Magento is an e-commerce platform that is rapidly gaining popularity among brands and digital marketers, especially retailers.

What You Should Know About Magento

It is used to build online stores for brands from where users can review and buy products of various brands. Out of 100,000 online stores today, Magento accounts for more than 30% of the setups. From a shopping cart system to product catalog management, Magento offers a wide range of features. 

Since it is often compared to other platforms, you cannot simply pick Magento due to the impressive numbers and results it generates. You must dig deeper and compare its features, pricing, and benefits to make an informed choice. Here is everything you should know about Magento. 

Features 

Platform Versions

Community and Enterprise are the two Magento platform versions, which are now known as Open Source and Community Cloud respectively. The Open Source version is a free and downloadable tool that can be customized by hiring a developer.

The Community version is a tailor-made option to your brand problems, which provides hundreds of features, options, and extensions to build your online store. When compared to the Open Source version, this option provides scalability and higher performance. 

Customer Relationship Management or CRM

Magento realizes the importance of customer interaction and the need to keep your customers happy. It stores customer touch and interaction in the CRM, which can be found in the admin panel. Once you get hold of every customer interaction, you can customize your content marketing strategy based on your customers’ needs and interests. 

Ease of Migration 

If your brand’s official website already exists but isn’t grabbing attention, you can migrate it to Magento and take maximum advantage of its features. To make the process easier, you can hire a magento migration service that can help you integrate your existing website with this e-commerce platform. It will also provide a new look to your website and upgrade your brand image. 

Payment Gateway Options

The most commonly used payment options and gateways are provided by Magento, which include PayPal, Amazon payment, bank transfer, Google checkout, Authorize.net, and even cash on delivery. The type of payment option provided by an e-commerce platform determines a part of the user experience. With an enhanced UX, your customers will return to your platform without a second thought. 

Pricing 

Magento’s Open Source version is 100% free but demands a price to run the website. Web hosting for open source costs around $100 to $200 per month with additional developer costs. Even though it is a free tool, you need to spend money on developer fees, which can take a significant part of your budget. The total cost sums up to around $7000 per year.

However, it also depends on your budget and needs. Small businesses often spend as little as $70 to $200 to buy a hosting package. 

Magento Commerce costs $1988 per month and includes a myriad of features such as development costs, plugins, themes, maintenance, and customer support. If you are planning to establish a big business online, the premium version is a better choice as it takes care of every aspect. 

Benefits 

Increased Interaction with Customers

Magento allows increased interaction with the brand’s customers, which is necessary to develop the brand image and create awareness. Once a user visits your site, they will be provided more information about restocked products or discounts through emails, cart reminders, and newsletters. 

Ease of Customization 

The platform provides several features that can be used to tailor the website based on your needs. While it can be overwhelming in the beginning, you will slowly get used to it. It also allows you to customize the site based on a set of criteria pertaining to segment customers and displaying content that pleases every visitor. 

Mobile-Optimized 

Since a major part of users is resorting to mobile phones to shop for their favorite products, it is necessary for the e-commerce platform to provide a mobile-optimized version. The HTML5 support and addition of templates make the platform mobile-friendly. The process of setting up the store is easy too. 

Promotional Tools

With Magento, you can promote your products by displaying the right type of product recommendations to every visitor. The platform analyzes every customer and determines their likes and interests to show them a set of products based on their needs. Use the Visual Merchandising tools to customize your page and arrange products based on a hierarchy of your choice. 

By knowing the platform inside out, you can compare your options and make an informed decision. Since Magento provides several features, learn more about both versions. If you want to grow your business in this highly competitive world, it is time to build an e-commerce store and attract your customers online. 

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