Magento is a well-known e-commerce platform and currently, it powers around 14% of all e-commerce websites available over the Internet. In November 2015, it launched the new version- Magento 2.x.0 for e-stores and community editions. The long awaited release of this version has paved a wave of pleasure and happiness through the community. There are many people who are highly excited for this change, while several other folks are skeptical about it and they think that Magento 1.x is suitable for their e-commerce business.
Experts predict that Magento 2.x is likely to increase the share of e-commerce platforms because Magento 1.x is poised to phase out within a few years. So, why you need to port Magento 2.x and how it will benefit you? Let’s dig deep and find out.
It is a flexible platform which allows users to create e-stores with a numerous functions with the help of pre-made extensions or by making use of their coding chops. But, concentrating on flexibility alone can’t make it a high-performing and user-friendly platform. There were several necessary tools which are missing completely “out of the box” (required by every e-store), like admin capabilities, mobile-responsiveness and performance optimization. That is why users were forced to contact third-party companies to avail necessary features. Apart from this, there were several complaints that Magento 1.x runs slow. To address this issue, the Magento team decided to come up with an upgraded platform: Magento 2.x.
After 17th November 2015, Magento team has stopped adding new features to Magento 1.x. Old versions get only security updates, no advanced features anymore.
2018 will be perhaps the last year, till then you will see security patches released for old M1.x versions. So, it means that you have almost 1 year and 2 months time to complete your Magento 2.x Upgrade.
It is packed with several features which makes it a better option than its predecessor. Have a look at how these features help you:
The new admin interface is designed such a way that it helps you to reduce the time consumed in the management of an online store. It is extremely user-friendly and new team members can learn it easily. Admins are capable of customizing the admin panel so that significant business information can be obtained swiftly. In this way, each admin panel gets personalized for each user and improves its productivity when it comes to the management of products, orders, and customer data. The admin interface of Magento 2.x has drag-and-drop layout editing, which means you don’t need to have extensive coding knowledge to modify the appearance of an online store.
Mobile responsiveness is an essential factor behind the success of your e-store and improving your sales because more and more customers are shopping through smartphones and tablets. Magento 2.x platform comes with newly designed (SEO-friendly) themes, integrated video, and easier checkout that improve the appearance of your online stores on various mobile devices and improve mobile sales up to a great extent.
It easily gets integrated with several popular extensions so that e-stores have better functionality out of the box. It also includes several payment gateways.
The checkout process in this is easy, which makes it easier for customers to place orders quickly. It is highly customizable and customers can complete their orders in fewer steps and with minimal information. When you reduce check out time, it helps you to reduce the number of abandoned carts and increase leads.
Magento 2.x is approx 20% faster than its predecessor. Faster site speed helps you to increase leads rapidly. Full-page caching built into this version helps your website loaders quickly in 1-2 seconds compared to the 5-10 seconds for non-caching pages. Apart from this, updates within Magento 2.x are designed to work quickly, which makes it easier for Magento users to take advantage of new features.
It seems that Magento 2.x has not become so prominent so far. There are several users who are satisfied with the performance of Magento 1.x and there is no huge rush of websites flocking to the new platform.
1. If you are satisfied with the performance of Magento 1.x and you are doing decent business from your e-store, there is no urgent need to migrate to Magento 2.x.
2. You need to find out whether the theme and extensions you are using for your Magento store is accessible in Magento 2.x or not. As it is relatively new compared to Magento 1.x, hence, its community is struggling a lot to upgrade all those existing extensions and themes, which are not compatible with Magento 2.x. So, if you are using an extension which is not ready for Magento 2.x, wait for some more times.
3. Avoid the upgrading process if you presently have an important season for E-commerce. During festive seasons and important occasions (like New Year Holidays), people do online shopping in bulk. When you upgrade your website, it will cause maintenance and downtime, which will hamper your sale up to a large extent. There is no benefit of losing your sale during important events and occasions just because you have to upgrade your website.
4. Flock to Magento 2.x if you have launched your store recently and it is receiving a mild flow of traffic. It’s faster and will help you fetch immense traffic easily.
Porting your website from one platform to another will cost you some bucks. Before migration, make sure you have enough of budget to cover the expenditure of migration.
Always check whether your hosting company is capable for hosting Magento 2.x or not. Also find out if it can endure pressure or not ( in case your website gets huge traffic) and provides support( in case of technical issues).
Your data is the most important thing you should worry about while migrating from Magento 1.x to 2.x. Check how Magento 2.x digests your store’s data (of Magento 1.x) and displays the way you want. Be careful about the duplication of your data when you migrate to Magento 2.x because if it happens, you will end up losing all your important data immediately.
Although, some people are hesitating to migrate to Magento 2.x, it is quite apparent that this platform was created to offer the best shopping experience to customers and ease of use for admins. Just observe all points (mentioned above) carefully and make a proper migration plan to boost your E-shop business easily and conveniently.
Linda Wester is a web enthusiast and has been associated with a custom Magento development company as a front-end developer over 4 years. She has a strong passion for writing informational blogs on a wide range of topics including Magneto development, themes, eCommerce etc. and share her experience with others.
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