Are you planning to start an online store or switch to a different platform? Magento Commerce Platform could be an option for you to consider. Over 200,000 websites use Magento, and yours could be one among them.
So, what exactly is Magento, and why should you care about it? I answer all your budding questions in this article. Continue reading to discover more about the platform and how you can use it to grow your eCommerce business.
What is Magento, and What are its Uses?
Magento is an Adobe-owned eCommerce website platform specializing in eCommerce websites. It was created using open-source technology. This allows customers to customize their online store’s style, functionality, and content without jeopardizing the purchasing experience.
The platform also provides its users with a number of essential tools and features. This includes tools for marketing, search engine optimization, and catalog management.
Overall, the platform can accommodate any store size.
Whether you serve a few or a million consumers, the platform provides both a free Magento Open Source and a feature rich Magento Commerce platform, which allows it to grow and expand with your business.
It is common for it to need to switch platforms as the business grows. However, the platform makes it simple to remain in one place while expanding.
The platform also provides users with a range of plug-ins and themes to accommodate anything they want to accomplish and how they want their website to appear. These can also improve customer relationships and customer experience.
It has an extensive list of features- too much to detail in one blog post. For more information, head on to Magento’s official features list, which comprehensively describes all its feature sets.
Below are some of its basic features:
- Analyze and report: integrate with the Google Analytics service and provide multiple reports.
- Category management: easy to find and select products by category
- Client account: account status, transaction history, preferred catalog, address, shopping cart
- Customer service: enhance the features, customer contact form, comprehensive follow-up, email service.
- International support: multi-lingual and monetary
- Inventory management: management of products left in stock, import, export.
- Order Management
- Payments: Many payment methods such as credit card, PayPal, Authorize.net, Google Checkout, support for external payment modules like CyberSource, ePay, eWAY, and more.
- Product management: with many images, optional comment reviews products, a favorites list, inventory.
- Promotional and marketing tools: coupons, promotions, and more.
- Search technology: fast, friendly, support search on Google Sitemap
How to Set Up Your Magento Store
In this section, we will go through the process of setting up your Magento store. This includes choosing a domain name, hosting, and installing the software.
1. Choosing a domain name
Choosing a domain name is one of the most critical steps in starting a new online store. Your domain name is what people use to find and remember your site.
You’ll want this to be short, easy to spell, and memorable, so it sticks in people’s minds.
After choosing your desired name, you can purchase it through websites like Bluehost, GoDaddy, Namecheap, Domain.com, Google domain, or any web domain registrar.
2. Hosting
Magento hosting is required to launch your online store. Your hosting provider leases the hosting for your store. It allows you to save files and web applications.
It is recommended that you use Managed Hosting for your store. It’s the most convenient option since the hosting company will handle all server-side tasks. The tasks may include:
- 24/7 technical support
- Managed Backups
- Managed migration
- Optimized for uptime & performance
- Scaling the server resources
- Server security
- Server setup
- Server-side updates & patches
- System monitoring
- Using the latest tech stack
With Managed Hosting, these tasks are transferred to your host. It is critical to select a reliable hosting company for your business that offers high speed and security.
3. Installing Magento
A word of caution: Magento isn’t the easiest to install.
You need mad technical skills to install the platform. While it offers more features, its current version Magento 2 is more challenging to work with and has frustrated even the most experienced eCommerce developers.
Unless you have adequate programming skills, it’s best to hire an experienced Magento development professional to help you set up.
If you’re installing it yourself, remember that you must set up the server before installing the program. The following are minimal prerequisites for installing the platform:
- Magento 2 System Requirements
- Prerequisites check the PHP version & OS. (Along with parts such as MySQL and Apache or NGINX)
- Magento file system ensures that the data is secure while installing the software.
You must also create a database specifying the database host and name and the database user and password. It involves web configuration and the creation of an administrator account.
Once the software is installed, you can configure the store via the admin panel.
Which Is Better? Magento Commerce vs. Magento Open Source.
Both options are suitable for eCommerce. However, we recommend trying Magento Open Source before investing in Magento Commerce. The features of each platform might make you think that Magento Commerce is better, but this is not always the case.
You should consider the price you’re paying and the number of features you actually require. Many businesses don’t need too many features and can get away using the free version.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Magento
Lastly, you should consider the platform’s pros and cons. This will help you determine if you should use it as an eCommerce platform.
We’ll look at the benefits and drawbacks of Magento 2, as this is the currently active and recommended version to install.
Advantages of Magento
- It has many features other platforms lack.
- Mobile friendly.
- The platform is flexible for users.
- The platform offers free services.
- A large supportive community of users willing to help lost users navigate issues they may have.
- The community version is free.
Disadvantages of Magento
- Enterprise version is expensive (licensing costs are over $15,000).
- Paid customer support.
- Potential hosting and security expenses.
- Few certified Magento development professionals are available.
Grow Your Online Store by Having a Dedicated Magento Developer in Your Team
You’re a business owner. Your time is better spent focusing on growing your business, not worrying about the complexities of Magento development.
Choosing the right Magento developer to build your eCommerce store is all about striking the right balance between a slew of variables. There is no silver bullet, but given the intricacies of Magento development, there is always a candidate that best meets your demands.
Jarvis is a world leader in Magento jobs recruiting and eCommerce recruitment.
We have successfully sourced and placed full-time and contract professionals with Magento retailers and service providers for a wide variety of clients, from start-ups to megastores in all industries.
Ready to supercharge your eCommerce presence with the help of Magento development experts?