By the end of 2023, one in every five retail sales will be made online, according to Shopify’s annual report on commerce trends.

 

Where does Magento fit into that?

 

Magento is one of the top 3 most used eCommerce platforms out there. 

 

There are more than 250,000 companies that use Magento to set up and manage their websites. 

 

It is used and trusted by some of the biggest brands in the world, such as Burger King, Moschino, ASUS, Ford, Land Rover and many others. 

 

Since so many household names use it, there must be something Magento’s doing right.

 

In this article, we will reflect on the following topics about Magento website development: 

 

1. What is Magento?

2. What does Magento have to offer?

3. Magento design possibilities

4. How to manage your products and sales with Magento?

5. Challenges of using Magento and how to face them

6. Examples of websites built on Magento

 

Let’s dive right in! 

1. What is Magento?

 

First, Magento is one of the most popular eCommerce platforms. Simply put, Magento is a platform for building online stores, and its creators used open-source technology to make it. It means you can control how your store looks and works without affecting your customers' shopping. 

 

What's important to single out is that Magento was created mainly as an eCommerce solution for large online retailers but with developers in mind. If you have a larger store with complex needs, having a team of developers who can work with Magento Commerce may be essential.

 

The platform has many useful features, like tools for marketing, managing your store's catalog, and ensuring your store shows up in search results (SEO features). 

 

Okay, now that we have covered the basics, let's go into more detail. Keywords here are Adobe, Magento 1, Magento 2, Open Source, and Commerce. Sit tight as we explain what is what. 

 

Back in 2018, Magento was acquired by Adobe, and Magento eCommerce was renamed Adobe Commerce. This acquisition allowed Magento to continue to grow and develop as a platform, adding new features and improving its overall capabilities.

 

Magento 1 vs Magento 2

 

Another thing – if you have heard that there are two versions of Magento – Magento 1 and Magento 2 – you should know that the one in use right now is Magento 2. It’s an updated Magento 1 with improved performance, responsiveness, and an admin panel. 

 

Magento 1 is no longer officially supported by Magento or Adobe (which acquired Magento). Support for Magento 1 ended in June 2020, and the company has recommended that users migrate to Magento 2 or another eCommerce platform to ensure the security and stability of their online stores. However, Magento 2 has a different architecture than Magento 1, so upgrading from Magento 1 to Magento 2 is not a simple process, and you will most likely need help from experts. 

 

Magento Open Source vs Magento Commerce software

 

To make it clear – in this article, we will be talking about Magento Commerce software. 

 

But since this article is called “All you need to know about Magento,” we need to explain the two.

 

The main thing to note here is that Magento Open Source is a free version of this platform, whereas Magento (Adobe) Commerce is paid. So, let’s say that Open Source is enough for a start. But that’s just about it – Magento Adobe Commerce offers more advanced marketing and content management features such as customer segmentation, targeted promotions, and reward programs, which can help you to create more personalized shopping experiences for your customers, drive engagement and increase conversion rates. And much more.

 

If you want to learn more about Magento Open Source click here. 

 

So now that we’ve clarified what’s what, let’s talk about Magento even more! 

 

Moving on to what you can expect from Magento as an eCommerce platform.

 

 

2. What does Magento have to offer?

 

Benefits

 

Compared to other eCommerce platforms, Magento Commerce stands out for several reasons:

 

• it’s flexible and customizable

 

• offers a range of advanced features

 

• it’s highly scalable

 

Reviews

 

"It's expanded our ability to use eCommerce to produce sales through different channels. By using Magento, we're able to sell products online to consumers through one simple transaction."

 

Reviewer from G2

 

"It's expanded our ability to use eCommerce to produce sales through different channels. By using Magento, we're able to sell products online to consumers through one simple transaction."

 

Reviewer from Capterra

 

Magento Commerce currently holds excellent ratings online – they are above 4 out of 5 on average. There must be so many reasons why this is the case, and we will break them down to you. 

 

Key features

 

Now, let's take a look at some of the key features it offers:

 

• Advanced Marketing: As mentioned, Magento Commerce offers advanced marketing features like customer segmentation, targeted promotions, and rewards programs, which can help you create personalized shopping experiences and drive customer loyalty.

 

• Enhanced Search Functionality: Magento Commerce includes an improved search functionality for your customers, allowing them to find the products they seek quickly.

