In recent years, the eCommerce industry has evolved as one of the rapidly developing areas in the market. Due to this, all the eCommerce site suppliers compete to secure the top position on the list. Among these is Magento, a top-notch player in this game. However, the recent emergence of other eCommerce platforms, such as Shopify or WooCommerce, constantly threatens Magento and its popularity.
So, if you are using Magento (or planning to use it) as your eCommerce platform, there might be some questions that would be popping up in your head. You probably want to know whether it can stand out against the other rising eCommerce platforms. Well, that’s understandable, primarily when your entire digital business is based on it.
Well, this article will answer all your queries and inform you about what’s there to come for the platform. So, let’s read ahead and know whether Magento can fight against the others and what else can you expect from it in 2022.
How’s Magento Coping Up with the Current Challenges?
Magento is not a new name in the world of eCommerce. The legacy of this platform dates back to 2008; however, its popularity jumped to the next level when Adobe acquired it in May 2018. Magento has been massively impactful over all these years. In countries like the United Kingdom, Magento holds a high share of the online stores in eCommerce. Around 25.2% of the top 500 eCommerce stores use Magento. Currently, there are more than 200,000+ live websites that use Magento.
Don’t you think there should be a reason for this? Well, there is!
According to a report, businesses that use Magento as their eCommerce platform grow almost three times faster, on average. Don’t mind, but if still, you do not understand its significance, it can be a significant loss. However, let’s get back to the primary question asked in this section.
So, now you know that it keeps growing despite people saying that Magento is facing challenges these days. It is still the first choice of a plethora of web developers located around the globe. Thanks to its features and benefits, business owners get while choosing it for web development.
Ease of Accessibility and Customization
From accessibility to customization, everything is pretty straightforward with Magento as an eCommerce web development platform. Its fundamental features allow users to create highly scalable and flexible websites. Moreover, there are several tools that you can use to customize the theme and design of your web portal.
Top-notch Performance and Flexibility
When it comes to page load time, query processing time, or appropriate navigation, Magento has no match. It uses modern technologies and tools to bring the best out of optimized databases.
Moreover, Magento is an open-source platform which means users have no restrictions on how they want to customize their websites. They get the flexibility to add or modify things to serve the customers’ requirements and preferences.
SEO Friendliness
As already mentioned, Magento is not new to the world of eCommerce. Its developers understand how crucial is the role SEO plays in promoting a website on Google. That’s why the platform consists of several SEO-based in-built features, such as Google site maps, SEO-friendly URLs, meta descriptions which help in boosting the SEO rankings of a website. Consequently, your Magento-built website will get better reach and enhanced results.
User Friendliness
We all know technology is booming at the top gear. That is all because of the need for convenience. Users want innovations that are easy to operate and simplify their complex tasks. However, with development comes competition that makes it difficult for the users to identify which technology is better for them. Sometimes, even a helpful invention does not catch the eye because it lacks sophistication.
The same concept also applies to websites and applications. The platforms that offer a user-friendly approach are more likely to be picked than the unsophisticated ones. Sometimes, how friendly a website is, decides whether a user will stay or leave it.
Magento gets ten out of ten in this category as its websites are interactive and easy to navigate. Also, the platform follows the omnichannel approach, which means your store will be responsive no matter through which channel your users access it.
Easy Third-Party Integration
Magento will always hold the position among the top eCommerce platforms regarding third-party integration. The reason is that it offers a plethora of third-party extensions that help you in accelerating the implementation process. Most services, such as performance boosters, transaction gateways, social media integration and sharing, shipping and tracking, etc., are available on request.
Enhanced Security
Of all the concerns every site owner has, security is the one that spooks them the most. And why not? After all, your website might contain the data of all the users connected with your services, and one mistake can lead to its compromise. You do not want that, right?
Well, if you don’t want it, you won’t get it. Magento has now strengthened its security to assure the users that their data is secure with you. Magento 2.1 offers them an option to enable the mask to limit access to specify how data is entered into the database. Furthermore, the platform also provides you with an X-Frame-Options HTTP request header, a superb feature to protect your website from clickjacking attacks.
The new updates and features have changed the picture of Magento’s security. Several sources claimed that the figures related to security threats dropped sharply in Magento 2 compared to the earlier versions.
Leading Player in the Global Market Share
Recently, the global market of eCommerce platforms has faced many twists and turns. Magento has lost its position as no. 2 most powerful and widely used eCommerce platform to Shopify. However, it does not affect its popularity level. Even now, Magento owns almost 10% of the global eCommerce market.
Although it won’t be wrong to say that Shopify has snatched its position in the market due to its more accessible functionality, the technical customer base still relies on Magento for the customization part. Moreover, if things go well and Magento’s new updates could make things better, that day is not so far when the tables will turn once again.
What Can You Expect From Magento in the Future?
Challenges are a part of life, and that applies to everyone. However, the winners are the ones who accept such challenges and bring their best to face them. Magento as an eCommerce platform might be going through a challenging phase, but it has also seized many opportunities to renovate its platform for faster and better performance. That’s the primary reason many business owners and customers still like it more than any other platform. In fact, Adobe’s acquisition will add a nitro booster to the improvements so that businesses can ensure their customers get a good shopping experience.
