Sassa Mode: From a limiting custom platform to scalable growth across Europe

A platform that could no longer keep up with growth

For the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Sassa was running on a custom platform that simply wasn't being developed further. The site was slow, the client couldn't move forward, and every desired improvement ran into the limitations of the existing system. Meanwhile, Sassa saw what was possible on the German webshop running on Shopware, and wanted that same speed and flexibility for the rest of Europe.

Every new market felt like starting from scratch

Outside Germany, Sassa had barely any local presence. Customers could order from multiple countries via sassa.eu, but there was no store truly tailored to a specific market, with its own language, VAT handling and product experience. For the Netherlands and Belgium, for example, there was no local store at all yet, even though Sassa had a dedicated team and market knowledge that put it in a strong position there. Every new market therefore risked becoming a project of its own, with all the time and cost that entails.

One Shopware foundation, expanded country by country

Strix first built the German webshop on Shopware. From there, the approach was rolled out step by step. First the Czech Republic and Slovakia, where, besides the technical work, things like the returns process also had to be adapted to local laws and regulations, and where, at the client's request, different product photos were shown to better match the local market. Then the Netherlands and Belgium, which, thanks to the existing German foundation, went live within about three months, including their own VAT handling (19% in Germany versus 21% in the Netherlands and Belgium). Most recently, a central entry point followed on sassa.eu, where visitors are automatically recognised and redirected to their language or country, with IP detection for the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Smart stock logic without expensive customisation

A recurring challenge was stock: Sassa holds inventory in Germany but also wants to deliver quickly from local stock in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Together with the client, Strix developed a solution that runs largely on standard Shopware plugins. If no stock is available locally, the system automatically falls back to German stock and informs the customer that delivery will take a little longer. In designing this logic, the team used AI, among other things, as a sparring partner to weigh different possible solutions against each other. The result is a reliable, future-proof solution that required hardly any customisation, which significantly reduced costs for Sassa.

Room for B2B and marketing integrations

Alongside the consumer webshops, Strix also built a B2B portal (b2b.sassa.eu), based on Shopware's B2B components and extended with a matrix plugin that lets business customers order multiple sizes at once. The goal: to gradually replace manual, paper-based ordering processes for business customers. The B2B product pages, with that matrix for sizes and variants, differed so much from the consumer webshop that simply copying it over wasn't an option. A new design was needed, all within a tight deadline ahead of the approaching sales season. The result is one of the parts of the project Sassa is most proud of. For marketing and fulfilment, Channable (for Google Shopping and Facebook feeds) and Klaviyo (for email marketing and automation) were connected to every new store, while Sassa's own link between its ERP and Shopware, for product data, stock and orders, was set up in close collaboration with Strix.

From one single-language store to six active markets

Sassa is now live in Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands and Belgium, complemented by an English-language store and a B2B portal, all on the same Shopware foundation. New markets are being rolled out noticeably faster. While the Czech Republic and Slovakia took a little longer due to specific requirements and extensive testing phases, the Dutch-Belgian expansion, thanks to the experience gained and clear collaboration (Sassa handled the translations, Strix provided ready-to-translate copy), was live within three months. The B2B portal, building on that same foundation, also went live within three to four months.

Germany is growing fast, the rest is following

In Germany, revenue has now grown by 90% compared to last year. The Netherlands and Belgium still need to show their growth once advertising budget is deployed there too, which is the next step after Germany. Meanwhile, the scalable foundation is already paying off more broadly: through the German sales channel, Sassa also generates revenue in neighbouring countries such as Austria, without needing a dedicated store or ad budget there.

Investing where it pays off, standard where it can

By deliberately choosing standard functionality wherever possible, such as separate language and sales channels instead of expensive custom solutions, Sassa keeps the cost of every new expansion manageable. That collaboration is paying off: the Sassa team now comes up with its own suggestions for rolling out improvements developed for one market to other stores as well.

Ready for the next step

For the period ahead, the focus is first on further growing the existing markets. The B2B portal is now available in German and English, so international customers can already order; further expansion into more countries isn't decided yet and will be tested first. Launching in France remains an ambition, though that's currently on hold due to tightening local regulations, including around packaging. Either way, with a scalable platform as its foundation, Sassa is in the starting blocks for its next plans and developments.

This project is built with our technology partners: