Internationalization

Internationalization is an important issue for serving target groups in other countries as well. This guide will help you internationalize your shop by showing you what you need to look out for if you want to be well prepared.

What is there to note?

Before you take the first steps of internationalization in Shopware, first think about which countries you want to set up Shopware for and what you need to consider there.

Here are some Examples:

• Which payment methods are preferred abroad, do I possibly need a new interface to process payments from abroad?
• What is the tax situation abroad, are there any special cases that need to be considered (e.g. is children's clothing tax-free in the UK)?
• Do I have to use different currencies and if so, are they supported by my previous payment providers?
• Translation: Are there finished translations or do I have to translate myself?
• Do I want to supply customers from abroad with my own prices?
• Can I deliver abroad or do I need new interfaces here?
• What are the delivery costs abroad?
   

Let´s go!

Add languages

The first step is to add the languages that the customer should be able to use in your shop. German and English are supplied as standard. But you can add more languages here. 
Alternatively, the Shopware language pack already includes numerous languages that you can install with this extension.

Translations

At all places in the Shopware Admin where a translation makes sense, you will find a drop-down menu at the top to select a language.

Here you can select all languages that were previously created under the item Language.

Activate countries

The next step is to enable the registration of customers from the respective countries by activating the countries in the country administration. 
To create translations of the country names, select the appropriate language from the Languages drop-down menu at the top. 

Adding categories

After you have created your category tree as described here, you can translate it by changing the language at the top. 
Note that this way you can only translate the names of the categories.

Adding currencies

To sell abroad, you may also need other currencies, as you can configure them, we explain in the article Currencies.

Taxes

Since there may be other taxes abroad, it is necessary for the countries that you want to accept in your shop, appropriate tax rates.

Payment methods

If you want to accept payments from abroad, should you first think about which payment methods are primarily used in the target country? Do you already offer these payment methods or do you need further interfaces? 
Further information can be found here.

Shipping methods

If you send items abroad, you should think about which shipping methods you want to allow in which countries.

Adding Sales channels

If you want to use a language shop or a subshop for your international customers, you must first create a sales channel. You can find out how to do this here.
Pay particular attention here to the correct indication of the countries and languages which you would like to allow in the respective shops.  

Translations

Snippets
Shopware delivers the standard snippets in German and English. If required, you can of course extend them by either translating yourself or using a language plugin.

Did you know that you can use Crowdin at any time to suggest changes to existing text modules and translate Shopware into other languages? Just drop by: Shopware on Crowdin.

E-Mails
To be internationally successful, your e-mails must of course also be translated correctly. You can do this directly in your email templates under Settings > Shop > Email templates by opening the desired email template and changing the language at the top.
Here you can translate your e-mails as in all other modules.

Translate articles
Of course, you also have to translate your articles in addition to your snippets. To do this, open the detailed view of the article under Catalogues > Products > Edit product and select the respective language at the top.

Shopping experience for categories

Of course, you can also translate your shopping experience into other languages and display them in any categories. Since in Shopware translations work by inheritance, the correct procedure is important right from the start.
 
Step 1: Create a shopping experience in the default language

Even if you want to have a shopping experience for another language, you must first create a shopping experience in your default system language.
The dropdown at the top right (1) shows you whether you are in the default language.
 
Step 2: Translate content

After you have saved the shopping experience, you can change the language via the dropdown (1) and translate the contents already created (2).
It is important here: The layout and the elements are always created, saved and then translated in the default system language.
This means that if you want to add elements to the template in another language, you must first create them in the system default language. However, the translations of contents (texts, images, product selection, etc.) can be changed independently of the default language.

Step 3: Assign the shopping experience to the category

When you are in the translated language (1), you can assign the layout to a category (2). As described above, you should have translated the category beforehand.

Alternatively, you can go directly via the category module (Catalogues > Categories). After you have changed the language, you can add the previously created layout.

Testing

Once all the necessary things have been set up, you can thoroughly test your internationalized shop. Here you should check if all translations are loaded correctly, all text modules fit, all settings work and the shipping and payment rules work correctly. If everything works out, you have successfully internationalized your shop.