Magento Ecommerce
We’ve gone on a bit so here’s this page at a glance:
- Magento is used to power over 50,000 online shops including those of Samsung and North Face
- Magento is widley regarded as the most powerful, flexible ecommerce solutions available
- It’s so popular Google has more searches for “Magento” than “ecommerce”
If you’re considering an ecommerce website, whether it’s your first step into selling online or you’re looking to advance your online presence, then your first big decision is deciding whether to work with a web design company that have their own custom built ecommerce platform or a web design company that work with established ecommerce software.
At Media Lounge we develop our ecommerce websites on the very powerful and popular Magento software.
Magento is an open-source software platform, meaning that whilst it was originally developed by one organisation (Varien) it is available to developers around the world who are all continually improving and furthering the software to ensure that as the internet evolves Magento remains at the very forefront of ecommerce. Magento’s feature-rich, flexible and professional software allows us to offer bluechip level ecommerce websites, without the bluechip price tag.
One look at the portfolio of companies that use Magento to power their websites should give you an idea of why Magento is the most highly regarded ecommerce platform available. Samsung, The North Face, Stussy and Nespresso all use it to power their online stores. It’s used by 50,000 merchants and is the world’s fastest growing ecommerce platform. Magento is now so highly regarded that “Magento” attracts more Google searches than “ecommerce”.
Why we use Magento.
Put simply; with Magento there are no limitations to the design possibilities. It allows us to create beautiful websites with no restrictions to functionality, whilst being extremely search engine friendly.
Crucially Magento allows us to deliver every aspect of ecommerce to our customers. We have used Magento to develop ecommerce sites that have multiple websites running off the same administration, digital downloads, dual currency, mobile friendly websites, discount vouchers and that integrate with social media platforms like Facebook.
Why you should use Magento
Magento’s user friendly and intuitive administrative interface allows our customers to streamline the order fulfillment process, whilst retaining full control over every aspect of their stores from merchandising to promotions. Easy to use catalog management tools, comprehensive merchandising and marketing features like product reviews, social shopping, up-selling/cross-selling, wish lists, E-newsletter management, extensive analytics and reports, as well as easy inventory management and integration with third party software like Sage mean Magento is the total ecommerce solution.
Why use Magento instead of developing your own ecommerce software?
Everyone’s heard the expression “2 heads are better than 1”, well we believe thousands of heads are better than 2. Magento has been developed by the best developers from around the world and we just don’t believe it makes sense to try and develop something better.
There’s no simple way of evaluating custom built ecommerce software, as with anything, there are good and bad examples. However the crucial difference, they all share when compared to an open-source platform like Magento, is that if your website is powered by a custom platform you’re forever restricted to working with the company that developed the software. If you reach a point where you no longer want to work the company that built your website or if they go out of business then changes to your website or further development will probably prove expensive.
The internet is evolving so quickly that there are constantly new features like social media. In a similar way that your iPhone is supported by the app store, Magento is supported by a huge community of developers that provide a constantly growing catalog of “plug ins” which, allow us to add additional functionality to our Magento websites quickly and cost effectively. Meaning you will never be faced with an extortionate bill to add a simple feature to your site and you’ll never be left with a website that is out of date or behind the times.
Whats the difference between Magento Community, Magento Professional and Magento Enterprise?
The major factor is cost. Magento Community is free whilst Magento Enterprise costs around £9,000 per year for each website. We offer our Magento customers extensive support and we heavily customise our Magento websites with a huge variety of custom features. We aim to offer Enterprise level Magento website without the annual expense of the enterprise software.
Whats the difference between Magento, Oscommerce, Zencart, Actnic
There’s no simple answer to this question and as Magento is our platform of choice we are a little biased. However Google “magento” and you’ll struggle to find a respected opinion that doesn’t rate it as the best. Put simply, a well designed, well built magento site is better than a well designed, well built ecommerce site on any other platform.
What does a Magento website cost?
Essentially Magento is a Free platform that is available to download to anyone. However it is not an “off the shelf” solution, it does require in depth knowledge of coding and programming. Free templates are available to download which might suit smaller businesses that simply want to get started online but these can be frustrating and restrictive to use.
What is the future of Magento?
The internet is constantly evolving and new developments and features are always on the horizon. Magento is constantly evolving to ensure it remains the platform of choice for the professional online business.
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