Why to Migrate Your Current Ecommerce Store to Magento 2?
Ecommerce platforms have had a proud history of evolution. With smarter technologies ruling the roost, businesses are fast embracing new changes to enhance customer experience.
Magento – one of the leading eCommerce platforms, is certainly no different. The developers followed the known suit leading to the unveiling of Magento 2.
But, hang on! Does a new release imply everyone’s happy onboard?
Well, yes, and no!
There are several eCommerce clients who are still running their online shops on the previous version and are yet to make the shift. Frankly, it’s quite a dilemma, as a lot of e-commerce businesses are still in the dark as to whether they should consider an upgrade, and with no holds barred for official Magento 1 support already done and over with in June, Magento 2 platform here seems to be in the spotlight.
Reportedly, in the second quarter of 2020, more than 30,000 online stores with no less than 27000 unique domain names saw themselves go live on Magento 2. The stats further depict:
- 5.29% of Magento 2 store users are Shopping and Ecommerce businesses, whereas Lifestyle brands take the lead by 9.34% and another 5.76% by Home and Garden brands.
- There are more than 75,000 websites in the US alone running on Magento and is said to be the highest in the world followed by the UK with more than 15,000 sites and Germany with more than 13000 sites.
- Magento is also downloaded almost close to 5,000 times each day, thus accounting for its popularity among e-retailers.
The official marketing lingo for Magento 2 goes– ‘brands, retailers, and businesses across B2C and B2B industries to quickly and cost-effectively deliver engaging omnichannel shopping experiences.”
Evidently, one of the plus points of the latest version Magento 2 is its flexible architecture and enhanced performance. Take the inclusion of touch-friendly features for instance– definitely, a rewarding move allowing eCommerce store owners to track and manage their businesses from underneath their palms, via a smartphone.
Nevertheless, the transition from Magento 1 to Magento 2 can appear a tad bit complex for most users. Sure, there are external tools to help you, but knowing things by yourself, and for the most part, why upgrading Magento 1 store is necessary, offers a clear perspective.
This post discusses a handful of compelling reasons Magento 2 migration that will not only do away with your confusion with Magento 2 but happily encourage you to upgrade this platform by hiring the best Magento developers.
Read on to find out more about the Magento migration process.
8 Reasons to Migrate Your Current Ecommerce Store to Magento 2
1. Embracing the Modern Technology Stack
With an open-source Magento 2 store, you get to witness an upgraded tech sack. For instance, PHP 5.5 is the version that receives the minimum support, whereas MySQL 5.6, HTML5, CSS3 are now what is being looked at as standard.
Plus, Magento 2 is built to easily facilitate optimal viewing as well as easy effortless interactions and improved performance across multiple device types– a much-needed feature that was missing in its earlier version.
The web API’s in Magento 2 also allow one to connect their eCommerce store with a bunch of advanced payment methods, merchandising solutions, and a host of marketing capabilities.
2. Enhanced Scalability and Performance
Undeniably, the built-in full page cache is the singular most significant feature of Magento 2, and it is this full page cache that offers support for varnish as the back end.
The upgraded Magento version now allows for faster load time for pages, like products and categories, and to be precise is measured to be less than 1.5 seconds for a better user experience.
On the compatibility front, Magento 2.0 supports Varnish 4 as well as HHVM 3.6 which in turn makes it possible to compile all PHP codes on the go.
Furthermore, Magento 2 is way faster in general than Magento 1 owing to a truckload of front-end doings that can be pre-compiled and worked AJAX. Now, you will be able to share databases by functional area, which means your product information can be stored on a different server altogether, and thus any information can be retrieved a lot faster for one and all users.
In essence, it has also contributed to a faster and seamless checkout process which invariably adds to the scalability of your eCommerce platform.
3. Faster Load Time For Pages
While Magento 1 required tons of JS to load in order to build a single eCommerce page, Magento 2 has significantly lowered the same to save time and load pages faster.
