It’s evident that after the Magento 1 end of support announcement in June 2020, the number of Magento 1 stores has decreased significantly. Meanwhile, that of Magento 2 websites has been rising continuously. In other words, more and more merchants have implemented Magento 2 migration for their stores. There is an emerging trend of integrating Progressive Web App (PWA) into Magento websites during that time. However, most Magento PWA development solutions are for Magento 2 only. Therefore, many Magento 1 store owners decided to process Magento 2 migration and PWA development at the same time.
With strong experience with Magento migration and Magento PWA development projects, we can confirm that merging these two processes is a lucid decision. Merchants will save a noticeable amount of time, money, and effort, thanks to that. Otherwise, if they only start integrating the PWA after finishing the migration process, some resources and results from the migration might be wasted to adapt to the new PWA storefront.
In this blog, we will explain why merchants should combine the Magento 2 migration and PWA integration process and how they will benefit from it.
But first, you have to understand the process of migrating Magento 1 to Magento 2 and transforming a Magento website to a Magento PWA separately.
Contents
What Is Magento 2 Migration And Its Process?
Magento migration is the process of upgrading the website from the old 1.x.x version to the latest version of Magento 2.
Magento 1 version is outdated and unsafe as Magento no longer supports security patches and new feature evolution. Meanwhile, Magento 2 version brings more advanced e-commerce functions to online stores with responsive design and robust performance.
And, to have such a powerful Magento 2 website, the merchant must carry out the Magento 2 Migration project. Magento 2 Migration is simply the process of upgrading your website from Magento 1 to Magento 2.
Migration helps the Magento site improve its performance. Taking advantage of modern technologies, these sites enhance the user experience with a responsive design, easier checkout process, etc. Not only the user experience enhanced but also the business owner interface. The admin dashboard in Magento 2 is more user-friendly with a modern and intuitive interface.
In fact, merchants will need to build a brand new site on Magento 2 platform, import the data from the old site, and try to re-build similar functions on the new site. It’s worth noting that all cannot be reused from the M1 theme, extensions, to custom functions.
A standard Magento 1 to 2 migration process will include:
- Design: Install a new M2 theme or build a custom theme for M2 (either new or similar to the M1 design)
- Extensions: Find and install new M2 extensions that have functions akin to M1 ones.
- Custom functions: Find M2 extensions that have similar features to custom functions on the M1 website. If there is no available module, so custom function rebuilt in the M2 site will be required.
- Data import: Move data from M1 to M2 (products, customers, orders…)
- Payment and shipping: add payment gateways and shipping methods to your Magento 2 website. PayPal Express, Braintree, Authorize.net, and Amazon Pay are the default payment gateways in Magento 2. Shipping carriers such as UPS, USPS, FedEx, and DHL will be integrated into the Magento 2 website. You will need to purchase an extension to connect other payments and shipping.
- Site Settings: Configure the new M2 site (store information, payment, shipping, email templates…)
Magento 2 migration is a complicated process. And you will undoubtedly be unable to migrate your website to Magento 2 without the support of a team of talented in-house developers.
What Is Magento PWA And Its Integration Process?
Have you ever seen an “Add to home-screen” pop-up when access to a website? That’s the way you installed a PWA on your phone. You don’t have to go to the app store to get it.
Then, when you open it, your installed app (PWA) works “like a native app” without the URL bar of the web browser. PWA is responsive and made to be friendly to any device, browser, and operating system.
But it will not be the best part until it can be accessed offline. This means you can still browse the app without the Internet for pre-cached pages.
Another unique point of PWA is the speed. In comparison with a normal website, the medium speed of PWA is even two to three times faster. This leads to a positive signal of decreasing the bounce rate and increasing the average session duration of the site.
In short, PWA, or Progressive Web App, is an innovative technology that gives your website the look and feel of a native app. In fact, PWA is still a website with URLs linked to and searched on Google. However, the difference between a Progressive Web App and a typical website is that it provides users with a rewarding experience like a native app.
A Magento PWA is simply a Magento website combined with PWA technology. Thanks to that, it will have all the fantastic features of PWA such as push notifications, add-to-home-screen, offline mode, background sync, and so on, while maintaining essential e-commerce functions of the site.
Not only that, but the page loading speed of Magento PWA is much faster than that of a standard website, taking only 2 to 3 seconds to load. Best of all, after the initial visit, the visited pages reload almost immediately.
Thanks to the splendid features that a Magento PWA brings, the integration of the Progressive Web App has been a viable approach to help online stores stand out from the crowd and pique customers’ interest.
To upgrade a regular Magento website to a Magento Progressive Web App, we will need to implement the following tasks:
- Design: Since the PWA storefront will replace the Magento frontend, we cannot re-use the current web template or any Magento themes but look for a specialized Magento PWA theme. The PWA Theme for Magento provides not only the new interface like regular Magento templates but also an entire box of PWA features such as add to the home screen, push notification, offline mode, background sync, automatic updates, and so on.
