Category: Magento

The E-commerce industry is in trend nowadays and modern customers prefer buying online rather than going to brick-n-mortar store. As per the records and growing pace the current worth of the E-commerce industry will double by 2020. If you’re planning to switch from traditional business to online business to ensure you remain in the market and attain good ROI and sales, then switching is a very smart move. But selecting a perfect E-commerce development platform is not an easy job to complete. In fact, it is the first and most crucial decisions to make in the online business journey. To help you select the best platform, we’ve discussed all the factors and key points you have to keep in mind.

Why Right Development Platform is Crucial?

E-commerce website development is more than just showing your services or product on the website for sale. It is far complicated than you actually think. Just like running a brick-n-mortar store, the same level of planning is required into the running of an E-commerce store. If you do planning in a perfect manner, then it is easy to get the benefit of the online world where you can automate and perform multiple activities without any hesitation.

But when it is about choosing a platform, you have to ensure that your E-commerce store exhibits the following things:

• Low Running costs

• High Growth

• Customer Engagement

• Objectives

Several E-commerce vendors look to focus on multiple points like design, content, and UX. However, the real point to consider is the lead generation process and buyer engagement. All these processes can offer you appropriate insights about whether you’re making good sales or not.

Which is the Best Platform?

Selecting a development platform on the basis of its popularity is not a great step. Choose a platform on the basis of its features and business goals. If a platform provides features to attain business goals like increasing revenue, engaging customers and boosting online reputation then hiring it is a good move.

Make sure the platform you are planning to hire should be compatible with the current technology trends. Another crucial factor in hiring a platform is the business’s competitive landscape. If you to make an impact in a competitive industry, then you’ll need a perfect online store that can work and adjust as per the customer requirements.

Different Types of E-commerce Platforms –

When you are selecting a platform, multiple options are present to choose from, as described below:

1. Customized platforms

Some platforms are easy to customize as per the business requirements. You can customize by yourself or outsource someone externally. Such platforms are not common these days. But, if your business has a specific set of requirements that no commercial platform can offer, then this is the best option.

2. Traditional platforms

Traditional platforms need a license fee which requires timely renewal on a daily basis. The developer will first customize the platform and next install it for the E-commerce store development. Examples of such traditional platforms are Kentico, IBM Digital Commerce, Hybris, and Oracle Commerce.

3. Free platforms

Similar to traditional platforms where you customize first, the major point of difference is that no fee is required to avail the license. However, you have to spend some bucks on the initial development, ongoing customization, deployment, upgrades, and migration. Magento is a renowned E-commerce platform available for free.

Different Costs for Running E-commerce Platform

1. Maintenance

If you select a free platform, then it needs maintenance cost to run properly. And as per the size and complexity of the E-commerce store, the running costs may vary. Maintenance is actually done on a monthly basis.

2. Upgrades

Free to avail platforms, usually require downloading and installing the updates whenever released. If you avoid the installation of the update, then there is a big threat for your store to get hacked. Doing an upgrade need some technical knowledge, hence you need a development company for proper guidance.

3. Customization

To ensure customer remain engaged to the website it must possess unique features and engaging content from time to time. That’s why it is important to ensure that your website maintains its relevancy by doing customization and adding features whenever it is needed.

Factors to Select an E-commerce Platform –

1. Reliable Support

When an issue comes with the E-commerce store, check whether the platform you are hiring offers necessary support or not to fix the problem. Always select the platform that provides 24-hour technical support and can be contacted through multiple modes like email, phone, and webchat.

2. Scalability

Once your business grows, make sure the E-commerce platform you are selecting has a scalability feature too. Your store development platform is the most important element to start an online business. A platform not having scalability feature can hinder business growth.

