With the latest incarnation of Magento having recently been put on the market, it’s worth reviewing its new features. Looking at how it improves on the previous instalment, as well as its benefits over competing platforms, we’ll break down its main features one by one.
But firstly, let’s look at whether the latest version of Magento is right for you.
We Recommend Magento 2.3 if:
- Your current e-commerce store has performance issues
- You’re planning to implement significant modifications
- Your current system is running on an outdated version
- Scalability – you’re seeking increased revenue and site traffic
Magento has always been the go-to option for store owners seeking advanced customisation. But with the latest version, these in-platform functions have been extended even further.
Key Benefits and Improvements:
Improved Performance
Compared to previous instalments, Magento 2 has been specifically built with performance in mind. Compared to 200,000 page views in the older version, the latest version can now manage 10 million views an hour. That’s 30-50% faster page load speeds than before. This increase in speed is in part due to Magento 2.0’s adoption of PHP7 (known to enhance the performance of all PHP applications). But it is also due to the asynchronous processing of jobs where queue workers can allocate separate server resources from Magento application servers.
Faster Checkout
Perhaps the most significant change to Magento is the new one step checkout. Compatible with 3rd-party modules, this feature gathers all the complicated shopping steps into one easy to navigate the page. With asynchronous processing now implemented during checkout and cart operations, e.g. address validation and cart updates, overall processing times have been improved as well.
Lower Implementation Times
Research recently conducted by FitforCommerce found that merchants with the latest version of Magento 2 saw a significant reduction in implementation time (36% faster) as well as cost (35% lower) compared with previous Magento editions. This means your products arrive faster to market, with downtime as you migrate between platforms reduced to a minimum.
Quicker and Easier Navigation
Layered navigation significantly speeds up and simplifies the buying process. With the infinite-scrolling feature, new products are automatically loaded when shoppers scroll to the bottom of this page. This aids customer retention by keeping the shopper onsite. Likewise, with multi-filters now available in navigation mode, site satisfaction is enhanced by increasing the flexibility of the user experience. Shoppers can now filter by product colour and material, as well as by brand and popularity.
Save Time on Problem-Solving with a Huge Support Community
Unlike other ecommerce platforms, Magento is a community-led. Hence it consistently ranks on top for its comprehensive support features. With a Magento website, you benefit from a huge community of developers and partners to support you. Whether technical or marketing related, both the Stack Exchange interface and the Magento Community forum can assist you in setting up your site.
Smoother Integration with Amazon Marketplace
During MagentoLive Australia 2018, Magento announced native integration with Amazon Marketplace. The current version now allows merchants to manage their Amazon inventory directly from within the Magento Commerce admin panel. You can automatically match and list products across Amazon’s North American, APAC, and European marketplaces. Gone is the hassle of installing and setting up 3rd party extensions. Now you can access your Amazon data all within a single platform.
Increase Audience Reach with Multi-Language Support
A recent European Commission report found that 42% of respondents have never purchased services or products in languages other than their own. If you are looking to sell overseas, this obviously makes multi-language support essential. Thankfully, this is an area Magento excels in — offering a range of payment types for 80 languages as standard, you can now reach out to customers all over the world.
Improved Admin Panel
The new user interface is now more user friendly than ever. Latest features include: the ability to insert videos into your product descriptions, full page cache, Ajax loading for improved page loading times, PHP namespaces with dependency injection to identity class names, plus a function allowing you to import and export almost any Magento 2 module. Also integrated with the new version are framework improvements including compatibility with HHVM and PHP 7. Based on direct feedback from users, the new admin panel makes usability and ease of use a central part of the developer experience.
A Quick View Recap of Benefits and Improvements:
- Improved admin panel
- Multi-language support
- Amazon marketplace integration
- Large support community
- Layered navigation
- Faster checkout
- Improved performance
- Easier implementation
Helping you make the Switch
Whether updating from previous version of Magento, moving over from a competing platform, or starting from scratch, 247 Commerce can help you make the transition.
Our work includes top to bottom development for clients such as M&S, the British Museum and the V&A. From cultural institutions to cutting edge ecommerce retailers, we have helped implement Magento solutions covering print-on-demand services, merchandising, event ticketing, as well as eBay and Amazon integration. This means we are perfectly placed to assist you in any queries you may have about installing Magento 2 or getting to grips with any of its functions.
Interested in trying it out?
Book a Magento 2 demo with one of our specialists today and we’ll give you the login details to a free Magento 2.3 front-end demo site and admin panel complete with sample data. This will give you unrestricted access to preview all the platform’s latest features.
Want to find out more about Magento? Please see our Complete Magento Ecommerce Guide for more details.