Enhanced Javascript management, especially the movement from using a prototype JS to JQuery has made things run a lot smoother. Last, the developers have also included JavaScript Bundling contributing to lower page load time.
4. Seamless Customisation
Magento 2 has a restricted code base that functions to direct everything under a specific module right under and within a single module. Plus, it employs the de facto PHP package manager and Composer to help manage the module installation process.
And that’s not all. The logic for business, as well as presentation, has also been worked on separately, thus making it possible to maintain all customization efforts, despite the product patches installed.
5. Smart Integration of Third Party Modules
All well-defined APIs have been published by Magento 2 marketplace to effortlessly act as an interface for all third-party modules. Doing so has also made it possible to keep external modules unaffected by any significant code changes and vice versa. In essence, the whole structure has contributed towards the enhancement and customization of the modules like never before.
6. A CodeBase That is Outright Modern and Clean
Magento 2 has successfully removed all bad and legacy codes. Thus, in Magento 2, there seems to be no easy way to leave any code that’s non-optimized in the right place for all Magento sites.
7. Easy Upgrade and Installation Process
One of the most compelling reasons for migrating from Magento 1 to 2 has to be its easy upgradability as well as installation process, especially for the patches.
As an eCommerce merchant, it greatly benefits one as they are now seamlessly upgrading their store to the best platform that’s available, only to enjoy all the latest functionalities and features under one umbrella.
With easy installation of security patches too, it has greatly contributed to the security of the site.
8. Minimised Effort For Testing
Magento 2 is a hallmark of come-of-age, automated test strategies. What it means is how developers now have the scope to write several test cases ensuring the customizations implemented have not played foul with any core functionalities.
Moreover, the Magento Test Framework also allows for functional testing, since it is an open-source cross-platform offering. In other words, it is not dependent on a single OS to run things and allows one to run quick functional tests using the native Magento application itself.
Furthermore, all functional tests can be performed at any point in time, either independently or with multiple tests at one go. Thus, it has brought the effects of user interaction testing to a bare minimum.
The Leap Ahead
Undeniably, the expansion of the eCommerce business and its constantly evolving nature has made Magento see some bad days in the recent past.
Notwithstanding the fact that Magento was once the top-seeded player out there for content management systems, the arrival of WooCommerce, SquareSpace, Shopify, and Wix have changed the game for good.
Nevertheless, Magento has been doing well and has always managed to keep the scorecard going with a pretty impressive list of users signing up. Sure, the figures can change for some years, but that certainly has nothing to do with the credibility of a platform like Magento. With its newest upgrade, things are looking very promising and it won’t be a surprise if you see a large number of users making a comeback with Magento 2.
Following Adobe’s acquisition in 2018, Magento as an innovation company has constantly made an effort to revive its lost glory by enhancing the core features, upping the security, and engaging eCommerce retailers globally through conventions and gala events. With Magento 2 in the picture, perhaps the company is due for a glory tale in times to come.
As an eCommerce business owner running your store on Magento 1, no time can be better than right now to consider an upgrade. Now that you’ve got a comprehensive idea about what you can expect from Magento 2, you can plan accordingly to implement new features and probability shape up your business plan as well.
However, while considering upgrading to Magento 2, it is recommended in the best interest that you always get it done from a certified Magento Solution Partner, or from a Magento Certified Developer to avoid any hassles. With trained hands by your side, the intricate doings and other inherent capacities can be handled easily and you won’t have to lose your sleep over it.
Must Have Magento Extensions For Hastening Your Business
Magento is one of the most popular e-commerce platforms. It’s used by more than 250,000 merchants and 2.3% of e-commerce stores worldwide because it’s robust and highly customizable. Magento offers a wide variety of extensions (also called modules) that add functionality to your store.
When you have the right developer by your side, these extensions can be extremely powerful for integrating seamlessly into your business. The developer will take care of all the backend and frontend to slickly integrate these extensions into your site or online app.