3. SEO Friendly

E-commerce development platform having built-in SEO features will allow E-commerce website to rank higher in the search engine results. Significant points to understand here when searching for an SEO friendly platform comprise:

• Smooth blog addition

• Customer reviews section

• Domain details

4. Security

No buyer will share their credit card details on a suspicious website, which is why security is a major concern among the consumers. While several software platforms these days have robust security as standard, make sure the selected platform supports HTTPS/SSL for a secure checkout for your customers. Select the platform that is PCI compliant.

These above-discussed factors play a vital role in identifying a trustworthy E-commerce platform. Consider these factors before making any decision.

Conclusion:

As we have discussed in the blog, there are plenty of factors behind hiring an E-commerce platform and no platform provides all the solutions. At last, the best platform is the one that meets your online business requirements, future growth, integrations, and technical knowledge. Make sure the above-discussed points are kept in consideration when selecting a platform. The E-commerce industry is growing at a rapid pace and enterprises are switching to it to meet the demands of the consumers. Enterprises are getting desired results as well in terms of sales, ROI, revenue, and user engagement after switching to E-commerce business operation.

This article is contributed by Elina Reddy, Sr Magento Developer in MagentoStore– Magento 2 Development Services

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As a secure and versatile platform, Magento is mostly the first choice of many store owners and developers. But with its numerous features, it has become a bit complicated and requires regular coding. In simple terms, non-technical persons who are unaware of the coding may find it tough to manage the E-commerce store developed in Magento. There, professional Magento developers can definitely help.

It is a complicated job to find the perfect Magento developer as several freelancers and development companies provide Magento related development services. You have to discuss multiple things while hiring the perfect developers for your project. Here is a detailed discussion regarding how to hire perfect Magento developers. Before taking any step in regard to hiring a developer. It is important to know why you need Magento developers?

Why Hire Magento Developers?

Here are some major benefits of hiring developers –

1. Save Time

Whether you know to code or not, it requires a lot of time investment. When you hire developers, they can do complex coding and handle the functionality of the store. They have the experience to deal with a complex situation, and in the end, they can simply manage the development work while meeting the deadlines. This saves a lot of time and you can pay attention to other important work like branding, sales, and inventory management.

2. Technical Guidance

Experienced Magento developers can guide you in availing the benefits of Magento platform for your online store. They can help you in handling PSD or HTML and customization to meet the necessary requirements of your business. In short, you can enjoy technical assistance for any sort of modification or customization of your store.

3. Boost Performance

This is one of the biggest advantages of hiring skilled Magento developers. Even if you don’t have any sort of technical insight, your store can stay appealing for the shoppers, all because of these developers. They can easily handle the issues regarding performance and features while providing speed and security to your shopping website.

How to Hire Magento Developer?

Here are some tips to hire developers –

1. Requirement Gathering

The E-commerce store development work begins with the requirement gathering. You have to make it clear regarding requirements on the market trends and competitors’ activities. Your website should provide something unique to the buyers that are unaddressed by your rivals.

• Ask the following questions to gather information:

• Are you looking for the front-end, back-end or full-stack developers?

• Budget for your website

• Features to integrate into the website

• Time frame

• Are you looking for high-end functionality or looking for a basic store

2. Type of Developers

After analyzing the requirements of E-commerce store development, another crucial decision needs to be made. It is about selecting between a freelancer or a developer from a reputed Magento development company. Though this selection depends on multiple factors like the budget, workflow, features, deadline, and customization. It is recommended to hire developers from a company because of multiple reasons.

• Project is in the secure hands

• Right resources for multiple tasks under one roof

• Your project gets done in the specific deadline

• Simple customization of the website during the development period

• Support and maintenance services

3. Portfolio

Portfolio of Magento web developers can assure you about their selection for the development work. The portfolio, whether in the physical or digital form, can provide you an idea regarding a number of completed projects, expertise, and knowledge to complete the similar project you are looking to develop. You can also check whether they have good knowledge of every aspect of Magento store development and a problem-solving technique to make the store up and running.

