As we have been moving through the changes that come with Magento 2.0, we have concluded that it can be best compared to selecting the car of your dreams. With both a car and your online business, you want to pay attention to what’s inside, under the hood: performance, maximum speed, specifications, mileage, etc.
A dream car, like a little red Corvette or a Porsche, requires ongoing investments to ensure peak performance at all times. Your online store is no different. Neglecting your online store has the same impact as neglecting your car – it just sits there looking pretty! You need to take charge of the wheel and drive your business forward. To get you started, here are a few things you need to know.
Magento is undoubtedly the most popular eCommerce platform, with a market share of 29.8%. Magento has helped over 240,000 eCommerce stores thrive successfully in an industry that becomes more competitive on a daily basis.
Magento’s unmatched performance, flexibility, and reliability has a proven track record that has attracted major players including:
• Nike
• Ford
• Samsung
• Olympus
• Nestle Nespresso
Magento has taken what made them the best e-commerce platform in the past and restructured the underlying framework, while maintaining and enhancing the features and flexibility that has made Magento one of the top e-commerce platforms in the market. Magento 2.0 will continue to drive revenue and growth for those who use it well into the future.
Most of Magento 2’s changes are under the hood, including an almost total rewrite of the core code, configuration system, and templates. The primary goal of the rewrite is to bring Magento up to date with modern coding standards, along with improving speed and stability. Speaking of speed, compared to Magento 1, Magento 2 has quicker response times which encourages more sales and increases website search engine optimization.
Why all the excitement about Magento 2.0?
Magento 2.0 was released during Q4 of 2015 and many site owners were confused and faced with making a decision regarding the new platform. For most, the most pressing question was “When is the best time to move to M2?”
First and foremost, choosing to migrate to M2 is a great idea for your eCommerce business; however, like any crucial business decision, it is best to be equipped with knowledge and confidence in your Magento Partner.
Here are the answers to the 3 big questions on everyone’s mind:
When should I upgrade to Magento 2?
Upgrading depends on your current site and its current condition.
• If your site is performing well (running smoothly, no serious issues keep popping up, etc.), and you’re using a version that’s not really outdated (anything before 1.8 CE and 1.13 EE would be outdated), there is no rush, but you should at least start exploring Magento 2. This is the time to have a discussion with your solution partner and map out a plan for future migration.
• If you are using an older version of the software, or a newer version that is causing performance issues, now would be the time to migrate.
• If you have several 3rd party extensions installed, migration is highly recommended.
• If you need to significantly improve your store’s performance, which we can help you figure out, migrating to Magento 2 just makes sense.
Note: A good guideline for updating your site is about once every three years, given the speed at which web technology advances.
Overall, Magento 2 offers a wider operational perspective, improved functionality, and real problem-solving features, and delivers a never-before-seen experience to store owners and its customers.
Is the transition smooth?
We want to be honest and transparent, and the best way to do that is to cut to the chase. The process is a little more painful than we had hoped, but once you make the commitment to migrate you will see it is worth the initial bumps. The drive to continuously develop and look for areas of improvement comes from the need to scale upwards and outwards. Stagnation in a fast-moving world of eCommerce will end up giving ground to the slow death of your business.
There is a migration tool ready to help you and your solution partner with the data (store setup, products, customers, orders, promo rules) move between the platforms. However, theme and code customizations, including 3rd party extensions, will not be transferable. This means a site rebuild in Magento 2. Despite these challenges, making the change has benefits that include, but are not limited to:
- New ideas regarding the visual appearance and functionality of your site.
- Redoing things in a better, more efficient way.
- Enabling you to get rid of some of the legacy code.
- Improving overall usability of your site for your customers:
They will be satisfied;
They will achieve their goals effectively and efficiently;
They will cultivate confidence and trust in your site;
Satisfaction, confidence and trust leads to loyal customers. - Providing site owners with:
Reduced development time and costs;
Reduced support costs;
Reduced user errors;
Reduced training time and costs;
Return on investment. - Unbeatable performance and scalability. Magento 2.0 has proven to be 20% faster than its predecessor and indexing is more efficient, making it possible to handle 39% more orders per hour.
Is it worth it?
It will be. And the main reason is the change itself – for Magento, there is no going back. Yes, they will be supporting the older versions until November 2018; so, there is no need to jump the gun if things are currently running smoothly for your store and your current plans do not include becoming a market leader or pioneer in your niche.
While Magento is still supporting older versions, the investments and new features will be added to Magento 2. By optimizing a Magento 2.0 website, you can have your pages load in under 1-2 seconds, which is incredible. With that, plus the better checkout process and more stable system, you should start planning on moving to Magento 2.0.
While Magento 2 is a ground-up rewrite of Magento 1, a surprising amount of functionality will remain unchanged for store owners once the pain of upgrading is over. For store owners, the change will feel incremental as all the sweeping changes will be occurring under the hood.
Although some have reservations about moving to Magento 2, it’s clear this platform was designed to provide a better experience for customers and admin. It maintains the flexibility Magento is known for, but adds some important, useful features.
Magento 2.0 was created to grow as businesses grow. It’s fast, with a streamlined checkout process to increase conversions and encourage repeat customers.
What’s Next
Bottom line, Magento 2.0 is a game changer in the eCommerce platform market. Its features are customizable and built for enterprises that want to deliver high performance and make the customer’s shopping experience one they will enjoy and remember.
If you have a successful Magento 1 site, or plan on migrating to Magento from another platform, there is no reason to delay the planning and development process. Magento has supplied a brand-new documentation portal in preparation for Magento 2 and the Magento community will be learning and sharing more about their experiences with Magento 2 as time goes on.
If you’re ready to get behind the wheel and start your engine, contact us to find out more and get started today.