Luening24: B2B e-commerce with Shopware

Lüning 24

Founded in 1853 and headquartered in Rietberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, the Lüning Group is one of the leading wholesale companies in the German food market. As a traditional family business, Lüning combines many years of market expertise with a clear growth strategy.

From its logistics centers in Gütersloh and Magdeburg, the company supplies petrol stations as well as independent retailers, and additionally operates more than 30 retail stores. Since 1989, Edeka Minden-Hannover has held a 49 percent stake in the wholesale and retail divisions. In 2020, Lüning ranked 22nd among the largest German food retailers according to Nielsen TradeDimensions.

Lüning 24 supplies more than 2,000 customers with over 40,000 food and 20,000 non-food items – including individual prices, discounts, and promotion logics. The previous ordering process was based on a custom-built shop and a separate app for order entry at the POS. Additional services were provided in parallel via the website. While this grown system landscape was functional, it was technically fragmented.

Consolidation and modernization of the system architecture

To unify the existing architecture and sustainably enhance the user experience, Lüning planned a comprehensive technological modernization. The company chose the Shopware 6 Enterprise plan with B2B Suite, and commissioned burgdigital to implement the project.

Our services

Implementierung von Shopware 6 Enterprise mit B2B Suite
Data management and API development for seamless integration with Xtrade ERP
Integration of customer-specific pricing structures and offers
Development of a pre-order function to support special promotions and advance orders
Order capture with a Progressive Web App for mobile orders
Print solution for PDF documents to enable efficient order documentation

Screenshot des Lüning Onlineshop auf einem Handy. Auf der Linken Seite sind einzelne Shopware Funktionen abgebildet.

TECHNOLOGICAL FOUNDATION FOR EFFICIENT B2B ORDER PROCESSES

Our solution approach: High-performance B2B commerce

To sustainably map the complex requirements of wholesale, Lüning implemented the Shopware 6 Enterprise plan including the B2B Suite. This made it possible to precisely represent customer-specific prices, assortments, and promotion mechanisms and control them on a role-based basis – scalable and future-proof.

Optimized usability & extended ordering logic

By integrating individual pricing structures and offers, and developing a pre-order function for special promotions, the user guidance was significantly simplified. In addition, a mobile order capture solution based on a Progressive Web App accelerated the ordering processes. A bespoke PDF print solution further ensured efficient and well-structured order documentation.

Individual data management

The integration of data from Lüning’s Xtrade ERP is handled via a custom-built interface. A specially developed solution from burgdigital manages the structured preparation and processing of the data, enabling even price tables with up to 60 million entries to be transferred to the B2B shop in a stable and high-performance manner.

This creates a robust data foundation that ensures smooth processes even with high order volumes and extensive shopping carts.

Performance optimization

The high daily order volume and complex shopping cart structures place significant demands on the system architecture. For this reason, the handover of quick orders to the Shopware B2B plugin, as well as the downstream rule set, was specifically further developed and optimized.

In addition, the use of Elasticsearch ensures that products can be found quickly and precisely, even in very large assortments.

Der Onlineshop von Lüning24 auf zwei nebeneinanderliegenden Smartphones abgebildet

Auf dem Bild ist ein Screenshot eines Warenkorb von L24 zu sehen.

Mobile quick ordering via smartphone

To enable efficient order processing directly at the point of sale, burgdigital developed a mobile quick-order solution based on Shopware 6. Products are easily captured by scanning EAN barcodes with the smartphone camera and are transferred directly into the shopping cart.

Labels and price lists can be centrally generated in the shop system via remote publishing and exported as PDFs. In addition, individual price lists can be created directly in the shop and output immediately – fully integrated into existing processes.

Digital order capture with PWA

In addition to mobile quick ordering, the Progressive Web App developed by burgdigital enables a structured handling of large orders. The application is device-independent and offers an integrated barcode scanner function as well as offline capability.

Pre-order for promotions

Pre-orders for promotional items are a central component of Lüning’s merchandise strategy. To support this, burgdigital developed a tailored solution that allows promotional prices to be precisely controlled for defined time periods.

Customers can place promotional items and identical products at the regular price in the same shopping cart. This keeps the ordering process flexible and transparent while accurately reflecting all promotional mechanisms.

Auf dem Bild ist ein Screenshot der Website von luening24 zu sehen.

SUCCESSFUL IN B2B COMMERCE WITH SHOPWARE

RESULT & VALUE

burgdigital has strategically advanced Lüning’s B2B commerce based on Shopware 6 Enterprise and the B2B Suite and selectively expanded it with custom extensions.

Today, all customer orders and connected service processes – including complaint handling – are centrally and reliably managed via the platform. A dedicated storefront for trade fair offers further extends sales: both online participants and on-site visitors can place their orders directly on provided iPads, seamlessly integrated into the existing system landscape.

Why did Lüning choose Shopware 6 Enterprise with the B2B Suite?

The existing system landscape had evolved organically and was functional, but technically fragmented. The goal was a scalable platform capable of centrally mapping complex pricing structures, individual customer permissions, and extensive assortments. With Shopware 6 Enterprise and the B2B Suite, Lüning chose a future-proof solution that flexibly supports both standard processes and the specific requirements of wholesale—enhanced by custom extensions from burgdigital.

How are individual prices and promotional logic represented in the system?

The platform enables granular control of customer-specific prices, discounts, and promotion periods. A custom-built pre-order logic allows promotional prices to be defined for limited time frames without affecting the regular pricing structure. This makes it possible to handle promotional and standard prices in parallel—fully transparent for the customer and consistent in the system.

How was performance maintained during periods of high order volumes?

A custom ERP interface ensures stable processing of even very large data volumes – including price tables with millions of entries. In addition, core processes such as quick order entry and the underlying rule engine were specifically refined and optimized. The use of Elasticsearch also delivers fast and precise product search, even across extensive assortments.

What role do mobile solutions play in the ordering process?

Mobile processes are a core element of the solution. Using a smartphone-based quick-order function, items can be captured directly via EAN scan. In addition, a Progressive Web App enables structured order entry – including offline capability and seamless synchronization with Shopware. This ensures efficient order handling both in-store and in the field.

B2B E-commerce with Shopware

TASK

SOLUTION

RESULT

Challenge: Scalable B2B platform

Consolidation and modernization of the system architecture

Our services