4. Reviews & Ratings

Reviews and ratings can definitely help you in getting a clear picture regarding the skills of the Magento developers. The testimonials and feedback from the client can give you a small idea about the developer’s approach, skills, professionalism, and overall performance. You can check the review and ratings on different online review websites. You can also visit the company and meet the developers personally. In addition to that, you can contact the old clients for references and discuss with them about the developer’s working approach.

5. Quality vs Cost

Everyone has a specific budget for the E-commerce website. Going beyond a set budget is not possible, for several reasons. But, this doesn’t mean the quality is compromised for price. It is suggested to prefer quality over costs and never compromise by sacrificing the functionality.

You should hire Magento developer after a complete evaluation, to ensure that you get exceptional service for the best price. You should carefully analyze what the development company is proposing in the quote. Ensure all the features that you want in your e-commerce store is included in that proposal.

Wrapping Up:

If you are planning to start an online business? If yes, then an organized online store is required that will grow your business. There is multiple options present, but Magento is the key to the E-commerce business. It is the most popular, versatile, and easily accessible platform, in the internet world. Selecting a dedicated Magento developer for your Magento project is a tough job. Your project plays a vital role where the budget and quality of work matters the most. Hire Magento developers that have the expertise and offer support, to transform your idea into a successfully running E-commerce business.

This article is contributed by Elina Reddy, Sr Magento Developer in MagentoStore – Magento eCommerce development company.

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Owing to its impressive popularity, Magento is all set to have a massive online marketing expansion like never imagined before. Along with the rapid change in the retail landscape, e-commerce businesses seems to be at bigger and better stakes. During such a crucial time, it is quite natural to wonder which technology or platform to choose. Well, without further ado, let’s get down to the brass tacks of choosing Magento 2 for your e-commerce store.

After the release of Magento 2 or should I say after the release of an all-new version with a drastic facelift, Magento has grown significantly in regards to popularity and usability. If you are a store owner, then I am pretty sure you must be well-versed with the fact that there are no one-size fits all solution; each one is of a kind. And that’s the reason why it confuses many store owners when choosing their best fit when competing against several others for the top-tier position.

Built as a PHP-based open source CMS, Magento itself is a blessing for website owners (because it enables them to manage their sites without seeking help from developers. However, you can even think of choosing platforms such as WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal but if you are looking for a full-fledged shopping cart solution; nothing beats Magento 2 featuring flexibility, alluring design, better UX, sturdiness, security and what not!

Even though it seems like a clear winner, I would love to emphasize on the fact that Magento still keeps on improving its products, making it concurrent and futuristic to stay on top of the game. Putting Magento developers aside for a moment, let’s focus on your visitors and see what their perspective is?

Personalization is the key, and there is no debate about it. With effective measures such as tracking shopper’s behavior, their preferences, browsing the history, nothing can stop you as an owner to offer the right product to your end user. It may quite interest you to know that Magento 2 enables store owners to offer personalized products, services, and marketing incentives of all kinds. In layman’s language, the platforms allow you to create a loyal customer base in no time. Other than personalization what customers adore about this is its advanced search functionality. So always keep a filtered search and faceted search, etc., on your online stores.

Discovering a new bunch of products and services regardless of size, comprehensive navigation options are all the perks offered by advanced search. Last but certainly not least is streamlining buying process without any hassle.

Top 7 free Magento 2 extension to Watch Out for

Featured Products

This extension, in particular, is meant to attract potential clients to visit their webshop frequently. With the help of blocks, templates, layouts, and widgets, featured products can be programmed in various ways. For instance, a featured product block may contain a product name, custom photo, cost, and ratings as well as an “Add to Cart” button. Moreover, you can also display your top or highest rated products in an eye-catching and mesmerizing slide gallery.

Video Gallery

This Magento extension enables professionals to make their product additionally convincing (by featuring attractive recordings). As the name implies, video documents can be transferred either from a PC gadget or install them directly from online video sharing systems like YouTube, Vimeo, and so forth. In fact, you can add different recordings to your website and show them in appealing video exhibitions.

