Magento is a PHP-embedded platform that helps programmers create eCommerce websites. It was released on March 31, 2008, by Varien and developed on the Zend Framework. Until now, there are hundreds of thousands of companies using this open-source to run their online store, including big ones like Nike, Samsung, etc.
In 2018, Adobe acquired Magento for $1.68 billion to complete its business loop. This acquisition will also help Magento grow in the enterprise market. According to LitExtension’s internal data, Magento was one of the three platforms most merchants migrated to in 2020, while only a minority of store owners chose other carts.
Why use Magento?
For businesses and individuals who want to build a long-term professional eCommerce website, you should consider Magento as a priority. Magento is the best open source for building an online store. But the important thing is that it is very professional and completely free.
It is enough to understand a little English and the technology is completely capable of building a “monumental” website with this open source.
Magento has several basic features:
Product management: with many images, optional product comments, a favourites list, and inventory.
Category management: easy search and selection of products by category.
Inventory management: management of products in stock, import, export.
Client account: account status, transaction history, preferred catalogue, address, shopping cart…
Customer service: feature improvements, customer contact form; comprehensive tracking, and email service.
Order management
Payments: Many payment methods such as credit cards, PayPal, Authorize.net, and Google Checkout, support for external payment modules such as CyberSource, ePay, eWAY, and more.
Search technology: fast, friendly, supports Google SiteMap search
International support: multilingual and monetary
Promotional and marketing tools: coupons, promotions, and more.
Analyze and report: integrate with Google Analytics to provide multiple reports.
Omnichannel is the future of retail, so many merchants choose Magento eCommerce for their website and then use Magento POS for their brick-and-mortar stores. This allows them to sell and manage their business from a centralized system.
But what makes Magento different from other platforms:
Open source – highly customizable
Magento not only offers flexible, scalable e-commerce solutions but also gives you the flexibility to customize. It also gives you the ability to expand your platform and create unique and different brand experiences. This platform can adapt well to change and has the potential to be modified to meet the requirements of store owners.
Freedom to choose hosting services
With Magento, eCommerce sellers are free to choose the hosted platform of their choice without having to stick with one hosting provider. This gives all online shopping businesses a lot of freedom to have their files and be selective with different Magento hosting companies.
Responsive mobile
Magento is good for maintaining mobile web design standards. Both the free community edition and the enterprise version of Magento feature an HTML5 platform that maximizes the mobile shopping experience. As a result, your eCommerce store will always be optimized.
The Magento mobile app creates a fulfilling brand experience for consumers who connect anytime, anywhere using their smarphones and mobile devices.
Easy cross-platform integration
You can easily integrate third-party plugins and modules into your Magento store.
This provider allows any modifications without any restrictions. The platform also allows store owners to add Google Analytics and other similar third-party integrations (like eBay, Paypal, Mail Chimp, etc.) to their site to help with data analysis.
Your task is only to find the best gadgets and immediately “plug” them into your store!
Increase website speed
When it comes to page load time, Magento wins again!
Magento has made it its mission to create the fastest eCommerce stores in the world and is known for its ability to create fast-loading websites.
And you probably already know that slow-loading pages “sink” very quickly. In many cases, the loss from a slow page load is seen immediately, sometimes leading to unintended consequences.
Magento can surprise you with the performance of the platform itself due to the customization and also the trust it brings. Using a PWA store can make your website even faster and delight your customers.
SEO friendly
Magento is an SEO-friendly editorial system – Magento SEO. It includes many SEO features such as:
- Search for friendly URLs
- Sitemaps
- Layered navigation
- Name of a product
- Keywords
- Meta tags
- Meta descriptions
When it comes to SEO, Magento eCommerce is up-to-date with the latest SEO ranking factors. It provides great URL structure and meta-implementation capabilities needed for SEO. Magento also includes analytics to track website visitors. This is one of Magento’s most distinctive features.
With over 11 years of experience in Magento with hundreds of projects large and small, we are confident that Magento is the perfect eCommerce solution for any business of any size.
What is Magento eCommerce?
Magento eCommerce was previously known as Magento Enterprise Edition. The developers created this version of Magenta for larger enterprises. With a price tag of $24,000 a year, you’d need some solid income to make that kind of financial commitment.
What is Magento Open Source?
Magento Open Source is the free version of Magento. It is designed for e-commerce companies that are smaller and don’t need as much support as larger companies. However, large companies can still use the platform successfully. If you’re running a low-maintenance business, the free option might be the better way to go.
Magento Commerce vs Magento Open Source – Which is Better?
Both options are viable for e-commerce, but we recommend trying Magento Open Source before investing money in Magento Commerce. The features of each platform might make you think that Magento Commerce is better, but that’s not necessarily true.
You have to consider the price you are paying and the number of features you need. Chances are you can get away with the free version.
Advantages and disadvantages of Magento
Finally, let’s look at the pros and cons of the platform. This will help you determine whether or not you should consider Magento as an eCommerce platform in the first place.
We will consider the pros and cons of Magento 2, considering that it is the active and recommended version of Magento as of now.
Advantages of Magento
- Platform is flexible for users
- The platform offers free services
- The community is supportive and will help lost users navigate any issues they may be having
- Disadvantages of Magenta
- Potential hosting and security costs
- Paid customer support
- Magento payment gateways
Magento comes with default payment gateway options: credit card and PayPal. However, many users use extensions such as the Rapid global payment plugin for Magento to expand their customers’ payment options and localize checkouts around the world.
Instead of having to add multiple extensions for different payment methods, you can add a single extension that localizes the shopping experience for each customer with Rapid.