- Extensions: To make Magento extensions work with the PWA storefront, it’s not as easy as installing and configuring them on regular Magento websites. In general, it will require developing APIs to connect the modules and the storefront. However, in some cases, APIs development is difficult and not effective, extensions will not be used, and similar functions to those will be built directly on the PWA frontend (e.g., one-step checkout, improved layered navigation…).
- Custom functions: Similar to the extensions, the website’s custom functions can only work smoothly with the Magento frontend. To make it work on the PWA storefront, API creation is a must.
- Payment, shipping integration: Besides default payment gateways and shipping carriers, merchants often use extensions to integrate those with the Magento website. However, they cannot do the same for Magento PWA. Again, APIs and custom work will be needed.
- Data import: After being upgraded to a Magento PWA, the Magento backend is still there, so data transfer is unnecessary.
In general, the Magento PWA development process entails forming the storefront PWA and the PWA APIs to link up the PWA storefront to the Magento backend. Developing a PWA API is not as simple as it sounds, especially for Magento websites with multiple complex extensions or custom functions.
As a result, integrating Progressive Web App technology is exceptionally challenging. To have a beautifully crafted PWA with full features, Magento PWA Development is not just adding the PWA extension to your Magento 2 website and using it.
Why Shouldn’t We Carry Out Magento Migration And PWA Integration One By One?
As you can see, there are some similar parts that we need to take care of in both processes. However, the ways to do these on each procedure are different and even conflict.
For example, in terms of design, when migrating to Magento 2, you will have to buy or create a new theme for Magento 2. Nonetheless, that M2 theme will become useless when upgrading to PWA since a Magento PWA theme will alter it. As a result, you will waste your money buying the theme and hiring developers to implement it.
Additionally, some extensions are not compatible with the Magento PWA, and the best solution is to not use any module but develop the same functions on the PWA source code. Therefore, your investment becomes worthless if you have already bought certain plugins that cannot be used.
For custom functions or other integrations and settings, more similar problems can arise.
For all the above reasons, we highly recommend you do the migration and the PWA development simultaneously. In the next part, we will help you imagine the process when “2 becomes 1”.
Benefit Of Magento 2 Migration and Magento PWA Development
Benefits of Magento 2 Migration
1/ Keep up with the latest market trend
More than 60% of Magento stores have switched from Magento 1 to Magento 2. As a result, if you do not adopt Magento 2 Migration, you will fall behind.
Many modern technologies, such as Progressive Web App, are only available on Magento 2. As a result, if you insist on using Magento 1, you will miss out on the most recent market trends.
2/ Enjoy advanced Magento features and extensions
Magento has halted support for new Magento 1 platform features. No new features or extensions will be updated to the Magento 1 version.
So, If you want to update your online store with the most notable e-commerce features such as one-page checkout and Ajax cart, Magento 2 Migration is the place to go.
3/ Stay safe with regular updates and security patches
Since Magento has announced to discontinue support for Magento 1 on June 30, 2020, e-commerce websites running on Magento 1 platform will not be updated with security patches. Therefore, the Magento 1 website may encounter several security risks, including customer information disclosure, website downtime, or website hacking.
In contrast, Magento is instantly promoting and updating security patches for Magento 2 version. So, implementing the Magento 2 Migration project helps you safeguard your website from cyber threats.
Benefits of Magento PWA Development
1/ Enhance customer’s experience via app-like interface
Currently, 79% of smartphone users have made an online purchase via their mobile device. As a result, it is critical to ensure that your website looks fabulous on mobile devices.
Progressive Web App was introduced and quickly became a hot style because it provided online stores with the look and feel of a native app at a much lower cost than developing a native app.
2/ Tighten customer’s relationship with push notification
Push notifications are another competitive edge of Magento PWA. It is a feature only available on native apps such as Instagram or Facebook. However, your online store will be fortunate to have a push notification feature when integrating PWA technology into your Magento website.
Customers would be excited and motivated to return to your Magento website if you use push notifications in a subtle and highly personalized manner. From there, it helps you strengthen customer relationships, allowing customers to remember your online store.
3/ Increase customer engagement through offline mode
Websites do not display content if the internet connection is slow or non-existent. It interferes with the customer’s shopping experience. And the disrupted shopping experience caused by a lost Internet connection likely is what makes customers feel uncomfortable.
On the other hand, mobile apps frequently have an offline mode, which allows users to use them while they are not connected to the internet. As a result, they are more accessible and engaging to customers. Luckily, the Magento PWA provides the offline mode, providing its customers with a seamless shopping experience.
Magento 2 Migration Vs. Magento PWA Development: Why It Is Better To Do Both At Once
Embrace the wonderful essence of both projects
Migrating from Magento 1 to Magento 2 has led to multiple improvements to your online store. What’s more, Magento 2 Migration is a must-have undertaking since Magento 1 is no longer supported and poses numerous risks.