Banner Slider

Being a fully responsive extension, banner slider provides exquisite sliders with unlimited pictures. Here a plethora of picture sliders can be used to collect information, with different design alternatives. All you have to do is incorporate these banner sliders practically anyplace on your webshop. Easy installation, unlimited image slides, design every slider in a unique style, topic, and format are perks offered by this Magento extension.

Most Viewed products

If you are looking for an extension that allows business owners to show products which are seen the most by clients in your store? This extension is the right choice! Most viewed products use a block, format, layout, or widget style to demonstrate the most viewed items of your customers. Adding the most viewed products, structuring and isolating the most viewed items in a framework where products can be chosen physically are benefits, to name a few.

Google Maps Store Locator

Being the world’s most world mapping software; you can show your customers where your brick and mortar stores are located. As the name suggests, with the help of the extension, you can be seen on the map along with a short description and relevant contact information. Overall, the Magento extension provides the best of both worlds; increase revenues and offers maximum exposure.

Quick Contact

This responsive Magento extension 2 enables a user to interact with you on an instant basis by filling a simple form. Here Google Captcha can be added to avoid unnecessary spamming and do not forget to customize the form fields to obtain an improved user experience.

Analytics

Last but certainly not the least, the analytical tool allows you to build comprehensive sales reports featuring data graphs which keeps relevant track of your progress. This is the best way to find out how your products and services are doing in the market. Its benefits include sales overview report, detailing sales report, product report and product attribute report, and so on. In addition to this, businesses can compare data for better assessment of figures and periodic performance, respectively.

With the end of life of Magento 1 approaching fast, it’s high time that you start contemplating migration to Magento 2 if you have already not done it. However, the road seems to be a long one as there is a lot of work involved when it comes to the transition of a running e-commerce store. Though engaging a professional Magento 2 development company would be the right thing to do, you should still know all about the steps of migration. Let us highlight all that you need to know about the move.

Before you migrate: How to gear up?

Even before you migrate your Magento store to the next version, there are some steps that you need to follow to make the move completely smooth and seamless. Here is a checklist of pre-migration recommendations:

• Make a full backup of the existing Magento 1 store, including the entire files, folders, and database.
• Create a clone of the store and make sure that the live store is not used for the migration.
• Throughly analyze the store and keep only the necessary elements while eliminating the redundant ones.
• Verify whether the current extensions, themes, and custom code are fully compatible with the Magento 2 version.
• Migrate the store’s data from the cloned database of the Magento 1 store.
• Get rid of useless and outdated data from the database. This includes elements such as logs, compared products, recently viewed products, etc.
• Installation of a copy of Magento 2 on the same server where the Magento 1 store is located with make the migration process hassle-free.

Starting with the migration process

Once you are geared up for the change, it is time to make the move. Here are the key steps that Magento e-commerce development experts follow during the migration process.

Theme Migration

Magento 2 brings innovative features that aim to deliver enhanced experiences for customers and merchants alike. These features can be leveraged by modifying the current themes or creating new themes to give your store the right look and feel. You need to bear in mind that it is not possible to migrate your Magento 1 theme directly to Magento 2. Rather, you need to create a new one or buy one from the Magento marketplace and have it installed as a part of the migration process.

Extension Migration

Another key aspect of Magento migration is extension migration. Essentially, extensions are the components used to add new features and functionalities to a Magento store. Once again, you can pick the desired Magento 2 extensions from the official marketplace and have it installed in your store. There is also the option of custom extension development if you prefer building to buying This is a mandatory action as you can encounter compatibility issues if you try integrating Magento 1 extensions to the upgraded website.

Code Customization

in several cases, there is a possibility that the custom code used in the Magento store is compatible with the new version. If it is not the case with your store, you can use the Code Migration Toolkit to facilitate the code customization for the seamless migration. Code customization has to be done to ensure that the structural differences between the platforms are taken care of, even if it means that a lot of work has to be done.

