Atlantic Business Technologies, Inc.

Category: Magento

  • Five fixes for your top eCommerce SEO challenges.

    Five fixes for your top eCommerce SEO challenges.

    Local or service-based SEO is fairly straightforward: you optimize service pages, start a Facebook page to drum up local interest, build some relevant links to pages, write some keyword optimized blogs, and ultimately cover the SEO basics.

    But for something like an online learning system, a media platform, or eCommerce; SEO presents new challenges. The sheer breadth of these websites is a challenge in itself. All SEO tasks will have to be prioritized by effort and impact, regular audits become essential to stay on top of site health, and you’ll likely be coordinating with several internal or external marketers to keep things afloat.

    Aside from page volume, eCommerce websites have a unique structure that presents industry-specific challenges. Digital ads will be closely tied to your revenue and technical SEO becomes a priority.

    Take a peek at 5 of the top challenges that eCommerce SEO experts face and how they are handling them.

    1. Implementing custom product descriptions.

    Custom product descriptions are an opportunity to create unique content on product pages. Custom descriptions will also help you add several relevant keywords in one place.

    Better still, you can incorporate some tricks in your product descriptions to make them convert – such as using sensory adjectives or suggesting some common product uses, helping buyers picture a product in their everyday lifestyle. 

    Here are some methods to create a consistent practice of unique product page content.

    Train site users for SEO.

    Train the people who actually upload products and add descriptions in keyword research. For example, we wrote a blog on SEO basics for this reason. We can share these simple tips with clients who have larger site sizes so that they can train blog writers to incorporate best practices.

    A blog post isn’t always the best way to train. Try having an SEO expert audit some existing pages and show teams how they would fix them. Showing tangible examples is usually easier to digest than having people read an overview.

    Make sure you house a writeup or presentation as an internal resource. SEO is complicated, and you’ll need to make it easy for learners to refer back to this material.

    Automate unique descriptions.

    A unique description does not necessarily need to be manually written. There are a plethora of tools and AI solutions that could be implemented to help. For example, these four software businesses offer Natural Language Generation (NLG) product descriptions:

    Boost custom product reviews. 

    If you have enough good reviews on a page, you may eliminate the urgency for a custom description. 

    While a high quality product may generate reviews on its own, using a tool like Power Reviews to ask for feedback after a purchase is a better way to ensure ratings.

    Remember to ask customers to write something a few paragraphs long… or provide them with an example. 

    2. Prioritizing keywords with thousands of products.

    There’s no single correct way to zero in on certain products. But here are some options to help you prioritize:

    • Pick keywords around your largest revenue-driving product
    • Pick keywords involved with a new product you are trying to grow
    • Pick keywords that are the easiest wins for your business – or “keyword mapping”

    eCommerce keyword mapping.

    Pick an “easy win” keyword by looking at traction you’ve already built. Do you have any page 2 rankings for promising keywords? You might be able to bring them to page 1 with a simple internal linking strategy.

    Focus on product landing pages.

    Another approach is to manually optimize product landing pages, given there is a manageable amount. These will be your high level category pages.

    Optimizing these landing pages eliminates the issues of having similar products compete with each other. If your site offers a high volume of similar products, this is probably your best bet.

    3. Defining an unclear blog strategy.

    What is the goal of your eCommerce blog? Likely, you’ve discovered that a blog is the easiest way to get unique content on your website in bulk. It’s also a great way to attract organic traffic from buyers in the “awareness” phase. 

    Maximize the ROI of your blog by using it for internal linking opportunities and faster conversions.

    Boost sales by internal linking in your blog.

    Backlinking from external sources can help boost the authority of your web pages and demonstrate relevance. Internal linking is an easier way to do the same thing, helping you capitalize on the authority you’ve already built.

    First of all, find blogs that have the most or highest quality backlinks to start with. These will be easy to pick out because they likely generate the most traffic.

    Then, link these top blogs to products that you’d like to focus on using keyword anchor text.

