
3.3.1.Techniques for migrating: products, reviews, categories, customers, orders.
3.4.App & Plugin management
3.4.1.Understanding how to install modules from Shopware 6 Store: benefits of composer, online installation or ZIP-file
3.4.2.Knowing how to troubleshoot bespoke modules
3.4.3.Conflicts, overriding & performance
3.5.3rd-party API integrations
3.5.1.Understanding basic concepts of API authentication and different types of connecting with OAuth2.
3.5.2.Understanding and identifying types of API methods.
3.5.3.Understanding different goals of store API, admin API and sync API
3.6.Redirects & Go-Live
3.6.1.Recognition of what types of redirects should be used to route non-existent paths to new paths on the new platform
3.6.2.Understanding how to go about collecting the lists of source URLs
3.6.3.Understanding Go-live requirements
3.6.4.How to configure cookies for Shopware 6
3.7.Project takeover
3.7.1.Code reviews
3.7.2.Server access
3.7.3.Shopware notification
3.8.Performance Optimisation
3.8.1.Red Flag issues
3.8.2.Hardening Shopware 6 with built-in security features and versioning approach.

 

Shopware 6 features

4.1.Catalog management
4.1.1.Checking experience of catalog management options
4.1.2.Properties and Custom Fields
4.1.3.Variants
4.1.4.Advanced Pricing
4.1.4.1.Customer group specific pricing
4.1.4.2.Tiered pricing
4.1.5.Understanding of dynamic product groups
4.1.6.Dynamic access
4.1.7.Custom Products
4.1.8.Multi warehouse MSI
4.2.Order and customer management
4.2.1.Recognition of Shopware 6 order and customer management
4.2.2.Returns
4.2.3.Admin Orders
4.3.Content (Shopping experiences)
4.3.1.Features and purpose of Shopping experiences CMS
4.3.2.Publisher features
4.3.3.Listing and Product page layouts
4.3.4.Basic Configuration
4.3.5.Rule based blocks
4.4.Localisation / Internationalisation
4.4.1.Understanding how to customize emails
4.4.2.Understanding how to configure and manage currency
4.5.Promotions & Rule Builder
4.5.1.Understanding of available promotion options
4.5.2.How to configure a specific promotion
4.5.2.1.Promotional pricing and last 30 day pricing
4.5.2.2.Rule based promotion
4.5.2.3.Promo code based promotion
4.5.2.4.Coupon Code Promotion
4.5.2.5.Free Delivery promotion
4.5.2.6.Group & Bundle promotions
4.6.Flow Builder
4.6.1.Configuration
4.6.2.Applications & Use cases
4.7.Configuring shipping and payment methods
4.7.1.Understanding of available out-of-the-box shipping and payment methods options
4.7.2.How to configure a specific shipping rules and payment methods
4.7.3.How to install shipping and payment extension
4.8.B2B suite
4.8.1.Features & Configuration
4.8.2.Alternatives
4.9.Search Configuration (including Advanced Search)
4.10.Custom extension development
4.10.1.Advantages and disadvantages of custom extension development and implementation
4.11.Shopware 6 Considerations and workarounds
4.11.1.Understanding scenarios requiring PIM, CMS, ERP integration
4.11.2.Commonly installed Shopware third party extensions
4.12.Shopware Roadmap
4.12.1.Subscriptions
4.12.2.Returns
4.12.3.Blog