Data migration

The final phase of Magento 2 migration involves the migration of data and settings to the new version of the store. The platform has come up with Magento 2 Data Migration Tool to ease the process for the developers. Not only does it make data migration hassle free, but also ensures that all the critical data elements such as products, categories, orders, and store settings and configurations are moved to Magento 2 safely.

What after: Post-migration steps

You may have done everything right during the migration process, but don’t expect things to be closed with the completion of the aforementioned steps. Though you may have ceased all activity in the Magento 1 panel before initiating migration, there could still be some order processing during the course of migration. Further, there could be changes in customer profiles and new reviews as well. These incremental updates also have to be migrated after the actual migration has been completed. Once you are sure that all data, including the incremental one, has been transferred to Magento 2 store, it is time to go live. The steps involve putting the Magento 1 store into maintenance mode, stopping the migration tool, starting Magento 2 cron jobs, and pointing the DNS load balancers to new production hardware. Once all these steps are completed, you are ready to go.

What to consider during migration from Magento 1 to Magento 2?

Now that you know all about what goes into the planning and implementation phases of Magento 2 migration, it will probably get much easier to understand. Hiring a professional is the right approach and so is knowing some more facts about making your move an easy one. Let is list a few more considerations that you must bear in mind while migrating to Magento 2.

Don’t expect it to be a cakewalk

The hard truth is that migrating to Magento 2 is not going to be the easiest of processes because its architecture and database design is completely different from that of its predecessor. The amount of time and efforts that may be needed for completing the entire process varies depending on the number of customizations involved, number of extensions on the site, and the general complexity.

Performance matters as well

While migrating to the new version will definitely bring a host of new opportunities for your business, you cannot afford to compromise with performance at any cost. There is always a risk that things may not work perfectly post-migration and you can come across some critical glitches. There is no need to panic in such a situation; rather you need to seek support of an expert to handle the issues and get your store back on track. Once done, you will be all set to avail the unmatched benefits of Magneto 2.

Migration is desirable sooner rather than later

Another key fact about migration from Magento 1 to 2 is that it is desirable sooner rather than later. This is said considering the fact that Magento 1 end of life is slated to take place in June 2020, which is approaching fast. This means that you will no longer receive official support after this date and neither will have access to new themes, extensions, and security patches. You can still wait for a few months if your store is running fine. However, when you do plan migration, ensure that it is not done in the peak season.

Conclusion

Making a move to the newest platform version is not a choice but necessity for any business. It keeps you abreast of the latest innovation as well as gives you access to all the offerings that new versions bring. Moreover, the fact that Magento 1’s EOL is drawing close makes it all the more critical to initiate the move. With so many good reasons for migrating to Magento 2, it is just the right time that you collaborate with an expert and get going.

This article is contributed by Mayank Sharma, Magento developer at Magentoindia — Magento development company

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Magento is the most popular platform for building eCommerce websites. It is an open source and economical, most brands prefer to get their store developed in Magento. With thousands of users and hundreds of stores are getting good results all because of this powerful CMS. W

hile most people find Magento developers the best resource to build up the online store, some talk negative about them, as they are unaware of the facts. There are some people who have got misconceptions regarding Magento developers.

In this blog post, we have discussed them so that all misconceptions are removed and people know the reality. A lot of myths are spreading in the market so, let us discuss some of the most important myths about developers.

1. Magento Developers Are Slow

The first myth in our list is developers are slow. The person who floated this misconception initially may have chosen an unskilled and beginner developer. The situation is not the same with someone who is experienced and has worked on multiple projects. It wouldn’t be possible for Adidas and Nike to have an e-commerce store in Magento if developers were slow.