    The keyword anchor text will signal relevance to search engines, and the blog posts’ backlink authority will pass through to the product page.

    Conversion optimization in your blog.

    Boost product conversions throughout your blog by incorporating featured product callouts, adding a recommended product widget in the blog, or adding popups with limited offers and coupon codes.

    You could also go the longer (but less pushy) route: gather newsletter signups on your blog and nurture them with emails including offers and featured products.

    4. Optimizing URL structure.

    There are a couple of optimal URL structures for eCommerce.

    Most optimized eCommerce stores today are using one of these two structures:

    • storename.com/category/sub-category/product-name
    • storename.com/product-name

    Using the first option works like a breadcrumb, showing users exactly where they are on the website. 

    On the other hand, the second option can keep your URL short and reduce confusion (especially if you have many levels of categories on your site). To give you some more schema markup opportunities, you can use a breadcrumb on your product page along with this shorter URL.

    For instance, Best Buy uses this URL structure for a product page:

    https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dyson-cyclone-v10-animal-pro-cordless-stick-vacuum-copper/6373040.p?skuId=6373040

    Also note that Best Buy is a large website with similar products. They need to add unique identifiers like an SKU in the URL to prevent duplicates. 

    Should you restructure if your site is organized differently? 

    Changing your site structure and implementing a high volume of redirects will hurt your SEO initially. However, cleaning up your website should pay off over time if you’re willing to take a temporary hit. And if you’re already suffering in the organic department, you have nothing to lose!

    5. Third-party scripts are slowing down your website.

    With sales tied closely to marketing spend, you probably have all sorts of third-party scripts to track conversions (Google ads, Linkedin, Facebook, etc.). An easy precaution to take is uploading scripts in Google Tag Manager so that marketers can pause them  when they are not in use.

    A Google study proved that  53% of mobile ad clicks immediately exited when load times exceeded 3 seconds. Now calculate your site conversion rate and average sale to determine the revenue impact. 

    Site speed is worth the investment! And as frequent deployments can affect your site speed, the only way to stay on top of it is to perform regular audits. We recently compiled a prioritized list of 6 key factors to boost website performance to give your team a starting point.

    Marketing and Development are tied closely together.

    You’ve probably noticed that all of these SEO best practices are closely tied to eCommerce web development. For this reason, you’ll need to rely on a development team that is well-versed in eCommerce SEO, or make sure that you’re investing in appropriate training. 

    Ready to get the ball rolling?  Give us a call – we offer free consultations to get started building your eCommerce digital strategy.

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  • Is Magento 2 a good fit for my eCommerce store?

    Is Magento 2 a good fit for my eCommerce store?

    Magento 2 is a feature-packed eCommerce solution that provides complete flexibility when creating an online store. Out of the box, it comes with advanced features which allow you to run an online store with very little add-ons needed.

    Magento 2 includes advanced eCommerce features and unlimited customization.

    Outside of the standard eCommerce features needed to run an online store (user management, catalog management, cart, credit card processing, etc.), Magento 2 comes with advanced eCommerce features:

    • Advanced promotions building

    • Customer groups with customer group pricing (far exceeding Shopify’s capabilities)

    • A robust CMS for creating pages, navigation, and more

    • Various product types

    • B2B Features (commerce edition only)

    • Dynamic rule based product relations (commerce edition only)

    • Customer segments (commerce edition only)

    • Multi-lingual support

    • Multiple catalogs, stores, and websites

    • Multi-source inventory

    Magento 2 is fully customizable, and allowing development teams to add any additional features a client would request. All platform limitations are removed – meaning anything can be expanded if it falls within a developer’s skillset.

    Choose between two versions: Magento Open Source and Magento Commerce.

    Magento Open Source is a free version that contains enough features for most stores. However, it does not come with any support from Magento directly.

    Magento Commerce, on the other hand, provides more built in features (customer segments, b2b, dynamic product relations, and more) and direct customer support from Magento.

