By 2026, the total amount of eCommerce retail sales worldwide will reach $8,1 billion. For businesses that want to receive more sales, it’s an opportunity to enter the eCommerce world. The main question is how to choose the proper platform to create a website.
According to the statistics, Magento empowers 0.6% of all eCommerce websites. Therefore, it’s one of the most popular platforms for creating a web store for digital business. This article will provide you with insights about Magento powered by Adobe, its features, benefits, and experts’ opinions. Keep reading.
Key points
What Is Magento?
Magento is an open-source platform for creating websites that offer a bunch of features for a profitable web store. Such digital giants as Coca-Cola, Ford, and Jaguar use Magento for running their websites. Its popularity is ensured by its scalability, tools for marketing, templates, and much more. Let’s take a closer look at the main Magento’s features.
Analytics Tools
They allow you to track the crucial metrics such as sales, product reviews, bestsellers, best view product or services, etc. You are also able to integrate it with Google Analytics to automate the data sync process.
Mobile Commerce
According to the statistics, 79% of mobile users made at least one purchase with their phone. Therefore, Magento provides a mobile-friendly solution that helps reach more potential customers.
Marketing Tools (Magento CMS)
Magento offers a kit of technologies for proper marketing promotions, email campaigns, and analytics. For example, you can customize a special promotion according to the customer’s previous orders, wish lists, and other data.
SEO Features
Better ranking means more traffic, for example, if your website is #1 in Google search, it gets nearly 32% of all the clicks. With Magento tools, you are able to optimize the web store’s pages, URLs, and content, and get a better position in search engines.
Customization Abilities
According to this feature, you are able to effortlessly create a proper design. There are more than 300 templates for your Magento web store, and you can also develop one from scratch. Thus, you will receive a unique solution that meets your business’s needs.
Is Magento 2 better than Magento?
In June 2020, Adobe stopped supporting Magento 1, which means there are no updates for security, bug fixes, etc. Still, over 167,000 websites are running on Magento 1. So how much does Magento 2 differ from the first one? In this section, we will consider the main variables and the pros and cons of each version.
| Feature | Magento 1 | Magento 2 |
| Architecture | Outdated technologies. | Supports 10 updated technologies, according to additional HTML5, Symphony, Composer, Varnish 3.x / 4.x, Nginx 1.7 +. |
| Performance Speed | Slower response time for checkout and add-to-cart processes. | Process up to 39% more orders in one hour, and quick service response. |
| SEO | No possibility to create a website that would suit mobile users. | Magento 2 avoids duplicates and is SEO-friendly for mobile users. |
| Security | Magento doesn’t provide any security updates since June 2020. | Regular hashing algorithms updates and 2-factor authentication. |
| Third-party Extensions | No updates for existing solutions. | There are 3000+ paid and free extensions from Adobe. |
| Support | Adobe doesn’t support Magento 1. | Magento 2 offers all the newest features that can be implemented for eCommerce websites. |
| Admin Panel | In Magento 1 the admin panel wasn’t intuitive and easy to use. | The new admin dashboard is well-structured and intuitive. |
| Payment Methods | Magento 1 offers nine payment methods, and some of them need third-party apps. | Magento 2 has a wide list of payment gateways (10), and they don’t require any add extensions. |
According to this comparison, it’s better to use or migrate your web store to Magento 2 if you want a stable and secure website. This platform is updated regularly, so running the web store will be straightforward and enhanced with the newest innovations.
Magento Commerce vs Magento Open Source – Which Is Better?
There are two different types of Magento: Open Source, which stands for the free version, and Commerce, a commercial. Choosing the proper one depends on your business scale, goals, and needs.
Magento Open Source
83% of all Magento websites use an open-source version. Software developers release free extensions, various customizations, and other improvements for websites. Also, a special app can be developed by Magento specialists according to unique business requests. For example, to connect different systems like Magento and Salesforce.
Magento Commerce
Magento Commerce is a paid version, that includes all the open-source features and additionals, such as:
- Bluefoot CMS in 2.2 (a content management system and page builder)
- Magento Order Management
- Content Staging & Preview
- Magento Shipping
- Gift Card and others
The all-in-one cloud platform is PCI compliant and offers cloud onboarding support, easy deployment, content management, etc. When choosing one, consider your business needs and future scale: how many products will you sell, and what features you will need? The platform has to grow along with your company.
Expert Thoughts About Magento
Now that we’ve reviewed Magento’s features, and its pros and cons, let’s refer to the professional’s opinions on this platform. TJ Gambel, a Magento expert with 10+ years of experience in building quality eCommerce sites, says that this system is suitable for sellers that run their businesses in a controversial or high-risk industry.
To quote his video, TJ Gamble says, “…the flexibility that Magento provides, like being able to move to a different host or select a new payment provider, means that someone can’t just tell you no”. Also, he emphasizes that Magento provides more customization options and a better B2B custom user experience.
Another Magento expert, Lawrence Turton, is a web developer and graphic designer specializing in HTML, CSS, jQuery, UI, and UX. With Avelx Academy, he teaches people and shares bits of advice via a YouTube channel. In his review of Magento, Lawrence Turton says “And the reason why it comes number one is that it has so many features out of the box, even with the community edition”. Also, he explained that if you want to go for the paid-for edition, you can easily download proper modules and plugins from the Magento store.
Conclusion
Magento is an easy-to-use platform that fits all businesses, whether you run a small company or an enterprise. With all the features for customizing and innovations, you are able to create a modern and profitable website. Being online is vital for businesses that want to stay competitive and increase their profit. So why don’t you book a call with SoloWay to start your project today? Click here to fill out the form.
