Want to move your e-commerce store from Magento 1 to Magento 2? Great! However, there are certain things that you should ask yourself first. For example – should your business approach this change?
How is Magento 2 Different from Magento 1?
In short, Magento 2 addresses the issues that e-commerce store owners had been facing so long. Though Magento is a highly flexible platform that supports a variety of functions, there are certain important features like mobile responsiveness, performance optimization and admin capabilities that one would not find in Magento 1. In that case, one had to get these essential tools from third party companies instead.
Key Features of Magento 2
The features that one would find in Magento 2 and which makes this new platform better than Magento 1 are as follows –
- Improved Page Load Performance
The average speed of Magento 2 is 20 percent faster compared to Magento 1. The full-page caching built into the platform helps to increase the page load speed by one to two seconds. This is much faster when you actually consider the five to ten seconds page load speed for non-caching pages.
Not only this, but the Magento 2 platform can also handle multiple catalog page loads without slowing it down. Check out these images below showing Magento’s high performance and scalability in terms of page load.
- User-friendly Checkout Process
Magento version 2 has a more streamlined checkout process compared to the previous version. In addition, Magento 2 has a highly customizable checkout process that requires lesser steps. As a result, the time taken for a customer to complete an order is shortened.
The Checkout time is one of the driving factors that affect a website performance. Some of the issues that an e-commerce website is prone to because of lengthy checkout time are – shopping cart abandonment and reduced conversions.
If you are wondering how the checkout feature of Magento version 2 is any way different from the version 1, then here is what you should know – A customer on reaching the checkout stage, is directly taken to a default guest checkout screen, where he or she has to enter his or her email address. If the email address provided by the customer matches the already saved information, then users can check out faster.
Now e-commerce stores using the Magento 2 will have a more intuitive and user-friendly checkout process compared to the previous version.
- Availability of Key Integrations
Magento 2 brings users a lot of popular extensions that will help you to build a more secured and technologically updated e-commerce store. Some of the popular extensions that you are likely to get are – PayPal, Braintree, Worldpay, Cybersource, etc.
- Flexible Admin Interface
The second version of Magento 2 has a flexible and user-friendly admin interface that makes time management easier for store owners. Using this version is so easy that even a new team member would be able to handle a Magento built store smoothly.
An online store manager can customize the admin panel that makes business information accessible quickly. With the drag-and-drop layout editing feature, users can decide the way information related to orders, products, and customer data can be managed. What’s more? You don’t need to have an extensive coding knowledge to modify the appearance of your e-store.
- Built to be Mobile Friendly
Mobile responsiveness is one of the important features that no e-commerce store can leave without and Magento version 2 does not miss this one out.
As more and more customers today are shopping via mobile devices like smartphone and tablet, Magento 2 provides users with essential features like SEO friendly themes, easier checkout, integrated videos and touch-screen friendly admin panel. This allows users to manage their online store even while on the move.
- But Change is Sometimes Hard to Embrace
And this is something that many e-store owners come to face. Most of these e-commerce owners are not even ready to upgrade their store to the next version. So what are the common concerns that tend to evade the minds of the e-store owners?
Questions Related to Magento 2 that E-commerce Store Owners Often Ask
- Is this up-gradation worth it?
Yes of course! In the digital world, staying updated is important if you want to keep your business well ahead of the game. Magento 2 has been designed to ensure that e-commerce stores no longer face the problems that were often the problem and upgrading your e-commerce website would help you to overcome these problems.
It’s okay if you do not want to do it right away. The older versions will be supported for years and you can keep on using them. However, make sure that you are not left behind. Here are some of the things that you can start considering about –
- What would you like to improve about your e-commerce store?
- Which of the extensions don’t you actively use?
- Talk to your e-commerce management team and point out why you should upgrade the store to the next version.
- Will Upgrading to Magento 2 be a Smooth Move?
To begin with – no! Changing from one platform to another will definitely be a lot of work you know. However, you can take the advantage of the migration tool that will help you move data like products, customers, store setup, promo rules, and orders between the platforms. You can also take a look at this blog that will guide you when you are moving the data from Magento 1 to Magento 2.
Speaking of theme and code customization, store owners will have to redo it once again. It might seem like an arduous task, but look at the bright side –
- You would be able to get rid of some of the legacy code
- You would be able to rethink and bring up new ideas for your e-store
- You would also be able to think of new ways to improve your website’s overall usability
- With Magento 2, you would be able to set up your e-store in a brand new way again
E-commerce is all about bringing new and exciting store features on the plate. And with Magento, your e-commerce store not just gets robust but at the same time customer friendly – You know how important these are if you want to increase your website conversion rate or encourage customer retention.
Image Courtesy: www.ecommercefoundation.org