    Magento Commerce is costly, but for many larger businesses it is the better option due to the addition of support and features.

    Which eCommerce scenarios would benefit from Magento 2?

    You need extensive integrations to external systems.

    If a website needs extensive integrations to external systems like an ERP or CRM, Magento 2 is the best option. That’s because Magento 2 has a robust API that makes many of these integrations possible.

    There will always be some complex situations where the API is limited. In these instances, a trusted partner can create custom integrations to go beyond the supplied APIs.

    You have multiple websites or stores.

    Magento has multi storefront functionality built in. Everything is managed through the single application, with no need to install additional servers.

    Products are shared between the different websites/stores with the ability to easily include or exclude each. On the other hand, other options like Shopify require you to purchase additional accounts, manage the products independently, and manage the customers independently.

    You need an advanced custom theme.

    Magento 2 empowers teams to create any theme free of restrictions that come with other eCommerce solutions. Regain full control of UX and create unique product layouts and interactions.

    You have multilingual stores.

    The work has already been done – Magento 2 has all of the terms that are used in its base theme translated to multiple languages.

    The only translations you need to worry about are data that are entered into the store and any changes to the copy in themes.

    With other platforms, you’ll be forced to purchase third-party apps to handle the translations. While these third-party solutions are effective, they are challenging to manage compared to Magento’s store scope switching.

    You are a B2B store.

    Magento 2 Commerce edition supports additional B2B features, which helps set up the functionality of the stores. These features include:

    • Company accounts

    • Shared catalogs with special pricing for B2B customers

    • Quick orders

    • Requisition lists

    • Quotes

    • Payments on Account

    Many times B2B websites require customized features to work with their business rules. Magento 2 provides the flexibility to implement these rules.

    Your website has large catalogs with complex products.

    Magento 2’s product management tools are well-equipped to handle volume. This is especially true when it comes to configurable products. Magento provides a feature dedicated to creating and managing additional product attributes, creating flexibility in what information is attached to products.

    You need the option to expand.

    If an eCommerce business in Shopify needs a custom feature, they will be limited to what the APIs would offer, third-party apps, and their Liquid templating language.

    In contrast, Magento 2 is limitless. Any team with the right development knowledge can build custom features, making skill sets the only limiting factor.

    Your store has a high volume of transactions.

    Magento 2 does not charge a fee on each sale. Depending on the plan chosen, Shopify can take between 2.9% and 2.4% with an additional $0.30 from every transaction (and even more if using an external payment gateway).

    For lower volume stores, this might not be an issue. With a large volume store, the additional costs of the transactions can add up.

    In what scenarios is Magento 2 a bad fit?

    You have a small product catalog.

    If a business has a catalog of less than 100 products, Magento 2 is more than likely too robust. Even if you have 1000 products, simpler options like Shopify or WooCommerce might suit all of your needs with the benefit of convenience.

    You need something built quickly.

    A Magento 2 store takes development time and careful planning to get up and running. It also requires setting up hosting, deploying code, and more.

    Another solution to consider is quickly launching a Shopify store while building a Magento 2 store. You might also want to try a proof of concept website before fully investing.

    You’re on a tight budget.

    While it is the most powerful and flexible eCommerce option, Magento 2 is more expensive to run than other platforms. Even with Open Source, the cost of hosting can quickly become expensive.

    A robust server infrastructure is required to run Magento efficiently and at optimal performance. Furthermore, the upkeep of Magento 2 applications includes frequent security updates.

    A team experienced in many eCommerce platforms can guide you.

    Need help evaluating your situation and choosing the best platform? Reach out for a free consultation with one of our eCommerce experts. We’re happy to help you get started with your solution.

  • Magento Middleware: Mulesoft Anypoint Pros & Cons.

    Mulesoft’s Anypoint platform can be a reliable choice for middleware. With its maturity in the integration space, combined API and IPaaS functionality, and simplicity to use, we consider it a contender against Red Hat Fuse and Amazon Eventbridge. 

