The death of Magento 1 or is it!

Life After Magento 1

The end is near for Magento 1 websites; commonly used by businesses across the globe but what does its demise mean for you and do you have to invest in the upgrade NOW?

Since 2008, Magento has radically transformed into the most widely used ecommerce platform in the world.  With the capacity to host over 500,000 products and manage 80,000 orders an hour, and leading brands jumping on board including Ford and Samsung, Magento has revolutionised online shopping.

But with over 200,000 online stores hosted on Magento 1, Magento 2 has been making waves since its introduction in 2015 and its final drive last year.  But why should you upgrade, particularly if your site is running smoothly and does not show any performance issues?  And if you don’t upgrade, will your Magento site still work or will it become unsecured, outdated and affect business?

The benefits of Magento 2

Migration is never painless! Although databases, products and attributes are transferable, your bespoke customization is not.  However, don’t be discouraged!  Migrating to the upgrade allows you to analyse and review your current site, looking at redundant features, brand, user experience & navigation and overall audience/product compatibility .

Magento 2 offers an array of benefits including coding, functionality and user experience, giving you:

• Scalability and enhanced performance: Less than 1.5 seconds page load time compared to the standard 2-3 seconds
• Responsive and search engine friendly: Browsable on all devices including mobile
• Streamlined checkout: Faster and easier checkout for regular and one-off customers
• Elasticsearch: Improved searches and user experience, handling 33 languages
• Cheaper and easier extension updating: Simple upgrades without conflicting extensions
• Ajax add-to-cart: Simple add-to-cart experience without performance affecting page reloads
• Simpler navigation: Advantageous for those without their own Magento developers
• Split databases: Giving opportunity to use three separate master databases for product data, checkout and orders
• Better customization: Up-sell and cross-sell offers, personalized payment methods, or coupons based on earlier behaviour availability

What are the time frames for the ultimate end?

Although Jason Woosley, SVP of Product & Technology at Magento Commerce, advised that ‘Magento 1 will continue to be supported for the foreseeable future and that the Magento 1.9 support, originally planned to end in November, 2018, Magento are commited to a minimum 18-month notice before they make any changes to their support levels.

With the introduction of Magento 2, Magento 1x versions will eventually become outdated and unstable due to the lack of security and performance updates and eventually, official support.

Upgrading to Magento 2 is a long term move and requires budget and time allowance; becoming one of the most prominent ecommerce platforms for the next decade.  Don’t wait for the issues and instead, be prepared for the migration.

Rak Design (UK) Ltd are a creative graphic design & web design agency, based in Northamptonshire, delivering website design and development, digital marketing and corporate branding services that drive tangible and measurable results for your business.  If you have would like help migrating or discussing the features of Magento 2, call the team on 01933 678 522 or complete our online contact form and we’d be happy to help.