Magento: 11 Reasons Why It's Awesome.

Magento: 11 Reasons Why It’s Awesome

June 4, 2010 in Applications - Viewed 209 times.

Since its release, Magento has taken the ecommerce market by storm. Magento is an open-source ecommerce platform that is packed full of great functionality. Built on the Zend framework, Magento’s core is founded on a PHP/MySQL technology stack, making it fairly easy to customize for decently experienced designers and developers.

Magento

I ’spose we should tell you why we think it’s so great…

#1 It’s FREE.

If you’ve done your homework on various Ecommerce platforms, you know that some of the more popular solutions come with a hefty price. While serving as a consultant for a medical supply distributor, my job was to perform a diligence report on various ecommerce solutions. I saw prices ranging from $3,000/month all the way to $100,000 a year. While some of these platforms do have their place in an enterprise-level market, most of us don’t need something so robust (or expensive).

#2 Multiple Storefronts.

Unlike other open-source ecommerce solutions, Magento offers the ability to operate multiple storefronts, all with the same database. This is great for those looking to hit various niche markets, for example a shoe store can have a website for women’s shoes and another website for men’s shoes… all powered by a single database that is manageable through the Magento admin panel.

#3 Easy Imports.

Using Magento’s dataflow, users are able to import massive amounts of data with little to no effort. By importing a properly formatted CSV or XML file, Magento can efficiently build your product database. Dataflow can even import categories. We recently came across a client with other 25,000 products… all of which were imported directly into Magento within four hours… now THAT will put a smile on your face.

#4 Great extensions.

Now that Magento is gaining in popularity, it has a great following of reputable designers and developers that consistently contribute to its effort. Extensions range in topic… from drop ship modules to mailchimp integration – it’s all there in “Magento Connect”.

#5 Built-in SEO.

Magento is undoubtedly one of the best ecommerce applications with regards to SEO. Equipped with URL rewrites, product/category meta information, sitemap generation, and some great SEO extensions, you can certainly give your store the recognition it deserves.

#6 Customizable.

Though Magento’s learning curve is a bit higher than other applications (like WordPress), this application is completely customizable. Varien (the group that developed Magento) has done a great job structuring the framework, as well as documenting the functionality. Familiarity with Zend is a must… but assuming that’s there, designers and developers should have no issue putting their own spin on this platform.

#7 Google Integration.

By default, Magento features functionality to integrate your website into Google Anayltics AND feed your product catalog into Google Base. Setup for both Analytics and Base is quite simple… and these are two great tools that every eStore admin should be using.

#8 Template Hints.

Template hints are a designer’s/developer’s dream. By going into the configuration menu in the Magento admin panel, users can enable “Template Hints”, further allowing them to track down the files responsible for generating different content via a nice visual representation.

#9 Payment Integration.

Say goodbye to hands-on API work… Magento comes with a handful of popular payment gateways (over 50) already integrated.

#10 Newsletter Functionality.

Magento offers a nice, simple newsletter system that is easily customizable, and easy to manage. Simply add users to your mailing list, design and customize your design, and place the newsletter in a queue for scheduled delivery.

#11 Awesome Reporting Functionality.

Magento offers some great reporting functionality. Generate reports for sales, taxes, abandoned carts, most viewed products, low inventory levels, and more!