    Anypoint is truly ready-to-go with minimal coding needed to expose and connect existing APIs.  Mulesoft offers multi-cloud support, security support, multi-tenancy (to appropriately attribute costs to different business units).  

    The API offering allows companies to create API endpoints to all their connected systems with robust monitoring and configurations. This allows for robust and secure access to internal or external systems.

    Mulesoft is also a thought leader in the integration space and has underpinned its Anypoint platform with machine learning that can discover reusable artifacts, flows, connectors, and data from within the platform.

    Mulesoft, however, is more expensive than other solutions. The entry-level cost is around  $100,000 per year , and they typically look for three- or five-year contracts. Their sales force is informed, technical, helpful, and stays heavily engaged during contract negotiations (Mulesoft is owned by Salesforce).

    Analysis of key features.

    Ease of Use

    Mulesoft is extremely easy to use, with a desktop-integrated development environment (IDE) in Anypoint Studio. This IDE allows developers to get right to work in interacting with the Anypoint platform. Mulesoft is also continually offering simple-to-use integration tools, like flow designer, to their toolset. These interface-based tools give developers and IT professionals a quick way to start to integrate services in Anypoint. 

    Community Support

    There is a large and highly engaged community around Mulesoft, boasting 42,000 members. There are regular conferences, meetups, community-driven Q&A  sites.

    Ability to Scale

    Mulesoft’s iPaaS is running on top of Amazon Web Services with flexibility baked into the pricing model – as they sell Anypoint based on CPU consumption. The platform has been built to be distributed, not just a monolith – Mulesoft says their platform will run on a raspberry-pi or any cloud provider. 

    Mulesoft’s active-active clustering does, however, require a Platinum Support subscription, which claims to be infinitely scalable. Their ETL is very mature as they have distilled down complex features into a simple interface that requires little knowledge of the backend code necessary to make the data transformations.

    Security

    Anypoint’s security is top-notch and meets or exceeds most security frameworks to include PCI DSS, SOC 2, and HIPAA. They use a shared security model where the end customer is responsible for using the tools they provide to secure the data that passes through their system, while they maintain the security of the system. 

    Total cost of ownership.

    Mulesoft is easy enough to set up, and there is a large library of “Anypoint Connectors” written by Mulesoft and 3rd party partners. However, when testing, ABT found a lot of common ERP systems were not accounted for in their connector library. 

    However, their IDE would make the development and testing of connectors a bit faster than other platforms. We believe the complete setup and integration of Mulesoft with the standard eCommerce requirements to an ERP without an existing connector would take between 100-125 hours.

    License evaluation, cost flexibility, and vendor lock-in analysis.

    • License Evaluation – A two-week trial period is available with Mulesoft. While that period can be extended several times, their sales process is aggressive. As a fully commercial offering that is considered an enterprise product and a leader in the space, they do command a premium price after the evaluation period.
    • Cost Flexibility – Mulesoft does not provide as much cost flexibility relative to the other contenders. Mulesoft requires a minimum annual contract  and will push for a multi-year deal. 

    Mulesoft has a “usage factor” but it isn’t a strictly pay-for-what -you-use model. Instead, it is a combination of low average yearly base cost, plus an added expense that ramps up as time goes on. 

    • Vendor Lock-In Analysis – In general an integration tool such as API manager or IPaaS are not nearly as sticky as something like choosing an ERP, CRM, etc. By nature this integration layer can be plugged and unplugged. 

    For the initial integration requirements, any middleware/IPaaS can be replaced without too much trouble, but the connectors and configurations need to be redone. We don’t see any major benefit to one contender vs. another for vendor lock-in at a technical level but you can expect a typical annual or multi-year agreement with Mulesoft so that reduces the score.

    Technical commentary.

