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14 Reasons to Migrate from Magento 1 to Magento 2

14 Reasons to Migrate from Magento 1 to Magento 2

Magento 2 has now been launched for almost four years now and yet there are still thousands of retailers built on the legacy Magento 1 platform. There are many reasons why we recommend migrating from Magento 1 to Magento 2, varying from problems with the old platform through to maximised opportunities for growth with the updated Magento version.

If you’re on Magento 1, it is strongly recommended by agencies, tech partners and platforms that you migrate to a new platform. Why should you migrate from Magento 1 to Magento 2?

 

#1 – Magento 1 end-of-life is approaching

The most pressing reason why you should migrate to Magento 2 is because the end of support for Magento 1 is fast approaching. You may see this called ‘Magento 1 end-of-life’ or ‘the Magento 1 sunset’.

The reality is that, if you’re still on Magento 1 after June 2020, your site will be open to security concerns and there’s a chance you won’t be compliant with most modern security legislation. You need to replatform in order to protect your site and your customers, and prevent any negative impact on your growth.

 

#2 – Ecommerce developer resources will be limited

As Magento 1 end-of-life approaches, retailers across the UK will be migrating to Magento 2, Shopify Plus, BigCommerce, Hybris and more. No matter what platform you’re looking at replatforming to, you’ll need an experienced agency.

But developer and agency resources will quickly become limited as we get closer to the deadline. You should create a migration plan now in order to prepare and plan ahead and work with the best Magento agencies.

 

#3 – Agencies are not supporting Magento 1

A lot of experienced Magento agencies are either no longer supporting Magento 1 or have plans to stop support in 2020. This will either result in no support for your site, or you will only be able to work with a smaller handful of agencies who may continue to support the legacy platform.

Every retailer needs a trusted and experienced ecommerce agency to help them grow, and you may no longer be able to work with your preferred Magento developer if you remain on Magento 1 past the end of support deadline.

 

#4 – Tech partners are not supporting Magento 1

Similarly, many tech partners are also not supporting Magento 1 in 2020. If you remain on the outdated platform past the deadline, you may not only have no support for your platform, but also your payment provider, warehouse management system, search and merchandising tools, and more.

To avoid a negative impact on your business, you may need to speak to your key tech partners and understand their position on Magento 1 support.

 

#5 – Ecommerce tech is built in with Magento 2

Magento 2 is a powerful ecommerce platform that takes advantage of key tech to help you unlock your next phase of growth.

Many key tech platforms are built-in to Magento 2 which paves the way for a seamless integration. Tools like Adyen, Klarna, PayPal and ElasticSearch are available within Magento 2, with very little additional setup time and developer work.

 

#6 – Faster paced delivery with Magento 2 projects

Magento 2 is built with completely new code architecture. This is likely not to affect you as a retailer directly, but you will likely see an improvement in speed of delivery from your agency.

Projects on Magento 2 can be delivered faster than Magento 1, which has an obvious positive impact on how quickly you can go-live with updates and improvements to your site.

 

#7 – Easier Magento 2 admin for retailers

Magento 2’s back-end admin for retailers is also easier to use, with much more complexity and customisability. With customised views and filters, retailers can update the admin to focus on what they find most useful.

This can speed up your processes for reporting, stock control, customer management and general day-to-day management, empowering you to focus on growing your business.

 

#8 – Cloud technology for Magento 2

Cloud technology is new for Magento 2, which has traditionally been a major selling point for other platforms such as Shopify Plus.

When Migrating your site to Magento 2 Commerce Cloud, you can focus on marketing, sales and your customers, and minimise the time and money you spend on infrastructure.

 

#9 – Faster Magento site speed

Magento 2 is also faster for your site speed. With a cleaner code architecture and available cloud technology, you will experience better site performance.

You can improve your experience for your customers with a faster site speed, which in turn will help you improve conversion rate and increase site revenue.

 

#10 – Magento Page Builder

Magento’s powerful Page Builder allows customisation of product information, imagery, lifestyle content and more using the tool, without the need for development work.

This gives your ecommerce teams the freedom to update and customise ecommerce content without a reliance on your agency or development team. This allows you to focus on working with your agency on your wider ecommerce strategy and growth.

Our client, Augustinus Bader, found this particularly useful when migrating their seven Shopify Plus stores to Magento 2.

 

#11 – Scheduled updates

Magento 2 allows for further merchandising with their scheduled updates functionality, giving you the ability to draft and plan your site content for the future.

Magento 2 gives your ecommerce and marketing teams the power to schedule site updates in advance, which is perfect for peak trading periods or flash sales out of office hours. No more office sleepovers.

 

#12 – Up-sells and cross-sells

Magento 2’s merchandising and promotional tools expand into up-sells and cross-sells too. Your ecommerce team can set specific rules for products that gives your site the power to offer related products at various stages of the customer journey, including the product pages and checkout.

This can be powerful for improving average basket value and average basket size, improving overall site revenue.

 

#13 – Better SEO

Alongside an improved code architecture comes an improved platform for SEO. Ecommerce platforms such as Shopify Plus have many barriers to SEO that concern many retailers and ecommerce teams.

Magento 2 has a strong base for search, with SEO-friendly URLS, comprehensive meta tags and page information, image optimisation and more. This is much more improved from Magento 1 and a well-needed enhancement for retailers.

 

#14 – Business Intelligence

The final feature of Magento 2 that is worth talking about is Business Intelligence. Magento 2’s reporting add-on is far more powerful than most ecommerce platform’s reporting solutions and gives retailers the comprehensive data and information they need to help grow their business.

The integration with the site is seamless and like the built-in ecommerce tech, Magento 2 Business Intelligence can be implemented with very little additional setup time.

 

Migrate to Magento 2

Most retailers on Magento 1 understand that they need to migrate to another platform before June 2020. However, understandably, many retailers are exploring other platforms and are weighing up their options for whether they continue to be part of the Magento community, or look elsewhere.

We definitely recommend Magento 2 for our retailers who are looking to focus on scalability and growth. The truth is that Magento 2 is a completely new, evolved ecommerce platform from Magento 1.

Most of the flaws, issues and complications from Magento 1 have been fixed and streamlined for Magento 2, with a host of improvements and additional features to help you grow faster (including many more we haven’t managed to feature here).

If you want a chat about the benefits of Magento 2 over Magento 1, then get in touch and one of our technical team will be more than happy to scope out the benefits for you and your business.

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