2. Magento Developers Doesn’t Provide Customer Support

This is completely wrong, Magento has a huge community base and if you hire a developer for your project, reliable support is always available. Store owners can contact the developers round-the-clock if they experience any issue with store performance in terms of sales, security and ROI.

3. Magento Developers Work On Big Projects Only

This is the most popular myth that has been spread all over the globe within the E-commerce industry; which we will clarify right now. This is completely wrong! The reality is Magento developers are perfect for all types of stores of any size; whether it is small or large stores.

4. Magento Developers Compromises Quality

Well, Magento developers don’t compromise with website quality; it completely depends upon the developer and company from which you hire for developing the online store. If you hire a skilled, reliable, trustworthy and experienced developer, you will not have to face any compromise quality, as they build quality websites.

5. Magento Developers Can Build Store In One Day

This development myth regarding developers appeared due to the plenty of advertising headlines like “Build E-commerce store in 24 hours”. In most cases, this is wrong and impossible. Even if a developer builds a store in 24 hrs, it will not perform appropriately as it will lack proper testing. Integrating products, setup of hosting and security standards is hard work that takes time. Usually, the whole process takes more than a week. So, be realistic when you hear such a myth.

6. Magento Developers Drives Visitors Immediately Stores Starts Working

Unfortunately, this myth is believed by many people. Building a store and simply hosting it on the server is not enough to start an online business. Buyers don’t know anything about the new store if it is not appearing in search engine results.

7. Magento Developers Are Responsible For Store Promotion

Any new online store requires promotions in order to reach the potential audience. The role of Magento developers is to build a store and integrate all the SEO features that can help them in the store promotion. But for complete promotion they are not proficient as for promotion different techniques are used like SEO, PPC, and SMM. This is done by the marketing team to generate traffic at the beginning, as the store is completely new. All these activities need time and money investment for effective results.

8. Magento Developers Service Is Expensive

In most cases, prices of the Magento developers can’t be revealed in the starting. The pricing completely depends on the complexity and scalability of the project. Magento developers from renowned firms can build engaging and smooth stores, and people usually think it will cost them very high. It is a huge myth among the people regarding developers.

9. Magento Developers Delays Project Delivery

This myth is completely unexpectable regarding the Magento developers. Project is delayed in situations where regular customization and modifications are made. Developers before starting a project sign an agreement to deliver the project within a specific deadline. So this myth is completely wrong and not expectable.

10. Magento Developer Compromise on Security Standards

A Magento developer respects clients project and is committed to keeping the data of client secured. If they compromise with security, their own reputation and popularity will suffer. E-commerce store saves a large number of user details, their credentials and taking its security casually is not feasible. Hence, this myth about them is completely wrong as a lot of reputation is on stake about them.

11. Magento Developer Lacks Communication Skills

It is assumed that the Magento developer you hired lacks in communication skills in comparison to those present in your workplace buildings. It is believed that it is difficult to get in touch with them anytime you want. But in reality, a developer who knows that his/her customer is located at a far-away location may become impatient if they are not replied promptly to any query. Furthermore, with the advancement in technology, all reports regarding project development are shared on an immediate basis with the client.

Now that you are clear of some of the most popular myths regarding Magento developer, make sure you discuss with others as well to remove these misconceptions. So, just debunk these Magento myths and spread reality across the globe.

Conclusion:

Every technology and people associated with them have some limitations. The Magento developers myths that we have talked about above in the blog are the few ones which are really popular. If you thought any of these misconceptions are having any sense, you must clear your doubt right now, as now you know the exact reality.

So, if you are planning to take your business to an online platform, don’t hesitate to hire Magento developer for your E-commerce store development. We have debunked all the myths regarding Magento developers. And we hope that it helped you get out of all the unnecessary thoughts you had about Magento developers.

This article is contributed by Sneha Rawat — developer at OrangeMantra, a leading Magento development company known for translating ideas into reality. If you are looking for a quality ecommerce store, simply hire Magento developer from OrangeMantra to get optimised solution.

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