    The trend in software development is toward a microservices-based architecture. Rather than building monolithic software that is built and deployed together with interdependency woven in, building with a collection of microservices is based on the premise that small services with a narrow purpose provide the best scalability, resilience, and flexibility. 

    Mulesoft’s approach is to provide an enterprise-level offering of these services, and not provide a suite of individual a-la-carte services. Even though Mulesoft by its nature supports the microservices concept, their offering is considered by some  a monolith at least in terms of how it’s licensed and consumed. 

    Need help choosing the best middleware platform?

    If you are interested in using middleware as an integrations solution, or if you are looking for any help choosing the right technology, our team is here to help. Contact us for a free consultation. We have a proven research process to evaluate options. 

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  • Gain Magento flexibility by implementing the best-fit middleware.

    Gain Magento flexibility by implementing the best-fit middleware.

    Middleware is software that extends the capability of an existing application by facilitating data transfer with other applications or services.

    For eCommerce, middleware is commonly used to integrate the online commerce platform with back-end ERP systems. Middleware also connects to third-party services like tax compliance, calculations, and shipping data.

    Why use middleware for Magento integrations?

    Unlike other types of integrations, middleware can offer the ability to deliver information to multiple sources at the same time while also giving a centralized place to handle all logging of calls to different services.

    Some of the big advantages for this particular instance include:

    • The ability to swap integrated systems, such as an ERP system, while not affecting the front-end Magento platform.   This allows for the middleware to handle any kind of transformation or data manipulation to happen on that layer and keep the existing integration with Magento intact.
    • During the phase of the migration to the new ERP, using middleware allows the system to send data to both the new and existing ERP at the same time while transitioning to production.
    • Middleware offers a centralized way to queue communications, centralize API communication, transform data, and ensure delivery of important information between multiple systems.
    • Middleware also provides a way to handle the addition of new systems such as PIM, CRM, or fulfillment software.

    Atlantic BT’s research narrowed down three leading providers.

    Many eCommerce businesses come to us for help extending the capabilities of their Magento application. Here, we provide a summarized example of a typical system integration analysis for an online distributor. This distributor was looking for a solution to integrate their multiple back-end systems with a Magento eCommerce platform.

    Research included reviewing reports, speaking to many vendors, and testing different tools. Keeping 4 criteria in mind (ease of use, scalability, security/stability, and total cost of ownership), we selected three preferred providers for a comparison. 

    • EiPaaS – Mulesoft Anypoint platform
    • Open Source Enterprise Integration Platform – Red Hat Fuse
    • IaaS Serverless – Amazon Eventbridge an Amazon Web Services (AWS) service

    In evaluating these contenders, our primary areas of assessment were:

    • Feature Analysis (focused on ease of use, scalability, security, and stability)
    • License Evaluation, Cost Flexibility (scale up/scale down), and Vendor Lock-In Analysis
    • Total Cost of Ownership Analysis
    • Technical Commentary

    Comparative Analysis

    For any comparative evaluation, you first need to define your basis for comparison. It makes the most sense to compare based on what is more important to your need, such as which features and functionality you require. Of course, there are also considerations that come into play with ROI calculations, such as implementation and operating costs. Although some specifics may change project to project, below we address the major categories that we find apply to almost all integration projects. 

    We ranked each offering for each parameter based on a 10-point scale. These were then averaged together by major category, which were then weighted based on a relative importance scale we feel is typical for most integration projects. While scores and weightings can vary for any individual project; we feel this represents a typical eCommerce integration project.

    Feature Comparison

     Individual features are single points of user interaction or back-end functionality, of which there are typically quite many in enterprise-level applications; therefore a full feature-by-feature analysis typically takes many pages and can vary greatly based on implementation needs. However, for the purposes of this exercise, we can group those features together into major categories that have a significant impact on the choice of middleware for your integration.

    Mulesoft Red Hat Fuse Amazon Web Services
    Ease of Use 10 5 6
    Scalability 9 6 10
    Security / Stability 10 6 9
    Average 9.7 5.7 8.3

    Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Comparison

    Understanding the total cost of ownership before embarking on any major system integration project is crucial and will vary depending upon both the solution chosen and the scope of the requirements. 