 

• Scalability: Since it can handle high levels of traffic and transactions and has a robust infrastructure and a range of features and integrations, Magento Commerce is very flexible and can adapt quickly to the growing demands of eCommerce businesses. 

 

• Powerful Order Management: Magento Commerce includes a comprehensive order management system that allows you to manage orders across multiple channels and locations, helping to simplify operations and improve order processing times.

 

• Mobile responsive design: It offers a seamless shopping experience across devices, including mobile phones and tablets.

 

• Powerful analytics and reporting: You get in-depth analytics and reporting tools, including customer behavior analysis, sales tracking, and inventory management, to help you make data-driven decisions – and we all know how much the correct data is essential to make decisions! 

 

• Integrations and extensions: Magento Commerce has a vast marketplace of extensions and integrations that can add new features and functionalities to a store, including payment gateways, shipping carriers, and more.

 

• Security and compliance: Magento Commerce offers advanced security features, including two-factor authentication, encryption, and secure payment processing, to help you protect your customers' data and comply with industry regulations.

 

• Diverse Payment Options: It offers various payment services to support different currencies and flexible payment methods such as credit and debit cards, PayPal, and Venmo for online shopping cart checkout.

 

Okay, these are just some fantastic features Magento Commerce offers.

 

There are a whole bunch of them, and you can find them all on the Adobe Commerce website. 

 

 

3. Magento design possibilities

Your website is a spokesperson for your business because it’s the first thing your customers will notice. Also, a great website design is essential if your customers want an excellent experience and return. 

 

Do we mention that if your customers stay longer on the website, you will be able to offer them more?

 

Thankfully – Magento’s got your back! 

 

Magento offers various design possibilities for online stores thanks to its customizable themes and templates. In addition, the platform allows for easy customization of the website layout, fonts, colors, and images, providing businesses with complete control over the look and feel of their online store.

 

This is the deal - Magento provides its users with two types of design elements: extensions and themes.

 

Extensions

 

The platform offers a wide range of extensions (more than 3000 of them!), which serve different purposes, such as marketing, payment, and shipping. These extensions can be used to enhance the functionality of online stores and improve the user experience.

 

These are the categories for Magento Commerce extensions:

 

• Accounting & Finance

 

• Content & Customizations

 

• Customer Support

 

• Marketing tools

 

• Payments & Security

 

• Reporting & Analytics

 

• Sales

 

• Shipping & Fulfillment

 

• Site Optimization

 

To get a better feel of what kind of extensioins exist, check out this page, the official page for Magento extensions.  

 

Themes

 

Magento themes are pre-designed templates that you can use to customize the look and feel of your online store. They include various design elements, such as page layouts, fonts, color schemes, and graphic parts, that you can mix and match to create a unique storefront.

 

You can choose from a couple of pre-designed themes, or if you have a great team of developers and designers at hand, Magento will allow you to build websites from scratch and reimagine them precisely as you want them.

 

Check out all themes directly on Magento Marketplace.

 

 

4. How to manage your products and sales with Magento?

 

One of the main qualities of Magento Commerce is how simple and easy it is to work with daily. The main dashboard is user-friendly, with clearly organized sections. Navigating the inventory is simple, and adding new products is a breeze.

 

In short, managing products and sales in Magento involves several key steps:

 

1. Catalog Management

 

This involves adding and organizing products, setting prices and discounts, and creating product attributes such as size, color, and material. You can also manage inventory levels, product reviews, and ratings.

 

2. Order Management

 

Once customers place an order, you can manage it through Magento's order management system. You can track the order status, print invoices and shipping labels, and handle returns and refunds.

 

3. Payment and Shipping Options

 

Magento offers a range of payment and shipping options to customers, such as credit cards, PayPal, and shipping carriers like USPS and FedEx. You can also set up shipping rules and taxes based on location, weight, or order total.

 

4. Reporting and Analytics

 

Magento provides built-in reporting and analytics tools to track sales performance, customer behavior, and marketing campaigns. You can generate reports on revenue, orders, and customer data to help you make the best business. 

 

5. Challenges of using Magento and how to face them

It's undeniable that Magento is one of the most robust and popular eCommerce platforms. But it isn't without its flaws, for sure. No platform is, to be honest. What counts, though, is how simple and easy it is to deal with possible setbacks. 

