Magento 2 is the latest version of the popular eCommerce platform, Magento. It was released in 2015 as an upgrade to the original Magento platform, Magento 1. Since then, many businesses have migrated to Magento 2 to take advantage of its new features and capabilities.
In this article, we will give six reasons for upgrading your website to Magento 2 and help you to answer the question of why you should upgrade to Magento 2.
Contents
1. Magento 1 End Of Life = End To The Security Patches & Magento Connect
Magento 1 has been around since 2008 and, in that time, it has become one of the most popular eCommerce platforms in the world. However, it is also worth noting the disadvantages of Magento 1 – some of which may make you consider using a different platform for your eCommerce store.
It’s no doubt that security is always the top concern of all Magento eCommerce stores. It is your duty and responsibility to protect your customers as well as their private information. When a Magento security update is available, either for your server or your store, it should be applied as soon as possible to avoid all potential risks.
However, when Magento stops supporting Magento 1, they no longer provide us with useful security patches. It also means that the security of your site would be threatened, and you have to figure out how to solve the problem when it happens.
Moreover, Magento Connect is shut down simultaneously, which leads to the counteraction of the Connect Downloader and ./mage commands.
Another disadvantage of Magento 1 is that it is not as scalable as Magento 2. This means that if your business grows quickly, you may find that Magento 1 struggles to keep up. Magento 2 is built for scalability, meaning that it can handle larger stores with ease.
2. Magento 1 Is Now Obsolete
Even when Magento continues its support for Magento 1, it is not the same as this version will be continually developed and improved.
The truth is that all of Magento’s efforts are now being invested in Magento 2 development and the first version is gradually obsolete. Almost new, exciting, and valuable developments and enhancements to Magento are happening on Magento 2 only, with Magento 1 being left to fade.
As you might know, we cannot “move” Magento 1 extensions to Magento 2 websites but find a similar version for Magento 2. Therefore, most Magento module development firms have stopped creating new Magento 1 extensions and turned their attention to Magento 2 to meet the needs of a continuously rising number of Magento 2 users.
Although the Magento 1 end-of-life date has not yet been publicly announced, the fact that support for Magento 1 will end at some point is undeniable. As a result, it provides imperative reasons for Magento 1 to migrate their current websites to Magento 2.
3. M2 Outweighs M1 In Both Design & Site Performance
As you can see, while Magento 1 theme style is elementary and boring, Magento 2 looks modern and attractive. Also, one of the essential Magento 2 default features is responsiveness, which means that your website will present nicely regardless of devices (e.g., laptops, desktops, tablets, smartphones,…).
For an e-commerce website, the front-end interface is fundamental since it can directly impact customers’ buying decisions. Therefore, if you want to enhance your customer experience, Magento 2 migration is a great option.
Magento 1 Default Theme
Magento 2 Default Theme
Have you ever wondered why some websites can load faster than others? In Magento, that’s due to Full Page Cache, a feature that caches an entire web page to make future pages load faster. Magento 2.0 relies heavily on an extension called Varnish Cache to speed up page load times in both the enterprise and community editions.
Compared to the previous version, page loads in Magento 2 are at least 30-50% faster.
Recent surveys indicated that Magento 2 could handle roughly 40% more orders each hour with up to 70% faster add-to-cart times than Magento 1.
What is more, the proper hosting setup can deliver nearly instant server responses for catalogue browsing.
Additionally, Magento 2 is able to handle more traffic by managing 10 million page views per hour, while Magento 1 can process only 200,000 views.
In addition, updates within Magento 2 are designed to work a lot quicker, making it easy for Magento users to take advantage of new features as they’re released.
How does Magento 2 make such a great improvement in performance? Here are the reasons:
Ajax Cart: For Magento 1, you will have to find an Ajax Cart extension and install it on your site, whereas this feature has already been included in Magento 2. It allows the users to add products to the cart immediately – while staying on the current page.
Cache: Magento 2 has improved the caching system and now includes native support for caching technologies like Varnish, a popular HTTP accelerator.
PHP 7: Magento 2 is optimized for PHP 7 that offers superior performance to all previous PHP versions.
Hosting Environment: Magento 2 allows you to spread the demand on your hosting infrastructure over multiple servers with ease and hence.
4. Magento 2 Has A More Modern & Convenient Admin Panel Than Its Former
The new admin interface is designed to help reduce the time managing an online store. It’s a lot more user-friendly and easier for new team members to learn.
Admin is able to customize the admin panel so important business information can be accessed quickly. This makes each admin panel personalized for each user to increase productivity when managing products, orders, and customer data. Creating products in the admin panel is easier than before with 4x faster product import capabilities.
The admin interface of Magento 2 now includes drag-and-drop layout editing. This means you don’t need extensive coding knowledge to modify an online store’s appearance. Create a beautiful store in half the time.
