Magento got its humble beginning in 2007 as a simple osCommerce rewrite project commissioned by Varien. Fast-forward to 2020, and Magento is now among the leading eCommerce platforms, most recently acquired by Adobe in 2018. What makes Magento such a hot commodity, though, and what advantages does it carry over other eCommerce platforms?
Magento certainly is not an eCommerce platform for the faint of heart. Designed to be an enterprise solution framework, Magento carries a definite advantage in its clean code, scalability, and modular design. That makes Magento ideal for large eCommerce platforms, no matter how specialized or customized they are. However, this may also make Magento less ideal for smaller organizations, as they will find themselves spending more time than necessary customizing Magento to fit their needs. Additionally, Magento itself requires hefty system resources, which may render it unusable for smaller websites.
Another advantage Magento carries for larger eCommerce environments is its enterprise support. Magento is one of the few eCommerce CMS platforms that offer a paid, enterprise-level support solution. Most eCommerce service platforms rely on a community-based support model. There are more specific reasons why Magento is ideal for large organizations, which we will see in the next section.
For web developers, Magento is an incredibly robust toolkit to add to their arsenal. Learning to build an online store with Magento is a highly vertical climb, but it is well worth learning for its benefits.
Magento certainly is not an eCommerce platform for the faint of heart. Designed to be an enterprise solution framework, Magento carries a definite advantage in its clean code, scalability, and modular design. That makes Magento ideal for large eCommerce platforms, no matter how specialized or customized they are. However, this may also make Magento less ideal for smaller organizations, as they will find themselves spending more time than necessary customizing Magento to fit their needs. Additionally, Magento itself requires hefty system resources, which may render it unusable for smaller websites.
A Word Of Caution
Magento has a steep learning curve, which can be challenging for both web developers and users alike. Because of this, it is not advisable that novice web developers start with this platform. Look into content management systems like WordPress or Joomla, instead. Learning them can be challenging, but it's nothing like the challenge of learning a sophisticated program such as Magento without any coding experience.For web developers, Magento is an incredibly robust toolkit to add to their arsenal. Learning to build an online store with Magento is a highly vertical climb, but it is well worth learning for its benefits.
A User Interface Designed For Power And Control
Magento comes out of the box with an astonishing array of power tools for users. One example is how users can create marketing promotions and use marketing tools from within their organization's Magento system. SEO tools are built right into the system for any product listing or category to have custom meta information. Magento can even utilize multiple shipping addresses for the same order, different shipping fees for different countries or postal area codes, or create numerous invoices for the same order as part of split fulfillment.
One user control panel can command multiple websites. More than one control panel can direct a single site. Magento also comes packed with data analysis and reporting functions that target improving marketing reach and impact. Some examples of reports Magento can create an analysis of the best customers, a report on what's left in abandoned shopping carts, and a summary of peak shopping hours.
There are many other useful tools included with Magento by default, which generally require plugins in other eCommerce systems. Wish lists, advanced searches, email lists, product comparisons, and more standard eCommerce user features come bundled and ready to go with any installation of Magento.
Impressively, Magento not only allows users to create campaigns within the platform, but administrators can set up an entire networked tree of websites with multiple stores and storefronts. Multilingual support is a given nowadays with any content management system, but Magento includes multi-currency support out of the box, too! Multi-level user permissions grant an extra layer of security that many other platforms don't sport by default. Also, there is a vast and robust user community always ready to assist should difficult problems arise.
The Perfect Platform For Scaling Up Magento shines the most for large organizations that require scalability while maintaining tight organization and integration between different systems and applications. In this environment, Magento's performance is as close to perfect as any eCommerce platform can get. Because Magento is a more sophisticated platform designed for experienced developers, though, smaller stores may want to go with a content management environment that is a little smaller. Some stores may be interested in a new Adobe program providing funding for Magento partners and developers for redeployment.
One user control panel can command multiple websites. More than one control panel can direct a single site. Magento also comes packed with data analysis and reporting functions that target improving marketing reach and impact. Some examples of reports Magento can create an analysis of the best customers, a report on what's left in abandoned shopping carts, and a summary of peak shopping hours.
Artificially Intelligent Data Collection
Perhaps the most valuable power tool included out of the box in Magento is the AI engine and algorithms used to form the online store's purchase suggestions, along with the automated analysis reports Magento is capable of creating. While these may not seem like significant features, it's essential to realize that many corporations pour millions of funding into their AI system's data collection, marketing, and analysis. The basics needed to get started with this kind of technology are included for free, though, as part of Magento's default feature set.There are many other useful tools included with Magento by default, which generally require plugins in other eCommerce systems. Wish lists, advanced searches, email lists, product comparisons, and more standard eCommerce user features come bundled and ready to go with any installation of Magento.
Bonus Features
There are some other things about Magento that may not directly relate to how the platform functions, but do contribute to its overall health and usefulness in the long run. It's open-source software that allows the users to modify their code as needed. While the platform itself is large, the resulting websites are incredibly responsive and quick to load.Impressively, Magento not only allows users to create campaigns within the platform, but administrators can set up an entire networked tree of websites with multiple stores and storefronts. Multilingual support is a given nowadays with any content management system, but Magento includes multi-currency support out of the box, too! Multi-level user permissions grant an extra layer of security that many other platforms don't sport by default. Also, there is a vast and robust user community always ready to assist should difficult problems arise.
The Perfect Platform For Scaling Up Magento shines the most for large organizations that require scalability while maintaining tight organization and integration between different systems and applications. In this environment, Magento's performance is as close to perfect as any eCommerce platform can get. Because Magento is a more sophisticated platform designed for experienced developers, though, smaller stores may want to go with a content management environment that is a little smaller. Some stores may be interested in a new Adobe program providing funding for Magento partners and developers for redeployment.