    The following breakdown shows relative costs between not only the solutions, but also distinguishes between setting up the basic platform, development required for integration, licensing, and hosting costs. Initial development is driven to a large extent by the scope of integrations, while ongoing operational costs are driven largely by the licensing model.

    It is easy to focus on implementation cost, but it is also important to understand the licensing and operating costs associated with the solutions. These examples demonstrate the impact of both on TCO.

    Mulesoft Red Hat Fuse Amazon Web Services
    Initial Development (hours) 100 125 125
    Platform Setup/ Configuration (hours) 25 100 30
    Annual Licensing + Hosting ($) $100k $55k $40k
    First Year Cost $123,125 $101,250 $86,250
    5 Year Estimated TCO $523,125 $321,250 $246,250
    Expressed as % over lowest +112% +30% –
    Expressed as Score 0 7 10

    License Comparison

    License structures can range broadly from a very flexible open-source model to a highly restrictive, tiered model based on features and usage. Cost flexibility depends upon whether costs are fixed or variable, based on license tiers or usage volumes, or a combination of both. Vendor lock-in can be based on such factors as technology used, interoperability, or long term contract agreements. 

    Mulesoft RedHat Fuse Amazon Web Services
    License Eval 7 6 10
    Cost Flexibility 3 8 10
    eVendor Lock-In 5 9 10
    Average 5 7.7 10

    Technical Comparison

    This section is based on somewhat informal analysis addressing the underlying problem we are solving, the way the solutions we included as contenders go about solving the problem and where we think the future will take us. Think of this as your philosophical approach to development and how that may be influenced by other factors. 

    For example, the current trend in software development is toward a microservices-based architecture. Rather than building monolithic software that is built and deployed together with interdependency woven in, building with a collection of microservices is based on the premise that small services with a narrow purpose provide the best scalability, resilience, and flexibility. This section was scored based on this microservice approach. 

    Mulesoft RedHat Fuse AWS
    Microservices  5 7 10
    Future Extensibility 6 6 10
    Average 5.5 6.5 10

    Overall Comparison 

    Below is our summary aggregation of the scores above. Scoring was weighted with 40% of total score given to features and the remaining sections 20% each. Section scores were each averaged above, so they were all normalized before weighting was applied.

    Of course, this method of scoring is an exercise to force relative comparison; your weights may vary based on your priorities. Either way, there is value in the relative comparisons, and the explanations we provide with such an analysis for your project would detail the specific reasoning behind our scoring and highlights key factors in our strategic recommendation specific to your needs. 

    Mulesoft RedHat Fuse AWS
    Features (40%) 9.7 5.7 8.3
    TCO (20%) 0 7 10
    License/Flexibility (20%) 5 7.7 10
    Technical Opinion (20%) 5.5 6.5 10
    Weighted Average 6.0 6.5 9.3

    With a proven process for in-depth research, Atlantic BT is well-equipped to help you choose the right technology or design for your business. Reach out if you could use some help in your decision-making process.

  • Why should I upgrade to Magento 2.3?

    Why should I upgrade to Magento 2.3?

    Magento 2.3 released November 2018, providing a wealth of new functionalities and improved experience for both Open Source and Commerce editions. Just a few new features include Progressive Web App, GraphQL as an alternative API endpoint, and Multi-Source Inventory.

    So with all these enhancements, why are people still hesitant to upgrade to 2.3 in 2020?

    Why are people hesitant to upgrade?

    It takes careful planning and resources to make changes.

    Upgrading to new versions should always be done with caution and careful QA. Developers will need to ensure the version installs correctly and works within your design and customizations. You will also need to check that all third-party extensions are compatible with the new version.

    New updates can bring new problems.