So, if you want to keep your business running and thriving, migrating to Magento 2 is a must. More than 60% of Magento merchants have successfully migrated to Magento 2, so it’s time to implement Magento 2 Migration for your online store as well.
Many merchants take advantage of migration opportunities to develop Magento 2 PWA to stand out and provide remarkable experiences to customers. In other words, rather than simply upgrading to Magento 2, several shop owners choose to upgrade to Magento PWA to reap the benefits of both.
PWA is a cutting-edge technology that every Magento 2 website should have to beat the competition. Implementing Magento 2 Migration and Magento PWA Development at the same time will save you time and effort but still enjoy incredible benefits.
Magento 2 PWA will facilitate you in driving your regular Magento 2 website to the next tier. What you will get is a Magento 2 website with the look and feel of a native app. A Magento Progressive Web App with all the robust e-commerce features of Magento 2, as well as a stylish, modern storefront, is sure to sparkle and entice end users.
Save your time and money significantly
As previously stated, both processes have many pretty similar parts. However, Magento 2 Migration and Magento PWA Development methods are markedly different. There will be dozens of conflicts if you work on two separate projects.
If you migrate your website first and then integrate PWA technology, you will waste time and effort during the Magento 2 migration process and vice versa. It will be ineffective if you do not do both Magento 2 Migration and PWA Development simultaneously.
How Would It Be If Magento 2 Migration Is Merged Into PWA Development Process?
Design
You will need to build a new theme for your Magento 2 PWA. It’s not a regular Magento 2 theme but a PWA theme for Magento 2.
There are two options for you to choose from. First, you can select a ready-made Magento 2 PWA theme and install it in your new store. Theme customization is also possible if you want. Second, you can ask your developers to build a PWA storefront with a custom/ unique design from the ground up.
The decision will be made based on your preference and budget. As you might know, any custom solution always goes at a higher cost.
Actually, most merchants prefer ready-to-use approaches to minimize the cost and associated implementation time.
If you wonder how a Magento PWA theme looks and feels and how it is different from normal templates, you can look at TigrenPWA themes and demos.
Data
Actually, the data migration belongs to the Magento migration process only since PWA integration does not affect the data on the Magento backend.
In this step, you should review your database first to select which will be moved to the new site. Old and unnecessary data should be discarded before the transfer so that the process can be faster and lower data loss risk.
Extensions & Custom functions
To “migrate” the Magento extensions and custom features to the new site, you should go through the following steps:
Firstly, it’s necessary to scrutinize your current site which modules are actually pivotal for your store and which are not. Then, let’s send the list of the extensions/ custom functions you want to keep to your developers to discuss its solutions.
For the extensions that can be integrated with the PWA storefront just by developing APIs, you will need to buy similar ones for Magento 2.
For the extensions that are hard to connect with the PWA storefront, you don’t need to purchase those on Magento 2 version but discuss with the developers about extensions’ functional details to re-build them on the Magento PWA.
Others
The payment gateway and shipping carrier integration can require either extensions and API development or just APIs. You should tell your developers which third-party system you want to have on the site, and they will suggest the best solutions.
In terms of the language, and currency,… you can easily configure it on Magento 2 backend. However, if you want to have multi-language, multi-currency, multi-store…, you might check whether your selected Magento PWA theme supports them or not.
No Better Time Than Now To Migrate Your Site From Magento 1 To Magento 2 PWA
As you can see, switching your website from Magento 1 to Magento 2 PWA will provide you with double the benefits. The Magento 2 version and the Progressive Web App technology deliver a brightening future to your online store.
A robust Magento 2 website with unique features such as offline mode, push notifications, add to the home screen, etc., is what Magento 2 Progressive Web App Development offers.
Not only that but undertaking Magento 2 Migration and Magento PWA Development at the same time will save you a lot of time and money.
One thing is for sure: migrating your website to Magento 2 Progressive Web App will be an ideal choice if you want your online store to stand out and entice potential customers truly.
Tigren Can Make It Possible At Minimal Cost And High Quality
Tigren is one of the few firms that are qualified to become your partner! We have delivered a wide range of high-quality Magento services since 2012. And we started offering Magento 2 migration service in 2015 and Magento Progressive Web App development solutions in 2017. That’s why we can thoroughly understand both the Magento migration and the PWA integration process to how to combine them for the sake of your business.
We are able to provide Magento 2 Migration and Magento PWA Development services separately or simultaneously depending on your choice. Significantly, you will benefit from the discount even more if you choose both services simultaneously.
Final Words
A merged process is definitely a more effective solution instead of doing the migration and PWA integration separately. It prevents the business owner from wasting development time and buying unnecessary stuff.
The only problem with this approach is that you might find it hard to find a suitable web development company to take on your project. There might be a lot of Magento companies that provide Magento migration services, but just a few of them specialize in PWA development.
In other words, your ideal partner must be excellent in both Magento migration and Magento PWA integration.
If you want to start your “2 in 1” project, why not contact us now?