But, finding the right extensions for your business can be challenging. The Magento online store alone has thousands of extension options, not to mention all the other third-party websites offering them. So how do you choose the best?
This article introduces some of the best Magento extensions and how they help you speed up your business website or mobile app.
Must Have Magento Extensions For Your Business
Whether you need help with SEO, site performance, security or something else, you can use the extensions to streamline your business. So, let’s look at must-have Magento extensions that are sure to make a difference in your business.
Google Analytics
The Google Analytics extension helps store owners collect data from their online store and send it to Google analytics more conveniently. With the support of the Google Analytics built-in module, store owners can have a clear analysis of customer shopping behavior and better understand how to approach customers.
Regardless of the type of business you run, it will be incredibly beneficial to be able to analyze customer information and make informed decisions regarding your marketing strategy, product line, pricing structure etc.
Developers having good knowledge of google analytics can help you track website traffic and customer behavior through Google Analytics account seamlessly. They can work through advanced analytics to integrate analytics and your website to track how people use your website by recording customer browsers, screen resolutions, operating systems, etc.
Top Benefits:
- Track product clicks and impressions by position
- Track product’s purchases, abandonment, and removal
- Tag creation and integration with Google analytics, Tag manager and Adwords
One Step Checkout
One Step Checkout extension allows customers to complete checkout faster by just filling in the details on one page. This increases the chances of conversion by reducing the cart abandonment rate. It includes a drag & drop feature that helps your customer choose his desired options and place an order.
The extension also has a guest checkout option for those who don’t want to register in your store after placing the order. One step checkout extension has multiple payment options for making transactions. PayPal options are available for both Express and Standard checkout with many other payment gateways such as SagePay, Authorize .Net, etc. Along with this, COD payment option is also available through this extension.
Top Benefits:
- Create a customized checkout page with a few clicks
- Supports multiple payment methods and shipping carriers
- Displays estimated delivery date and time
Store Credit
When you’re looking to bring in new customers or acquire more orders, it’s always helpful to make some referrals. E-commerce stores can earn more revenue by making use of their own credits. It also helps in the long run and helps keep money circulating around.
Store credit extensions provide customers with a credit if they’re returning an item for refund rather than straight up cash. You’ll be more likely to recoup the costs of that sale on your end – keeping better records of transactions and building loyalty with your current customer base. Make sure those suggestions are well-thought out so you can adapt if done improperly.
Top Benefits:
- Increase sales by giving credits with every purchase
- Auto-notify customers about available store credits
- Keeping the refund amount as credits to encourage future purchase
Advanced Product Options Suite
You can create customized product options with the help of advanced product options suite extension. This tool helps you display your products in a much better way and lets customers choose the options they want.
Using this tool, you can uniquely present your product and create customized options. You can use this extension with simple, virtual, or downloadable product types. Also, you can display alternatives on your website and provide better service using this extension.
Top Benefits:
- Custom options to upgrade product descriptions
- Using swatches to improve the product presentations
- Easily assign options template to a number of products
Product Attachment Extension
The product attachment extension offers shoppers a professional approach to displaying products even on mobile. Surfing through the webstore is highly pleasing, with all the additional product info available at their fingertips.
It really takes the user experience to a whole new level by allowing them to browse multiple pages or zoom in and out of images, which makes it easy to get a complete picture of what is on offer. Upload any document you like in supported formats such as doc and pdf, among others. The downloadable files can include user manuals, videos, and other documents which are helpful for customers when they decide to buy that product.
Top Benefits:
- Display eye-catching icons
- Mobile-optimized design
- Complete API support
Quickbooks
OneSaaS is one of the best Magento 2 extensions that will automatically keep your channels synced. It eliminates manual input errors and ensures everything is where it needs to be when it comes time to make a sale.