Magento 1 Admin Panel
Magento 2 Admin Panel
5. Improved Checkout And New Admin Checker
Improve checkout
The checkout process in Magento 2 is more streamlined, making it quicker and easier for customers to go from the cart to the completed order. It’s highly customizable and requires fewer steps and customer information. Reducing the checkout time is huge for reducing abandoned carts and increasing conversions.
When a purchaser goes to checkout, they are brought to a default guest checkout screen where they enter an email address. If this matches an existing customer, they will get the option to check out faster with saved information. Guests can create an account with one click from the order Thank You page. These features encourage repeat customers.
Most Magento 1 stores had to alter the checkout process in some way to make it more user-friendly. Now, better checkout options are available to Magento 2. This means every store built with Magento 2 will by default have a more intuitive checkout process, making up the most compelling reason to explain why you should upgrade to Magento 2.
New admin features
Magento 2 comes with several new admin features that provide benefits for store owners and administrators. Some of the key benefits of the new admin features in Magento 2 include:
- Enhanced User Interface: The Magento 2 admin panel has been redesigned to provide a more intuitive and user-friendly interface. The new interface is clean, modern and allows you to customize your workspace to match your work style.
- Streamlined Navigation: The navigation has been optimized for easier and quicker access to commonly used functions. The new Magento 2 admin panel offers a more streamlined, logical navigation system.
- Improved Product Creation and Management: Magento 2 offers an improved product creation and management experience. It provides you with a simple and effective way to add products and variations to your catalogue.
- Customizable Grid Views: The admin panel in Magento 2 includes customizable grid views, which allow you to sort, filter, and view the data in the way that suits you best.
- Better Admin Roles and Permissions: Magento 2 comes with a more comprehensive and flexible role-based access control (RBAC) system. This makes it easier to manage user access and permissions across your store.
- Integrated Magento Marketplace: The Magento Marketplace is now integrated into the Magento 2 admin panel, making it easy to discover and install new extensions and modules directly from the admin panel.
6. Better SEO And Customer Experience
Magento 2 offers several improvements that can lead to better SEO and customer experience for eCommerce businesses. Some of these improvements include:
- Improved Site Speed: Site speed is a crucial factor for SEO and customer experience. Magento 2 comes with improved performance and faster page load times, which can help improve search engine rankings and customer satisfaction.
- Mobile-First Design: Magento 2 is designed with a mobile-first approach, which means that it is optimized for mobile devices. This is important for SEO and customer experience because Google prioritizes mobile-friendly websites in search results, and an increasing number of customers are shopping on their mobile devices.
- Advanced Search Capabilities: Magento 2 comes with advanced search capabilities, including search suggestions, autocomplete, and spell correction. This can help customers find what they’re looking for quickly and easily, leading to a better customer experience and potentially higher conversion rates.
- Enhanced Product Page Optimization: Magento 2 provides enhanced product page optimization, including the ability to add more product images, videos, and detailed descriptions. This can help improve SEO and customer experience by providing more information about products and helping customers make informed purchasing decisions.
- Improved Checkout Process: Magento 2 offers an improved checkout process that is faster and more user-friendly. This can help improve customer experience and potentially reduce cart abandonment rates.
- Integrated Blogging Platform: Magento 2 includes an integrated blogging platform, which can help improve SEO by providing fresh, relevant content that can be shared on social media and other channels.
FAQs
Which are the best features of Magento 2?
Some of the top features of Magento 2 include improved performance, mobile-first design, advanced search capabilities, enhanced product page optimization, improved checkout process, and a better admin interface.
How much time does Magento 2 migration require?
The time required for Magento 2 migration can vary depending on factors such as the complexity of your store, the amount of data to be migrated, and the customization required. However, a rough estimate is that it can take anywhere from several weeks to several months for Magento 2 migration.
What is the cost of Magento 2 migration?
The cost of Magento 2 migration can vary depending on several factors such as the complexity of your store, the amount of data to be migrated, the customization required, and the expertise of the developer or agency you hire. However, a rough estimate is that it can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars for Magento 2 migration.
Why data migration is needed?
Data migration is necessary when you are upgrading to a new eCommerce platform, such as Magento 2, or when you are moving your store to a new server or hosting environment. This is because data migration involves transferring all the data from your old platform or server to the new one.
Data migration ensures that your new eCommerce platform or server has all the necessary data to continue running your online store without any disruption. It is an important process that requires careful planning and execution to ensure that all data is transferred accurately and securely.
Wrap Up
In conclusion, Magento 2 offers many benefits to eCommerce businesses, including improved performance, mobile-first design, advanced search capabilities, enhanced product page optimization, improved checkout process, and better admin interface. However, upgrading to Magento 2 requires careful planning and execution, including data migration, customization, and testing.
While Magento 2 migration can be time-consuming and costly, the benefits can outweigh the initial investment by improving the SEO and customer experience of your online store, increasing conversions, and providing a more robust eCommerce platform. As such, it is worth considering upgrading to Magento 2 to take advantage of its advanced features and benefits.
