8 Reasons Why Now is the Best Time to Upgrade to Magento 2 from Magento 1

Magento has announced that they will be discontinuing support for Magento 1 after June 2020. This means that you have 15 months to plan and migrate from Magento 1.

Magento will no longer be providing the following functionalities for Magento 1:

• Security patches
• Quality fixes
• Documentation updates

Many developers recommend that before Magento 1 becomes obsolete, they must migrate to Magento 2, import all their data, and begin operating it.

Since Magento is an open source eCommerce CMS, it means that innovation is inevitable. Why not give it a try then? Being the successor of Magento 1, Magento 2 offers a comprehensive set of new features, security enhancements, and overall better performance. Therefore, this can be an exciting time for companies to leverage the benefits that Magento 2 has to offer.

What are the advantages that Magento 2 offers?

Magento 2 was released 10 years after Magento 1. Needless to say, Magento took care of a lot of things while building this platform. Here’s a look at these updates:

1. Improved speed and scalability

One of the primary reasons for the inception of Magento 2 was site performance. The platform is capable of handling 10 million views per hour while with Magento 1, the number was restricted to 200 thousand.

Magento 2 decreases the page load time by 30 – 50%. It is also a more robust platform as it can handle 39% more orders per hour as compared to Magento 1. This means that you can interact with more customers through Magento 2.

2. Enhanced checkout system

With Magento 2, the checkout process is more streamlined than before. It is also 38% faster than it was with Magento 1. Guest users can check out without registration and registered customers are automatically identified on the basis of their email address. The order-placing process has been simplified, thus improving customer experience.

3. Search engine friendly

Magento 2 has been constructed with a front-end design. This makes it easier for the website to be browsed on all kinds of devices (desktop/laptop, mobile, tablet, etc.). This helps the website with its SEO rank since Google algorithms place websites with mobile responsiveness higher.

4. Easier extensions update

Installing extensions in Magento 2 has been made easier too. Installing some basic extensions in Magento 1 took a lot of time even with the help of Magento experts. In Magento 2, however, this issue has been resolved with help from HTML5, LESS, and CSS3.

5. Upgraded add-to-cart

In Magento1, every time the customer added a product in the cart, the page would reload. Slow-loading pages or repeated loading lead to a higher bounce rate. Magento 2 offers the ‘Ajax add-to-cart’ functionality that prevents the page from reloading every time a new product is added to it.

6. Database segmentation

Magento 1 offered a single database for customers, admins, and developers. The downside of this was that it caused database overload. So, if there was a heavy load at the admin’s end, the customer end would get affected, thereby affecting UI.

However, Magento 2 offers a split database solution. There are three categories:

• Product Data
• Checkout
• Orders

These categories help in scaling a website’s potential by segregating the database, thereby preventing any negative impact they might have on each other.

7. Easier admin navigation

Admin navigation in Magento 1 was a bit complicated that only the users, who were already adept at using complex eCommerce store interfaces were capable of operating it with efficiency.

However, in Magento 2, the admin interface has been simplified that even a newbie will find it easier to become handy with the navigation, without the help of developers.

8. Easier product uploads and enhanced customization

With Magento 2, product uploads have become a lot easier as a step-by-step guide is provided with it to help the admins. Apart from that, users can also add product videos and photos. This helps in making the product gallery more attractive as well as interactive for customers.

Customization is another edge at a company’s disposal. In Magento 2 stores, the users can keep a track of the past preferences of the customers and pitch to them the offers and discounts in which they are more likely to be interested.

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The good news is that Magento has given adequate notice for withdrawing support for Magento 1, which means that companies have time for positive digital transformation and innovation through Magento 2.

However, you may face certain challenges, which are:

• Launching data migration or transfer
• Keeping track of the results
• Becoming accustomed to design customizations
• Hosting issues

Grazitti’s eCommerce forums connect you with several eCommerce developers and users who could help you with tactics to combat the aforementioned challenges. We’re also armed with a skilled team of Magento experts that would be happy to help you with a smooth migration from Magento 1 Magento 2.

Want to learn more on how can you seamlessly migrate from Magento 1 to Magento 2? Get a free quote here.