    When first released, Magento 2.3 users were experiencing a high volume of bugs. Fortunately, at this point many of the common bugs already have solutions. MageHost compiled a list of the top issues found in forums, offering fixes for each.

    Here are some of the top bugs (and solutions) mentioned:

    • External Request, Invalid Form Key Magento 2.3
    • Magento 2.3 issue on the local server
    • Magento 2.3 technical issue with the server while uploading files
    • Upgrade from Magento 2.2.x to Magento 2.3.0 issue
    • Magento 2.3 composer upgrade fail

    Why should I upgrade, and what new features are included?

    Aside from new features, upgrading to newer versions of Magento will keep your eCommerce store secure and well-supported.

    Magento 1 is reaching end of life.

    Magento announced that support for Magento Commerce 1 (Enterprise Edition) will end in June of 2020. Additionally, security patches for Magento Open Source (Community Edition) will only be released through June 2020.

    The Magento 2 community is growing rapidly.

    With Magento 2.3’s release in 2018, Magento also mentioned there were over 2,000 available extensions, 30,000 existing Magento 2 sites, and over 8,000 launching quarterly.

    With more websites upgrading, it’s easier than ever to access support within the community and find solutions to any problems you may face.

    Don’t miss out on new features essential to eCommerce success.

    While Magento gives a full breakdown of its new features, we’ve outlined nine features and how they will improve your eCommerce store.

    • Multi-Source Inventory: MSI improves operational efficiency when inventory is stored in multiple physical locations. With MSI, merchants can manage inventory via one central admin, assign products to each fulfillment source, easily track this inventory, and automatically control which fulfillment sources are used based on rules.
    • PWA Studio: With Progressive Web Apps, mobile commerce is high-performance, SEO-friendly, and reliable. According to Magento, PWAs have already been proven to increase conversion rates by 50%.
    • GraphQL: As an alternative to API endpoints, GraphQL will allow developers to query exactly the data they need using fewer API requests.
    • Page Builder: Developers are no longer needed to make simple CSS and HML updates. Page Builder includes a drag-and-drop interface, dynamic content throughout the website, and the ability to preview and schedule content.
    • Magento Shipping: Magento 2.3 includes support for new fulfillment options and increased availability globally.
    • Enhanced security: How secure is your store? Protect private data and login information with Google ReCAPTCHA and Two Factor Authentication.
    • Asynchronous & Bulk Web APIs: Boost performance by making API calls without waiting for previous operations to complete.
    • Declarative schema: Reduce redundant operations and make installation easier than ever before. Developers can rely on the system to automatically make database adjustments.
    • Improved indexing performance: Re-indexing times are reduced by more than 60% to support large sites with large volumes of products to update.

    Need help planning your Magento upgrade?

    Upgrading to Magento 2.3 will empower you to take advantage of all of Magento’s new features and boost operational efficiency.

    Whether you are interested in building a new eCommerce application, need help with third-party integrations, or would like to upgrade to a new version of Magento; our team is happy to help you get started. Contact us to learn more about your options.

  • How to Choose the Best eCommerce Platform

    Choosing an eCommerce platform can be difficult. There are many options available, each with different benefits designed to best help you. While some businesses prefer a SaaS solution (like Shopify), others prefer custom eCommerce options.

    How do you make sense of it all? How do you pick the best eCommerce platform for your business?

    There are two directions you can take when selecting a platform. Do you want hosted or open software? Let’s go ahead and assume no one wants a proprietary system that you couldn’t change on a whim. Although, there are sure to be some out there. Technology loves to evolve in mere seconds.

    Hosted eCommerce Platforms (SaaS)

    A hosted solution is an eCommerce service that you sign up for. You then build your store within an online system. This is like other web-based software, such as Salesforce or Google Docs.

    The benefit of a hosted eCommerce solution is its ease of use. Setting up and getting started is a breeze. You still have to put effort into learning how to use the system and customize it as you’d like. But, the technical hurdles are much lower than installing and designing software.

