There is a wide range of e-commerce CMS platforms available on the market to prospective online retailers and wholesalers but none qualify for ticking so many boxes as Magento.
As a mid to higher market solution it offers the functionality and scalability that allows an online business to develop, flourish and grow. No other platform can compete on this level or provide an open source solution that combines expertise with complete flexibility. It is ideal for 2nd generation e-commerce sites or for those established sites who want to advance to the next phase of growth. Magento is the only real option for those who have greater ambitions than a small start up store.
It promotes progression and growth in a seamless manner with no downtime or extra expense. While the system may be considered overkill for small businesses it is worth bearing in mind the extensive list of a-line businesses and organisations that deploy Magento to power their e-commerce platform and are happy to put their trust in Magento for creating and implementing their online retail strategies. When businesses such as Olympus Cameras, Paul Smith and Mothercare entrust their e-commerce business to Magento then others choices are informed by those thought processes that have embraced what has become the world’s most popular e-commerce platform.
It is widely accepted that open source software is a much more dependable and less risky system than proprietary bespoke systems for a number of obvious reasons:
- The source code is not the property of any one organisation or owner
- It can be distributed and modified by anyone free of charge
With proprietary systems:
- The developer, either as an organisation or an individual owns the source code
- A licence is required to use it and such seriously large systems often come with a six figure licence fee – something that in itself is financially prohibitive for many developing online businesses who just cannot afford that outlay.
With Magento Community Edition there are no licence fees or any other fees other than the cost of procuring a certified Magento developer to build the website. Current customers find that this system works efficiently for online businesses turning over millions of pounds.
It is enlightening to enumerate the many benefits of a Magento platform including:
- It prevents putting all your eggs in one basket, leaving your options open
- It provides a community of global developers who are familiar with the system and can offer support with no problem.
- Magento developers, for the most part, can adopt a site created by another Magento agency and run with it comfortably and effectively.
- A real plus in its favour is the continual update to software that keeps your website operating at optimal levels of efficiency and optimisation
- With customised e-commerce CMS, the developer cannot always be relied on to regularly update their software.This could affect security updates as well as general continual software improvements which could effectively mean lack of response to security threats or functionality and future updates.
As a complete system Magento specifies the requirement for specialised high end hosting and provides their own hosting solution which ensures greater security and optimal operating speeds. Another area where Magento scores highly is integrating with third parties. It offers a large expanse of API enabling seamless and effective third party integration giving it a prominence over other open source systems in integrating with external software. This well recognised feature puts Magento at the top of the integration stakes as the preferred partner and highlights its capability and versatility in integrating:
- Accounting systems
- Synchronising stock level data with ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning Software
- Harvesting and integrating customer behaviour data with a marketing platform
- Order fulfilment
- Warehouse management
- Shipping
- Secure Digital Payment processes
- Digital Marketing
- CRM
Magento’s proven capacity to integrate with a huge array of third party systems using either existing Magento “extensions” or bespoke API integration puts it in a dominant position over any other system currently available. Statistically it supports over 250,000 businesses with its platform, commanding an enormous 20% share of the ECommerce marketplace. Its dominant position is highlighted by the fact that its nearest rival has an 11% share of the market.
Magento continues to increase in popularity and is capturing an ever increasing slice of European and global e-commerce business. With a technology that is likely to be around for a long time it offers security for businesses who require a flexible efficient solution and a stable environment for growth. Its software is undoubtedly satisfying the needs of its users and is globally recognised as the best at what it does. The vast amount of extensions or plugins to enhance the core system ensures that the risks of overburdening the system with extra processing demands on the server is outweighed by the advantages. Intuition and experience will guide developers in their adaptation of the number of extensions that are effective.
The bottom line with Magento is that you and your team can access a massive guild of knowledge when and as you need it to either add features through extensions, for minimal costs, or to automate admin. Your business needs are totally catered for, ensuring your business can operate and grow with Magento without any downtime or the requirement to adopt a new technology. Whether you are a B2B or B2C retail, the solution works across a number of business sectors catering for all the complexities and configurations but we always would recommend having a Magento Support plan in place. Magento is also well structured in regards to ecommerce SEO services.