hen you decide to develop your business and run an online store, you need to consider which e-commerce platform to invest in. There are several dozen solutions for online shops on the market, differing in size, price, and optimization possibilities. In this text, we will present one of the most popular e-commerce platforms - Magento.
The beginnings and development of Magento in the e-commerce market
Magento was founded in 2007 in the United States as an open source platform written entirely in PHP. The development of the system was so dynamic that only after a few years on the market Magento managed to win the prestigious "Best of Open Source Software Awards". This success was later repeated many times. In 2011 Magento gained a new owner. Ebay first bought out 49% of the company's shares, and a few months later the rest. In 2015, as a result of the break-up within eBay, Magento returned to being an independent company, but not for long. In 2018 the platform was "absorbed" by a technological giant from the Silicon Valley - Adobe.
In 2015, work began on the second version of Magento - richer in functionality and customization possibilities, as well as more stable and tailored to the needs of the rapidly growing e-commerce market. Shortly after the acquisition, Adobe announced the end date of support for Magento 1. End-of-life is expected to happen on June 30, 2020, and has many consequences for merchants who have stores on Magento 1. This means not only a lack of new security patches (which significantly increases the risk of a hacker attack), but also a lack of new functionality, extensions and modules. That's why every retailer who wants to stay on the competitive e-commerce market has to migrate his shop to Magento 2.
Magento is today associated through the prism of a committed community. The annual Imagine conference (see how it was a year ago) brings together thousands of experts from the industry (both on the business side and developers) and it is one of the biggest events of this type in the world. Unfortunately, from 2020 Magento Imagine ceases to exist as an independent conference and becomes part of Adobe Summit (online this year because of the coronavirus pandemic). A number of smaller Meet Magento conferences are also held around the world. These initiatives are usually organized by members of the Magento Association and companies that are Magento's enterprising partners in a given country.
Magento Open Source vs. Magento Commerce
Magento today is an open source and enterprise solution (Magento Commerce version). In the first approach, the software license is free and ready to download. Magento Open Source (previously known as Magento Community Edition) is a platform whose development is based on a community of developers adding modules, code fragments and new features. In the enterprise version, i.e. dedicated to bigger players on the e-commerce market, there are more additional functions, extensions and possibilities of customization of modules. However, the license of this version is relatively high (especially in comparison with free open-source), so it is dedicated to large enterprises. Apart from high licensing and maintenance costs, it requires involvement of a larger development team.
In Magento 1 the open-source model did not differ much from the enterprise model, but in Magento 2 these differences are growing. These include extensive B2B functionality, page builder, and visual merchandising, all of which are inaccessible in the free version.
Originally known as the Magento Community Edition, after the rebranding in 2017, the free version of Magento gained a clearer name - Magento Open Source. Initially, it was associated only as a platform for small and medium enterprises, but it is worth remembering that with the right configuration you can develop your own customized solutions based on the Magento core. That is why many corporate clients still use the open-source version. But, of course, it does involve additional costs.
Magento Commerce is a premium customer product (taking into account, among others, high licensing costs), available in two versions - platform-as-a-service or on-premises. It owes its advantage to more functionality.
For whom is Magento the best solution?
For a customer, an online store is simply a virtual shelf from which the goods go to the shopping cart and then to the checkout. For the person who is on the other side - a merchant, or a team of developers who handle and optimize the shop platform, the choice of the right software is crucial.
For all those who are just beginning their adventure with e-commerce, SaaS (software as a service) solution can be a good start, settled in the subscription. However, such a solution has many weaknesses - among others, a limited number of functionalities or the lack of possibility to expand the software and make changes to the code (only its creators are responsible for it). Although it is a relatively cheap option, you have to reckon with the fact that adjusting the system to your own needs will be additionally paid for. In short, SaaS may be a good solution, but only for the smallest e-commerces. Along with the development of business, this form may be too restrictive, so it is worth considering other solutions and choose a dedicated platform.
Let's consider how to take full advantage of Magento's capabilities, and for whom it will be an ideal system.
- First of all, Magento is a good solution for all those who think about their business prospectively - they want to expand, develop and scale it to other markets. Although it was mentioned earlier that the free version can successfully meet the needs of even large players, it is worth investing in the Commerce version to take full advantage of the possibilities offered by Magento. Thanks to Magento Commerce you can, among other things, start expanding into foreign markets, taking advantage of such functionalities as multistore, multilingualism, or multicurrency.
- The store based on Magento 2 Commerce is also doing better during sales peaks. Thanks to the separation of databases for checkout, order processing or product information, the system provides greater stability, which is of great importance for example during promotions or the period of increased traffic such as Black Friday or pre-Christmas time.
- If you sell in B2B formula, Magento Commerce offers a number of functionalities, such as managing B2B e-commerce services for many brands, partners and customers, or easier B2B purchases over the phone.
- In the era of omnichannell there is a need for a platform that will efficiently handle sales in many channels and manage shipments from many warehouses. Thanks to the native Magento Inventory functionality (formerly known as Multi Source Inventory - MSI), it is possible to manage inventory more easily, coordinate shipments from different warehouses or make inventory information more transparent.
- If you expect the e-commerce system to easily manage content on the site, without involving the development team, the answer to these needs will be the Page Builder functionality, which allows you to create content using drag & drop.
A big advantage of Magento is its modularity, which allows you to freely "juggle" with extensions, plug-ins or functionalities, and choose those that really fit the needs of your business.
See what else Magento 2 Commerce version offers and why it is worth implementing it.
The choice of Magento platform usually involves high costs, and this should be kept in mind. Apart from a high license fee, you should have and maintain your own dedicated servers, because Magento does not provide hosting on its side. Shops with thousands (or more) of products require high computing power, which entails high costs on the side of server maintenance.
What can you gain from an effective e-commerce platform?
The success of an online store is the result of many activities - from the offered assortment, through appropriate marketing activities, a recognizable brand, or a transparent purchasing policy. The choice of a shop platform may seem less important from the customer's perspective, but it is worth remembering that a well-configured sales platform will benefit both merchants and consumers.