Magento
We have many clients who have moved to us from Magento and here we explore the good, the bad and the ugly...
Magento 1 has reached end-of-life and Magento 2 may not be the best upgrade for you. Let's look at the pros and cons...
Usability
Magento, built its platform for developers rather than people without an eCommerce background. The user interface simply isn’t as friendly to those without development knowledge. It will either take a while to get the hang of it, or you will have to deal with the additional cost of hiring a developer or an external agency for your on-going development and support.
In our experience, there are many 'journeyman' agencies out there using Magento - which use contractors (who come and go) and lack the retained skills and in-depth knowledge to effectively support clients.
This is the feedback we get from former Magento users who move to us - they frequently comment on how agile and quick we are to respond to support and new bespoke dev work.....it's what we do.....we specialise and don't waste time trying to find extensions and quick fixes to code we haven't written and don't fully understand!
Looking for an alternative?
Do you need to upgrade your aging Magento Website? Have you looked at Magento 2 and are concerned about function or cost? IXO Commerce may be able to offer what you need...
Pricing
Magento has two versions of its software. Magento Open Source (formerly the Community Edition) and Magento Commerce. Magento Open Source is freely available to anyone to download but comes with a steep learning curve.
Magento Commerce is their enterprise platform, which is suitable for large and fast-growing businesses. Magento made the move to launch this on the cloud, so there’s no need to download their software. They launched their cloud version quite a while after competitors, which put them on the backfoot.
Magento Commerce is a paid-for platform, without a public pricelist. That means businesses will need to request a quote from a Magento agency and pricing will vary depending on the requirements. The more bespoke/additional features required, the more expensive it will be.
Magento Commerce Starter – starting at $2,000/month (approximately £1,600/month)
- Promotions and Pricing
- Search Engine Optimisation
- Site and Content Management
- Catalogue Management
- Catalogue Browsing
- Product Browsing
- Checkout and Payments
- Shipping
- Order Management and Customer Service
- Customer Loyalty
- Customer Accounts
- Support for Global Sites
- Analytics and Reporting
- Layout and Theming
- Cloud hosting & deployment
- Email support
- Business Intelligence
Magento Commerce Pro – starting at $3,417/month
(approximately £2,700/month)
- All Starter features, plus
- High availability infrastructure
- Dedicated hardware
- Dedicated launch manager
Integrated B2B functionality that includes:
- Corporate account management and support
- Customised catalogues and pricelists
- Tools for rapid ordering
- Online requests for quote workflow
- Increased inventory visibility across retail outlets
With an open-source platform, there is a higher threat of security breaches, as anyone can download the free version regardless of their intentions.
Templates
Just like Shopify, Magento offers some free templates but the nicer ones come with a price tag - some can be over £400. Even after purchasing a theme, it’s quite likely you will need to tweak and adjust to make it suitable for your business. These means you will need someone with PHP experience.
SEO/Digital Marketing
Standard SEO tools and Mobile Optimisation are included in all version of Magento but once again, this comes as standard with all credible eCommerce platforms. For anything on top of this, you’d need to purchase add-ons or have your developer create something just for your website.
Stock Management
Magento has created a user-friendly method of checking stock and being able to see what’s coming in and going out, including the ability to check on backorders and adjusting the minimum and maximum qualities.
They have also integrated with multiple sales channels, such as eBay and Amazon. Stock in all locations is synced back to the website, so customers cannot buy items that are no longer in stock.
That sounds great but isn’t anything special. In fact, all enterprise-level eCommerce platforms offer these stock management features.
Customer Support
Where Magento does excel is in their online resources, both for business and developers. They also have a dedicated knowledge base and forums to encourage users to discuss with each other. If you like a good read, the Magento 2.3 user guide is 1934 pages long. However, if you’re looking for a Dedicated Account Manager, you will need to invest in the highest monthly payment plan of $3,417 per month (approximately £33,000 per year).
Worst of all though, is that Magento will shortly be stopping all support for Magento 1. Have a read of our article on this topic.
Evaluation
Like any eCommerce platform, each platform is suited to a certain clientele. Magento could be an option for larger companies, but it does have several drawbacks. The features list for Magento Commerce is still rather basic and a platform such as IXO Commerce can offer this and much more.
As the platform is open-sourced, you will also need to find your own hosting company, themes and add-ons. These will all increase the overall cost of the project.
IXO COmmerce is a closed-source, cloud-based enterprise-level eCommerce platform. Our clients range from multinational footwear brands to boutique retail outlets. We created our platform to be user-friendly, not only for eCommerce specialist but also for the smaller family-run businesses with limited eCommerce knowledge.
As our platform is bespoke, we can tailor your website to your requirements. We won’t add unnecessary features and charge you for them if you’re not going to utilise them.
As standard, every client is allocated a dedicated Client Account Manager who will assist you from the onset of your website through to aftercare, we have you covered. There is no additional charge for this service, as we know how important it is to be able to have a single point of contact.
Get in touch
If you would like to migrate away from Magento or would like more information with regards to our bespoke enterprise-level eCommerce platform, call us on 01460 258 530 or email today.
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30th July 2019
They were young, friendly, professional and listened to our requests.
Owen Lewis, Compost Direct
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