 

With Magento, it is easy, which makes it its strong point.

 

So, let's take a look at where Magento Commerce falls short.

 

Challenge No.1: It's pretty complex 

 

Magento can be complicated to set up and configure, especially if you're unfamiliar with web development or eCommerce platforms. It may require technical expertise to customize and optimize your store fully.

 

How to solve this problem? First, consider hiring Magento experts or partnering with a company specializing in Magento development (Yes, we do it too). They can provide valuable guidance and support to help you manage the complexities of the platform. 

 

Challenge No.2: It's pricey

 

While Magento Open Source is free to use, Magento Commerce can be expensive, with licensing fees and additional costs for extensions and hosting.

 

What's the positive outlook on its high cost?

 

First, the investment in Magento will pay off in the long run because it offers more advanced and sophisticated features. It also offers functionalities and scalability and flexibility options for growing businesses. By establishing a higher price than its competitors, Magento Commerce has emerged as the choice for an eCommerce platform for some of the biggest and most successful names. And they know how to do things right.

 

Challenge No.3: There are a few themes available 

 

You can choose only a couple of pre-designed themes from Magento Marketplace, which gives you limited options on how you want your website to look. 

 

But there is more to the story. 

 

You can still stand out from your competitors by creating highly tailored and optimized themes that meet your specific needs and requirements in Magento Commerce. But, of course, it would be best to have a great team of designers and developers to make it happen. 

 

 

6. Examples of websites built on Magento

 

 

Over 200,000 websites are using Magento. 

 

We have already listed reasons why Magento takes the cake regarding eCommerce platforms since it offers unique features, although it has some flaws that are easily solved. 

 

Now let’s see which brands decided to put their trust in Magento Commerce’s hands and build a website with its help. 

 

Nespresso

Nespresso has been Magento’s partner for more than ten years!

 

With Magento’s help, they have created a visually gorgeous website that fulfills other roles as well – it invites visitors to take action and is user-friendly and highly intuitive. 

 

Since diving into this partnership, Nespresso’s website has had better loading speed, a simple checkout process, and product recommendations, among other things, which improved the overall customer experience.

 

 

Landrover

This website is not where you can buy cars, but you can purchase all brand-related merchandise. 

 

The Land Rover website aims to provide a seamless and engaging customer experience that reflects the values and quality of the Land Rover brand.

 

With Magento Commerce, they improved the user experience on its website by providing a responsive design and a faster, more reliable platform. Magento has also enabled Land Rover to manage its content more easily and personalize the shopping experience for its customers.

 

 

Olympus

Another famous brand partnered with Magento Commerce is a Japanese company Olympus best known for its high-quality cameras. 

 

One of the world's most influential companies for technological solutions generates yearly profits of millions of dollars, so it's imperative to have a stable website to support that. They recognized the perfect partner in Magento and have been leveraging its power to create a user-friendly website. 

 

Besides using the multi-language functionality, they have been benefiting from their promotional features and providing weekly specials and free shipping offers for purchases over a certain threshold.

 

Key takeaways

 

 

Throughout this article, we have established that Magento is a powerful and flexible eCommerce platform that offers a wide range of features and capabilities for building and managing online stores. 

 

Let’s take a few crucial points about Magento Commerce:

 

• It is recommended to use Magento 2 instead of Magento 1 because Magento 1 is no longer supported, while Magento 2 offers improved features and security.

 

• There are two types of Magento – Open Source, which is free, and Commerce, which is paid. 

 

• Magento Commerce offers many useful features for online stores, like search functionality, marketing tools, flexible payment options, and scalability to handle growing business needs.

 

• As for design options, Magento offers over 3000 extensions but only a few pre-designed themes. But, if you have a strong development and web design team, you can easily build the website to your taste and needs. 

 

• Managing your products and sales is very easy daily.

 

• Some challenges include high pricing and complexity, but that is not a problem to solve with the right team of experts! 

 

• Famous brands like Nike, Samsung, Nespresso, Ford, Olympus, and others are some of the happy customers of Magento Commerce. 

 

If you have read this blog so far, chances are that you are looking to migrate to Magento platform. Do you have the right partner to talk to about your potential project ?

 

 

Do not hesitate to reach out to us through our contact form. Let’s talk and see if we can help you, no strings attached!