Headless frontend for Shopware

What Shopware is

Shopware is a German ecommerce platform with strong B2B and B2C capabilities, a large extension ecosystem, and a mature partner program. Shopware 6 is API-first by design. The Store API exposes products, pricing, cart, checkout, and account data as REST endpoints. A headless storefront reads from the Store API and replaces the default Twig-based Storefront entirely.

Shopware's strength is in European commerce requirements: flexible product catalog structures, rule-based pricing, B2B Suite for complex account management, and an extension ecosystem covering most integration needs. It is the platform of choice for mid-market and enterprise European merchants who need a flexible backend without the complexity of Magento or the limitations of a hosted platform.

Where Frntkey fits

Frntkey is a frontend-as-a-service that replaces the Shopware Storefront layer with a Nuxt.js and Vue.js application. The commerce backend stays as Shopware. The Frntkey storefront connects to the Shopware Store API through purpose-built adapters and renders the shopping experience independently.

This is a standard headless architecture: Shopware owns commerce, Storyblok owns content, Vercel serves the frontend, and Frntkey is the application layer that connects them. Each layer deploys independently. Updating the storefront does not require redeploying Shopware.

The key distinction from a Shopware theme: a theme is tied to the Shopware Storefront engine and constrained by what it allows. Frntkey is a fully decoupled frontend. Any UX pattern, checkout flow, or content structure that can be built in a modern Vue application is achievable without Shopware constraints.

What Frntkey ships for Shopware

The Frntkey storefront on Shopware covers the full page set a merchant needs:

• Core pages: Home, category listing, product detail, cart, checkout, search results, account, order history.
• B2B pages: Logged-in B2B mode, customer-specific price list display, invoice payment, re-order from history, quickorder, shopping lists — activated where Shopware B2B Suite is in use.
• CMS pages: Landing pages, campaign pages, blog, and marketing content — all managed in Storyblok by editors without developer involvement. Replaces Shopware's Shopping Experiences (CMS).
• SEO foundations: Server-side rendering on all pages, structured data, Open Graph, canonical links, automatic image optimization. Core Web Vitals green at launch.

Pre-installed integrations

Every Frntkey for Shopware project activates from the same pre-integrated baseline:

• Payment: Klarna, Adyen, Svea, Kustom, Walley, Vipps/MobilePay
• Shipping: Ingrid checkout delivery selector
• Search: Meilisearch (default), Hello Retail, Frntkey AI Search (add-on)
• CRM: Voyado, Klaviyo, Rule (via GTM)
• Reviews: Lipscore
• Gift cards: Retain24, Awardit
• Analytics: GA4, GTM, Meta Pixel, Cookiebot

Each integration is configured per project. The pre-integrated baseline means the integration work is already done when you need it — activation is configuration, not development.

Shopware plugins and the Store API

Shopware plugins fall into two categories for a Frntkey project. Plugins that extend the Store API — adding new endpoints, enriching product data, or adding custom fields — continue to work with Frntkey. The Nuxt storefront reads from the same Store API and picks up those extensions.

Plugins that render Twig templates are not used in a headless setup. Those plugins typically handle things like custom CMS blocks or checkout layout overrides. In a Frntkey project, those functions move to the Nuxt layer or to Storyblok. Most merchants find this a clean opportunity to consolidate: the Shopware plugin count usually drops significantly when the Storefront is replaced.

When Frntkey for Shopware is the right fit

Frntkey is the right choice for a Shopware project when the storefront needs to go headless and the requirements are serious but not so distinctive that a productized frontend would have to be rebuilt anyway. Most B2B and D2C merchants on Shopware fall into this range: they need a fast, well-built storefront with the European integration set, Storyblok CMS, and reliable B2B flows.

If the project requires a highly customized checkout flow, a non-standard B2B workflow outside what Frntkey covers, or a storefront experience so distinctive that a packaged frontend constrains it, a fully custom build on Alokai or a bespoke Nuxt application is the more honest recommendation. See the pricing page for what the Frntkey subscription covers.