Migration to Magento 2 has been one of the most discussed topics in the Magento community since its launch in November 2015. Merchants and store owners all over the world have been debating the necessity of this migration. The most asked questions include; who should migrate to Magento 2? Why should you migrate to Magento 2 and How much money is needed to migrate to Magento 2 platform?
It also needs to be emphasized here that migration from Magento 1 to Magento 2 isn’t a simple process of ‘clicking an upgrade’ button. It is a complex task that requires the expertise of a skilled Magento developer. Having cleared this, let us dig into the reasons you should migrate to Magento 2 immediately.
1. Magento 1 is a ticking bomb
The first major reason for the necessity of migration is that Magento Corporation will be ending support for Magento 1 in the near future. Magento developers will still be dealing with the older platform but no new security patches or issues will be dealt with the Magento Corporation itself once the support ends. It is expected that the support will end in late 2018. Not upgrading to Magento 2 then you will be exposing your online business to potential unwanted malicious programs, glitches and other issues. Hence, if you want to stay relevant and protect your customers, you’d want to migrate to Magento 2 sooner rather than later to get used to the new environment.
2. Sheer Superiority of Magento 2
Magento 2 encompasses all the benefits of Magento 1 and more. Magento 2 has all the features and solutions that merchants can hope to get for running their online business smoothly. Let’s look at some of the salient benefits store owners experience after upgrading to Magento 2.
- Magento 2 includes support for all latest PHP versions. The latest PHP versions include security fixes that improve the speed of the website. On average Magento 2 will run 20% faster than Magento 1.
- Magento 2 platform now supports 10 million catalogue page views per hour as opposed to only 500,000 page views per hour in Magento 1.
- Compression of images, minimization of Javascript makes image optimization possible directly from server. This was previously done manually in Magento 1.
- Some new SEO features are also introduced in Magento 2 like Keywords, URL rewriting, Metadata etcetera.
- Indexing has improved in Magento which has resulted in fast query performance.
- Magento 2 design is now more responsive as the store can be operated via both desktop and mobile. The new interface has guaranteed seamless shopping via tablet and mobile devices.
3. Improved Admin Panel
The new admin interface of Magento 2 is a time-saver. It’s much more user-friendly than previous version and is easy to learn for newbies. This new admin panel allows for customization to access relevant business information right in front of your eyes. Hence, this personalized feature means that various stakeholders can monitor different things on the panel as per their needs regarding products, customers and other data. For example, a customer relationship offer can customize panel to include relevant inform about the customers of the online store. You can also import products four times faster in the new panel.
4. Improved Checkout Process
Magento 2 introduces a more user-friendly checkout that fastens the process of completing the order by the customer. This upgrade is vital to business owners, since it increases the conversion rates and reduces the number of abandoned carts. Once on the checkout page, the customer is given the option to insert their e-mail address. If they are a previous customer, then they are given option to checkout faster with previously saved information. Moreover, new members have an option to create an account with one click, thus encouraging repeat customers. Stores running Magento 1 has to have a work-around or a plugin for user-friendly checkouts. However, Magento 2 has an in-built improved checkout process.
5. This Infographic
Well, if you’re still unsure about migrating to Magento 2, then here’s a detailed infographic that might tip you over. The credits for this infographic goes to FME Extensions.
Once, you’re convinced about Magento 2 migration, the next step is to hire a good Magento developer who will help you in upgrading from Magento 1 to Magento 2.
We hope this article made your decision process easier and clears some of the doubts you may be having about Magento 2 migration.