    There are some downsides to this solution. At some point, you will hit a roadblock in the system. It won’t be able to handle something specific. Since the source code isn’t accessible, changing the system is costly.

    Then you’re stuck with a difficult choice. Do you learn to live without the specific feature you wanted? Or do you switch platforms all together?

    Switching platforms is very complicated. For starters, it requires a time investment. You’ve also already established search positioning. You have become familiar with your customers and how to best serve them by using this system. Moving your store to a new platform becomes a very, very disruptive process. In extreme cases, the results can be catastrophic. We often see this happen when the move is not planned the way it should be, or a good consultant/developer isn’t used.

    Some of the most popular hosted eCommerce solutions include:

    eCommerce Software

    Software based approaches to eCommerce also come in two dominant styles. There is custom software built from the ground up (also called proprietary software). There are also off-the-shelf systems that you can customize.

    Custom eCommerce systems used to be the norm. Off-the-shelf offerings lacked strong development and did not have helpful features available. However, the offerings have evolved over the years. It’s now rare to see a custom system in place. Well, unless you’ve got less than a 20% overlap between your needs and the best-fitting off-the-shelf option. Another scenario would be a high-security application. Perhaps it’s not permissible to use a system with source code available to the public due to company policy.

    Paring Down the Options

    There are hundreds of eCommerce platforms available in every language. Ruby, PHP, .NET, and even Perl/CGI are out there, waiting to assist you. What’s next?

    The best way to start is to figure out if you or your developers have a technology preference. Making this decision first will whittle down dozens of choices. Now your list of possibilities is more manageable.

    Now, look at which of the remaining platforms is most used. The more momentum a system has, the more popular it will be. The more popular it is, the more developers there are who will support it, and the longer its life will be. Even after the development of a stronger platform, popular systems maintain their status. They continue to have the most add-ons, extensions, plugins, support, and available developers.

    Not every solution will have the same community support as Magento. But, Magento will give you a good benchmark for what’s possible. It’s used by over 200,000 organizations and that number continues to grow. There are over 500 extensions available.

    Look at the functionality of the platform and any extensions they might have. See how close you can get to what you need without custom development. This will save you time and money. The more active the extension marketplace is for a product, the better.

    Check out the demo of the software, too. One should be available for both the customer area and admin. Customer areas tend to be similar, but admin areas can vary a great deal.

    Log in and walk through standard tasks. Work through adding/editing a product and processing an order. See what it is like to view reports and segment customers. You’ll be living inside this system for a while, so make sure it’s easy-to-use and satisfactory.

    Making the Final eCommerce Platform Decision

    Marketing is important when you’re selling online. First, look at how well the platform is set up for organic rankings. Check things like the friendliness of product URLs.

    How clean is the source code? See how well customer sites rank for product-specific terms. You can always enhance your site’s ability to rank well. But, the better the tools are out of the box, the further ahead you’ll be.

    Check out the biggest sites who use each platform. This might take some digging. Many platforms, though, will proudly list their banner customers. For example, Magento won’t hide the fact that they work with Vizio, Nike, and North Face, to name a few.

    Look at reviews and locate forums for a particular product. Jump into the forums and look for problems, complaints, and reviews. Every product will have some technical issues and people grumbling about them. Try to get a feel for the vibe of the community. Take note of whether the company is responding to complaints, issues, and suggestions. If the company doesn’t offer a user forum, that’s usually a red flag.

    Your Platform Is Up to You

    With this approach, you should be able to narrow down your options from hundreds to just a few pretty quickly. Do your homework. Transferring to a new platform later is disruptive. Whatever direction you decide to go in, be confident in your choice.

    If you choose something successful and mainstream, you won’t break your business. From our experience, things like marketing, customer service, merchandising, descriptions and photos, prompt delivery, finding a niche, and creating loyal customers deserve much more of your attention.

    If you’re still not sure where to go next, we can help you avoid resorting to the flip of a coin.

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