Rausch is a German family-owned company based in Berlin and Peine that produces and sells high-quality chocolate. Since 1918, the company has been synonymous with premium chocolate quality, sustainable sourcing, and direct partnerships with cocoa farmers. To provide its customers with an optimal shopping experience, Rausch not only operates a flagship chocolate store in Berlin but also runs a high-performance online shop.
As the existing platform increasingly reached its limits, Rausch decided to migrate to Shopify to optimise processes, leverage automation, and future-proof its online business.
Since migrating, the company has achieved the following results:
- 26% increase in visibility (SEO)
- 12% increase in average order value
- 15% boost in customer retention rate
Challenge
In 2015, Rausch largely discontinued distribution through traditional retail to focus entirely on direct-to-consumer (D2C) sales. However, over time, it became clear that the existing Shopware 5 platform could no longer meet growing demands. The lack of flexibility for customisations and reliance on external development resources led to high costs and slow implementations. Additionally, many processes had to be handled manually, making daily operations unnecessarily complex. Furthermore, Shopware 5 no longer offered a long-term perspective, as support and regular updates were being phased out.
Many of the features we wanted to implement were difficult to realise with Shopware 5 because they required many costly external resources. With Shopify, adding new capabilities became significantly easier and more efficient.
Solution
After a comprehensive analysis of available platforms, Rausch chose Shopify. The migration was carried out in collaboration with the Shopify-specialised agency what.digital, which supported the company in data migration, system integration, and process optimisation.
To enable the transfer of over 420,000 orders and 270,000 customer records with high precision, the team implemented a robust data migration strategy. The integration with SAP S/4HANA was a pivotal undertaking that required careful planning and execution, ensuring seamless synchronization of inventories, orders, and invoicing processes. This strategic connection was essential for Rausch, to enhance operational efficiency and ensure data accuracy.
A major advantage of Shopify was the ability to automate workflows using Shopify Flow, eliminating many manual tasks. The subscription model was also optimised using the Seal Subscriptions app, allowing customers to manage, pause, or adjust their subscriptions flexibly. Additionally, Rausch leverages Shopify Analytics to gain valuable insights into customer purchasing behaviour and make data-driven decisions. Shopify's well-structured and optimised checkout process further ensures smooth and user-friendly transactions. These improvements have significantly reduced the workload for the team and increased customer satisfaction.
Shopify is perfect for our company size because we can implement many things ourselves in the e-commerce department even with fewer IT resources.
For Rausch, migrating to Shopify was a crucial step toward making its ecommerce business more efficient and scalable. The platform provides the flexibility needed to react quickly to market changes and unlock new business potential.
Results
Since migrating to Shopify, Rausch has achieved significant improvements. The new online shop features clearer navigation, faster loading times, and an optimised customer journey. Automated processes have made internal operations much more efficient, allowing the team to focus more on strategic development. Additionally, Shopify enables flexible and independent shop management without the need for external developers.
A key focus was the optimisation of the subscription service. With the integration of Seal Subscriptions, customers can now manage their subscriptions independently, leading to a better user experience and a lower cancellation rate. The shop's overall performance has also improved: targeted SEO optimisation and increased loading speed have resulted in better search engine rankings and greater visibility.
It's important to think ahead and consider the direction we want to take in the next 5-10 years. We quickly realised that Shopify is the ideal solution.
Looking to the future
In the future, the company plans to implement A/B testing tools to refine optimisations further. Expanding the bundles offering is also on the roadmap to provide customers with attractive package deals. Additionally, continuous SEO improvements will ensure long-term visibility in search engines. Another important agenda point is the automation of B2B orders via the online shop, which is to be further optimised in order to minimise administrative work and make this process more efficient.
Shopify not only provides Rausch with a stable and scalable platform for its existing business but also opens up new growth opportunities. Over the coming years, Rausch plans to expand its product range and integrate additional Shopify features to further enhance efficiency, while international expansion is a long-term goal that can be supported on the platform.
With Shopify, we can take important steps toward expansion quickly and efficiently. Even though we're still at the beginning of this journey, we see great potential for future growth.