So, here is the forecast of the few developments that you can expect from Magento in the future:
AI Integration to Enhance Customer Engagement
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has changed how you can experience the world. Today, AI tends to control and manage everything from devices to processes. Similarly, it can be a helpful tool in analyzing customer behavior and offering customized user experiences to them.
Target Market Lead
Marketing does not mean how many people you target but how many relevant ones you have focused on are interested in your products and services. With the integration of AI, it becomes easy to understand customer behavior by analyzing their user activity and shopping patterns. With customized data, you can create specific discounts and product recommendations and easily attract customers to your website.
Personalized Experience with Chatbots
Gone are the days when customers used to wait for the solutions to their general queries through email or call support. Today, they want everything handy and quickly. It is the reason chatbots have evolved. This state-of-the-art technology has made things easier for businesses by creating predefined answers to the general queries of the users. It eradicates the issue of late response and gives you time to prepare your technical support to resolve the problems. In the newest version of Magento, you can easily integrate chatbots into websites with the help of AI.
Smart Search Makes Things Easier
You might remember the time when you had to write and search for the exact keywords to find something on a website. However, in the websites powered by Magento, the smart search feature will help the customers find relevant results on the site even by typing the related keywords. This feature works on the principle of predictive capability and context rather than the exactness of the keywords.
The emergence of Progressive Web Apps
Magento is known for innovations, and with the integration of Adobe Experience Cloud, the platform will reach an entirely new level. One of the recent developments that can change the course of the future for Magento is Progressive Web Applications (PWA). Although PWA is not a new concept for Magento, it is a state-of-the-art idea that helps customers experience a fast, highly responsive and secure cross-border web application. The best thing about PWAs is that they can work both online and offline, similar to a mobile native app, offering app-like features to the users.
Since people prefer mobile app experience more than the website, progressive web apps can be a perfect solution for the future of online stores. Undoubtedly, it will help the online retailers to grow their Magento stores and generate more revenue.
A New Gateway to Advanced PIM Solutions
Maintaining the products and stock-keeping records is not easy, especially when your business grows. An increase in sales makes the list of prices and product descriptions unmanageable for business owners. On top of that, organizing all these data and records manually will bring you to your knees as it is weary, time-consuming, and expensive.
To eliminate this issue, companies started adopting product information management (PIM) solutions that help them manage the stocks and product-related information more quickly and efficiently. In October 2018, Magento joined hands with Akeneo, a French open-source PIM-based company. Before this coalition, Magento had just a few PIM options.
With the integration and implementation of PIM methods, storing and managing complex information becomes a cakewalk for the users. The primary focus of PIM is to gather the product data, monitor the lead throughout all the sales and marketing channels, and update the records timely.
The best thing about PIM is that it perfectly integrates with all the eCommerce platforms. Unification of product data across various CRM systems, ERP software, customers, and suppliers ensures that you get the latest and precise information.
Can PIM Systems Integrate with Magento?
Yes, of course! As already mentioned, Magento has an excellent capability of integrating with different software, extensions, and tools. Picking out PIM as your eCommerce management system can be a perfect choice for your online business store.
PIM deals with workflow management and enhancement. A business needs to focus on two crucial internal aspects operated by the workflow to get profitable results. These are productivity and efficiency, and integration with PIM ensures both. Better productivity and efficiency will help you in:
Better productivity and efficiency will help you in
- Automating complex tasks and processes to get interactive and quality front-ends
- Communicating with your internal development team to customize your Magento store as per the business needs
Here are some benefits you can avail of PIM-Magento integration
- Reduction in cost, time, and effort
- Proper management of product information
- Transmission of data across your store becomes easy
- Enhancement of customer experience
- More time for creativity and customization
Now, you might be waiting to get the answer to the primary question asked in this section. Well, practically speaking, there are two effective methods to integrate a PIM system with your Magento store. However, the integration methods mentioned here are for the latest version of the Magento platform (Magento 2). So here they are.
Firstly, you can use an application programming interface (API). This method is best for well-versed users in programming and web development. Alternatively, you can add PIM as an extension. However, incorporating extensions needs more business requirements from the store owners. It is a third-party integration meant to satisfy the needs of your business.
Now, you might be waiting to get the answer to the primary question asked in this section. Well, practically speaking, there are two effective methods to integrate a PIM system with your Magento store. However, the integration methods mentioned here are for the latest version of the Magento platform (Magento 2). So here they are.
Firstly, you can use an application programming interface (API). This method is best for well-versed users in programming and web development. Alternatively, you can add PIM as an extension. However, incorporating extensions needs more business requirements from the store owners. It is a third-party integration meant to satisfy the needs of your business.
Steps Needed in the PIM Integration
Both these methods require you to follow a particular set of steps. These are:
Step 1: Add the product data to the system
Step 2: Run a Magento facility test
Step 3: Link the PIM fields with the ones present in Magento
Step 4: Build a PIM connection channel
Step 5: Instate the third-party extension
Step 6: Final testing for the entire integrated system.
Test and analyze the data with a few other products to check whether the integration is successful.
The Future of Magento
Over the years, Magento has faced many highs and lows. However, the platform kept moving and tackled all the challenges to improve day by day. Undoubtedly, the market position of Magento is in danger, but it doesn’t mean that it has lost its charm. The features it offers and the benefits you can avail of this platform are undeniable. Moreover, every new update of Magento brings something better to prove itself. This journey is arduous but not impossible. Let’s wait for a while; Magento will surely recuperate and return with more intensity and potential.