Monthly Archives: November 2015

6 reasons for migrating to Magento 2.0 from Magneto 1.x

There’s a big buzz around Magento 2 Development and Sammanita Pattnayak, a software developer (Magento) at Embitel, is eager to get started on a project on Magento 2. Sammanita recently completed her training in Magento 2, which included varied development tasks, and can’t help compare the offerings of Magento 2 over Magento 1. Here’s what she says.

With the introduction of development, production and default modes, Sammanita says the overall performance of the platform is significantly improved. “If the developer makes an error in coding, instead of the broken website, the user will see a custom page,” she explains. The file system requirement of Magento 2 is also more flexible, allowing the developer to create and access as many files as needed.

But what makes Magento 2 truly better is the introduction of these new features:

• There’s a more streamlined customization process, with more modules and lesser hassles during upgrades.
• Magento 2 has updated technology stacks, at par with the latest in the industry.
• With improved caching mechanisms, the site runs faster and offers much better performance and scalability.
• Compared to Magento 1, the effort and cost of upgrades is now reduced, with lesser likelihood of loss/breakage of modifications during upgrades.
• Integrating third party extensions for additional functionalities is now easier.
• Magento 2 includes a testing code, testing resources and documentation, unlike Magento 1. The result is lesser problems, bug fixes and shorter development time.

Business benefits of upgrading to Magento 2.0

But what do all these technical improvements mean for the client, who decides to implement his online business on Magento 2? It means a better product, at a lower cost.

The ease of development leads to significantly reduced developing time, and lesser hurdles on the way. While this translates to marked reduction in the cost, it also means a more wholesome website with a consistent shopping experience for the user. Now who would say no to such benefits?

If you have any query/feedback, connect with us at sales@embitel.com to set-up a conversation!

For more such interesting updates, join us on LinkedIn:

• Embitel Linkedin Page

Magento 2 – is it worth the hype?

When the news of a new version of Magento came out a few years ago, it created a flutter. After all, it is one of the most popular ecommerce platforms implemented by businesses across the globe. Now that the general availability version of Magento 2 is nearing release, it turns out Magento 2.0 has lots to offer.

Embitel’s team of Magento developers has been studying the capabilities of this new version and how they can use it to deliver the best possible product to the client. Resmi Sudha, senior software developer for Magento Commerce at Embitel, tells us what makes Magento 2 development so much better.

To begin with, the presence of solid export/import tools makes the transition to Magento 2 (and further upgrades) easy.

Magento 2 has adopted HTML5 and CSS3 technologies, ditching the old Sass/Compass. This adoption of HTML technologies, says Resmi, is one of the biggest upgrades. “This is the very structure of the platform, and this is how Magento will keep up with evolving nature of web technology,” she explains.

The new standalone installer also means quicker installation, especially since it will check for pre-requisites before installation. This will make upgrade installation significantly faster and easier.

Resmi is particularly pleased with Magento 2’s modules. “They are comprehensive—there’s no need to keep going back to other parts anymore,” she says. “This makes it more compatible.”

Grouping of menu options by function (Product, Marketing, Content, Report) reduces the learning curve while working on Magento and makes working and updating easier.

With full-page caching from static pages, Magento 2 is improved and the load on the server is much lesser. “With this, Magento can also become a preferred ecommerce platform for businesses that have large amounts of data,” says Resmi.

Magento 2 also offers an extensively improved UI for developers. The drill-downs included to evaluate various parameters indicating how visitors interact with the website can prove to be very crucial for webmasters and admins in making UX-related decisions.

With the improved performance, the ease of customization without altering core functionality and better UI, Magento 2 is definitely a much better option to work with. “Magento by itself provided a great platform, but so it’s amazing to think of what Magento 2 can do,” says Resmi. “I can’t wait to put its capabilities to use with the next project.”

If you have any query/feedback, connect with us at sales@embitel.com to set-up a conversation!

For more such interesting updates, join us on LinkedIn:

• Embitel Linkedin Page

Omnichannel Retail – what the numbers say

There’s big hype about omnichannel retail, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Here’s a quick look at how omnchannel is adding real business value for retailers in two prime geographies.

In the Americas

Rebecca Minkoff, a fashion brand, revealed its omnichannel plans a year ago. Large in-store digital displays to browse collections, a mobile app with integrated inventory, the option to save items in the cart to purchase later in case of doubt, personalized messages about offers on chosen, items—the brand has provided a seamless experience to shoppers. The initiative has paid off. Emily Culp, SVP of ecommerce and omnichannel, Rebecca Minkoff, says the brand witnessed a 6x – 7x jump in ready-to-wear sales after integrating its digital and physical stores.

What about the bigger picture? Does an increase in online sales mean reduced in-store sales? Not necessarily, as home goods retail company Williams-Sonoma will tell you. Williams-Sonoma is an established brand in the US, with product catalogues being the prime mode of marketing for it. After creating ecommerce websites, Willaims-Sonoma leveraged its strength and made the products displayed in catalogues available online. While the company’s catalogue and online sales grew by a substantial 12.1% to $2.37 billion, its in-store sales also grew by 2.4% to $2.33 billion

In the UK

Home goods retailer Argos recorded a whopping £1billion in sales through m-commerce earlier this year—this after an increase of 38% in sales through the mobile channel in the previous year alone. Argos went mobile three years ago, and has found that 90% of the transactions through the channel touch the physical store in some way, and a large number opt for the ‘check-and-reserve’ option through mobile, ultimately picking up their purchase in-store.

The penetration of mobile phones is very deep, and access to mobile internet is not far behind in other geographies too. The increasing use of multiple channels by consumers is inevitable – it’s hard to resist the ease and convenience of having a store at your fingertips. But simply developing the platform is not enough; all services must be tied together for a seamless experience. Retailers who do not adopt this path are sure to lose out on the potential waiting to be tapped, and another quicker player will benefit.

If you have any queries regarding omnichannel implementation or seek a technology partner to implement omnichannel for your business, write to sales@embitel.com

What is omnichannel retail?

Omnichannel is a multichannel approach to sales that seeks to provide the customer with a seamless shopping experience whether the customer is shopping online from a desktop or mobile device, by telephone or in a bricks and mortar store.

Source: searchcio.techtarget.com