Magento is a powerful e-commerce platform, but that does not mean it is only for the “big guys” to play with. From small businesses to large international operations, Magento can and is used every day to power many of the popular online stores you see today. In this short overview we will take a look at a few of the key points that draw people to use Magento on their online store, no matter the size or the content.
Flexibility
You will not be stuck with the same old look that a thousand other websites have when using Magento as your e-commerce platform. Everything can be changed, both visually and functionally. If you are not happy with how something looks, feels, or performs, then you have a greater ability to fix that in comparison to the other platforms available.
It may take a while for you to learn exactly how to do it, if you intend to do all of the setup work personally, but with the right developer and enough creativity you will be able to run the kind of store you want, in the way that you want. Magento has a strong community of professional developers and because it is an open source platform, it gives a lot of advantages for Magento online store owners.
Another feature that sets Magento apart from most of the competition is that you can host your store wherever you want to. It is not Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology as, for example, Shopify. It is hosted software and you should install it as usual soft on your computer. You are not forced to use Magento’s servers, so you are free to shop around and host your online business where it best suits both you and your potential customers.
Is it free or not?
Now Magento is available in two options: Magento Community Edition and Enterprise Edition. The first option is free and it has a lot of default features to create the online store. Also the functionality of the system can be expanded through the different Magento extensions. The Magento Enterprise Edition is paid version and it is the best solution for big companies where more complex and unique configurations are required.
Integration
This point is somewhat similar to the flexibility that was discussed above; the ability to use and integrate third party features into your webstore is a great feature that many other e-commerce platforms ignore. Most of the competition want to basically trap you into using them for everything – hosting, plugins, themes, and so on – Magento allows you the freedom to go your own way.
Whether you want to add more functionality to the back end of the store for yourself, or more functionality for your potential customers, Magento can handle it by allowing you to install third party extensions. These extensions can add a whole range of features such as custom search boxes with auto-complete and analytics, sales rep commission trackers, multi-user account management under different roles, Authorize.net payments, and so on.
Of course, many of these added features come at a cost, but most of them are reasonably priced in comparison to how many lost sales you will avoid due to user frustration or confusion. In fact, there are several extensions that are most likely to be needed and are most in demand. To make the checkout process more comfortable for users, Magneto one step checkout is needed. Also Magento Navigation is also very useful, because this extension optimizes the search process and filter products. Many Magento online stores use special Magneto Feed manager to be able to send products to different market places like Amazon or eBay quickly and easily. The most comprehensive information about the Magento extensions can be found here. You can read reviews and see rating before purchasing.
Payment Options
Making purchases online, users expect a high level of security when they make payments. Magento is PCI compliant and so it allows users to be sure that their credit card data is being securely protected and stored. Magento offers many secure payment processing options under one roof, or you can also use your own preferred payment gateways if you wish to do so. Again, it all comes down to having more freedom to run your online business the way you want to, without having to fit in to the same mold that a thousand other websites came out of. So, yes you can accept PayPal, Amazon, Google Checkout, Authorize.net, and whatever else you wish to use.
Customer Service
Your website will be complete with various customer service functions that customers themselves can check on without having to contact you every time. For example, they can easily see their purchase history, tracking details for their recent orders that are still in transit, and so on. Customers can also create wish lists of items they would like to purchase at a later date, and save their details for a quick checkout when they’re ready.
Recent milestones
In November 2015 it was an update and the new version – Magento 2 was launched on the market. This version is a very long time waiting and it opens a new era of the development of the platform.
Quite recently Magento announced the new Magento analytics service, which became possible due to the cooperation with RJMetrics – a strong and professional cloud-based analytics platform.
Magneto 2 actively developed and is constantly providing Magneto store owners with more and more competitive advantages.
Magneto 1 will be supported by the company for about two years and during this period merchants will be able to upgrade their stores          to the latest version – Magento 2.
We could sit here all day going over this, that, and the other thing, but the point is fairly simple: if you do not have an online presence for your store, then you need to get one, and Magento is a great way to do that.
