Migrating to Magento

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Ecommerce migration, although complex and time-consuming, can have a big impact on the efficacy and functionality of your online business. Not only can you gain access to more features and applications out of the box, but migration can also lead to better budgeting and planning strategies.

As businesses grow, so too do their ecommerce platform needs. Scalability, customer experience, and key integration flexibility are all things that can be hindered by a limiting ecommerce platform.

Since Adobe officially ended its support for Magento 1 earlier in 2020, Magento 2 migrations have magnified and increased through the course of the year. While there are clear upgrades between Magento 1 and 2, some businesses might be asking themselves if they’re ready to switch from Woocommerce or Shopify to Magento.

Below is everything you need to know about Magento migration and why you should migrate to magento from Shopify and Woocommerce.

Benefits of Magento

There are some clear benefits from migrating to Magento. Just with the switch from Magento 1 to Magento 2, we’ve already seen vast improvements.

• Magento 2 provides a clear boost in performance. Magento 2 will run about 20% faster on average for most users.
• Customers will enjoy a more user-friendly checkout with Magento 2. The entire checkout process has been streamlined, meaning there are less steps for customers and more purchase conversions.
• Magento 2 has made it a lot easier for key integrations to take place. In fact, several of these platforms, like Paypal, Worldplay, and Braintree, come out of the box with Magento.
• A cleaner admin interface means less time managing the online store and committing to tedious processes. Additionally, admin panels are customizable, allowing for businesses to benefit from both the simplicity and flexibility of their own businesses.
• Magento 2 is by far the more mobile friendly. As more customers move to mobile shopping, Magento has made a clear effort to improve the mobile check-out features, themes and designs, and admin capabilities.

How does Magento compare, however, when looking at some of its biggest competitors in Shopify and Woocommerce?

• Best Practice Optimization: Magento’s sophisticated software, both for mobile and online use, is up-to-date with the ecommerce best practices, something lacking with the other ecommerce platforms on the market.
• Adjustable Interface: Because Shopify and Woocommerce’s interface were made with beginners in mind, their platform is less customizable and flexible. With Magento, you can have a sleek and easy-to-use interface that comes with all the perks of customization.
• Robust Design: Magento comes with a number of themes and designs ready to download.
• Design and Template Customization: Magento allows for across-the-board customization on their templates and designs, allowing for more unique branding capabilities and aesthetic variation.
• SEO Optimization: Magento is well in line with all the SEO best practices, making it easier for your business to be seen and shared.
• Excellent Customer Support: Magento provides high quality customer support 24/7.

How to Migrate from Woocommerce and Shopify to Magento

Before you get to the actual magento migration, you’re going to have to do a few preparatory steps.

First you’ll need to install Magento, set up your database along with the installation, and set a timeline for the migration process. Ideally, you’d want to do the migration overnight, when traffic on your website is lowest. You’ll also want to inform your customers that your site will be down during the migration.

Once you’re ready for the migration process, the first thing you’re going to want to do is to back up your Woocommerce or Shopify data. In case something goes wrong in the migration process, you want to make sure you have all your data in a safe place.

There are three ways to go about a Magento migration:

• Manual Migration: Manually migrating your data to Magento is quite a labor-intensive technical process, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Magento provides a thorough step-by-step guide on how to migrate manually. This is the most time-consuming but cheapest solution for businesses.
• Data Migration App: If you aren’t comfortable with the technical aspects of a Magento migration, you can always utilize an automated migration service. These tools help minimize the more complex sides of the migration process, providing you with a simple, self-service model to aid in the migration process.
• Hire a Professional: If you are completely uncomfortable or unconfident in your ability to manually set up your Magento migration, then hiring a developer or web agency could be the solution for you. Experts will look at after the process from A to Z, taking the weight of the migration off your shoulders.

For ecommerce businesses that are looking to scale, expand, and customize their platforms, migrating to Magento is not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. And while the Magento migration process may not be the simplest, it comes with the greatest overall benefits for short-term and long-term growth.

Ecommerce Integrations with Gladly

Gladly offers seamless integrations with a wide range of e-commerce software platforms and apps. By combining with the strengths of leading e-commerce solutions, brands can gain access to loyalty-fostering customer data, enjoy more efficient order management, get deeper access into customer insights, and provide self-service options for customers seeking help with order tracking, returns, cancellations, and more.

• Shopify
• Big Commerce
• Magento
• Swell
• Spree

Don’t let the technicalities of your software get in the way of connecting with your customers, and try the Gladly demo today.