Best part? It gets rid of the tiresome necessity of chasing down data entry and streamlines most processes so you have more time to devote to growing your business using Magento Quickbooks Extension.
Working with a developer can be very beneficial when it comes to a CRM related extension because they are the ones who end up being able to assist you in making sure that everything runs smoothly. This is great because it means that you’ll be able to get exactly what will help you manage your data and processes quickly and efficiently without having to worry about taking on too much at one time.
Top Benefits:
- Detailed customer information list
- All the necessary data about Magento products
- Information about orders
Amasty Improved Layered Navigation
Amasty’s Improved Layered Navigation extension features AJAX-powered filtering, giving your customers a more fluid browsing experience. With this Magento extension, you can add custom attributes to the navigation bar so that customers can filter products by multiple attributes simultaneously.
You can also use filters with categories and define the configuration of each category individually. The extension lets you display up to 20 options per attribute, limit product count in each option, and include or exclude out-of-stock items from being displayed. Filters can be used as widgets on any page of your online store, including the home page and CMS pages.
A developer can help you add new layers of navigation on your site. It gives you the ability to organize the most important links on the top of your website and display them according to multiple criteria. It helps you to improve your website’s usability and better organize your content.
The Amasty Improved Layered Navigation extension is compatible with Magento 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3.
Top Benefits:
- Enable descriptive navigational blocks
- Enable extended filtering by brands
- Allow filters’ multi-select to reduce extra purchase steps
Inventory Management Extension
Inventory Management Extension facilitates inventory management for online stores. This extension is a multi-warehouse inventory management system. It also supports multi-location and product types.
Inventory Management Extension helps to configure different warehouses with products, product attributes, and warehouse shipping settings. It is well integrated with a barcode scanning facility. This extension allows the store owner to assign any physical person to manage multiple warehouses and in-stock products in one place by using the frontend interface of this extension. Using this extension, one can view all the orders placed from each warehouse in-stock inventory, and other details of each warehouse on a single screen which makes it easier for the admin to take control over it efficiently.
Top Benefits:
- Create multiple warehouses with ease
- Manage stock from product grid
- Create multiple shipments with a click
Shipping Suite Multi-shipping
Shipping Suite extension gives you complete control of your delivery process with the integrated work of the 3 smart management tools: shipping table rates, rules and restrictions. With this extension, you can always track your orders’ delivery status. It allows you to manage multiple shippers and carriers.
The extension helps you import tracking numbers from CSV files or bulk update them directly in your order grid. It automatically notifies customers when their orders have been shipped by tracking their shipping status.
Shipping Suite allows you to ship your products quickly to save time and get more done. If any information is missing or needs to be changed, the extension makes it easy for you to modify it with just a few clicks.
Top Benefits:
- Create unlimited custom shipping options
- Assign rules and restrictions based on different
- Allow customers to pick suitable delivery time and date
Leverage These Extensions To Grow Your Business Faster
There are many ways to grow your business. You can try to sell more products and open more stores, but there is a limit on how much you can do with this strategy. You can also get help from extensions in order to increase conversion rates, customer satisfaction, and revenue. Magento extensions are beneficial when it comes to growing your business because they can save time and money. They also improve SEO which increases sales.
Speed up your Magento Store – steer ahead of the competition
Is your Magento store not quite as fast as you like? Magento is the most popular e-commerce platform having an issue related to speed. The speed of the website is one of the crucial factors to increase the sales and improve the overall experience of the customers. Hire Magento Developer India to keep the website running fast. Here are some of the ways to improve the speed of the website.
Running on latest Version
Make sure you choose the latest version Magento platform in which the bugs and issues are sorted. With the latest version, you can do considerable improvements over the past version. You can make every task easier if you upgrade your website with the latest version.
Utilize Caching
You can find your website speed is increased noticeably if you manage cache properly. There are various caching options available in the latest version of the Magento platform. You should choose the right caching mechanism to optimize the page speed with less resource.