3 Reasons to Move Your Magento Site to Shopify

3 Reasons to Move Your Magento Site to Shopify

Mar 4, 2024 | Adobe/Magento, B2B, eCommerce, News

Moving boxes with Shopify logo

In the evolving eCommerce landscape, the once-dominant Magento (Adobe Commerce) has faced a shifting tide, prompting businesses to rethink their online marketplace strategies. The rise of SaaS solutions like Shopify, with robust APIs and extensive app ecosystems, positions them as frontrunners. The proliferation of such SaaS solutions has democratized powerful eCommerce websites, making them accessible to businesses of all sizes. Staying ahead now involves not only keeping pace with technology but also leveraging it to enhance and streamline your business. Online merchants should seriously consider switching to Shopify, and in this article, we delve into three compelling reasons why you should consider this strategic move.

Already decided to switch? We specialize in smooth transitions to Shopify. Contact InteractOne now to get started. 

1. Shopify has better stability and lower costs

Shopify’s microservices architecture not only offers remarkable stability (it claims a 99.99% uptime) but also reduces the maintenance and developer costs associated with running an eCommerce site. Unlike Magento, Shopify simplifies upgrades and maintenance since only their team can access the source code. Since Shopify handles all backend concerns, like server maintenance, updates, and scalability, the platform remains stable and functional even during high-traffic periods. Shopify stays stable because it independently develops and deploys features. This helps prevent errors and improves scalability and performance optimization, especially compared to Magento’s monolithic architecture.

In contrast, Magento and Adobe Commerce’s reliance on traditional hosting architecture introduces variability in performance. Additionally, Magento’s open-source nature allows users to override core code, posing potential reliability risks if not managed properly. Notably, Shopify users cannot override the core code, so there’s less risk of stability issues arising from user modifications. Essentially, with Shopify, you can focus more on business growth and less on technical upkeep. 

Regarding costs, Shopify maintains lower developer maintenance labor expenses than Magento due to its hosted nature and SaaS model. With fixed and predictable pricing on a monthly or annual basis, Shopify eliminates the complexities of separate hosting and developer expenses. While the Magento open-source free edition may appear more affordable on the surface, implementing and maintaining a Magento/Adobe Commerce store often involves higher development maintenance costs. Shopify’s hosted and SaaS nature streamlines store management, resulting in labor cost savings and reduced complexities compared to Magento’s approach.

2. Shopify offers better performance and developer flexibility

Performance is key to customer satisfaction and retention. Shopify’s optimized and centrally managed infrastructure ensures consistently high performance, seamlessly handling varying workloads. In contrast, Magento’s open-source architecture may lead to performance issues stemming from improper server configuration or poorly coded overrides.

Furthermore, Shopify’s centralized optimization and updates benefit all merchants without individual effort. In contrast, maintaining performance in open-source platforms like Magento/Adobe Commerce is challenging, requiring merchants to optimize server configurations, custom configure auto-scaling solutions, and implement specialized caching strategies.

Moreover, as previously mentioned, Shopify restricts access to the core code to ensure a standardized and controlled environment for developers. This reduces the risk of introducing code that could compromise performance. While Magento’s open-source nature provides developer flexibility, it can also give too much access to overriding core functionality, which can negatively impact performance.

Shopify’s restricted access and standardized platform ensures a consistent experience, minimizing the risk of instability and incorrect builds. Seamless updates and risk mitigation for performance issues are built into the platform. In contrast, with open-source platforms, the diversity of server environments, customizations, and third-party extensions increases the potential for problems. Each site’s unique configuration may introduce complexities during updates or changes, impacting performance.

In short, Shopify provides improved and consistent performance by offering a standardized, optimized environment, centralized updates, and controlled access to the core code, mitigating common challenges seen in open-source platforms like Magento/Adobe Commerce. 

If you want to build custom applications without being restricted to a certain tech stack or coding language, Shopify is the clear winner. Shopify offers a strong API and App Store, letting developers create custom apps using various technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This flexibility facilitates tailored solutions, third-party service integration, and enhanced store functionality.

In comparison, Magento’s customization capabilities exist, but the development process is more complex. Predominantly using PHP, building custom apps also demands a deeper understanding of the platform’s architecture, resulting in a steeper learning curve for developers.

Since Shopify handles hosting and server maintenance, developers can focus more on building features and improving user experiences without getting into the intricacies of the Shopify core architecture. In contrast, Magento/Adobe Commerce developers often require advanced expertise in Magento core architecture, including database optimization and server configurations. This can constrain development flexibility and speed for those unfamiliar with server-related complexities.

In short, Shopify offers better developer flexibility by providing a user-friendly development environment, a versatile API, and an App Store that simplifies building custom apps. Additionally, the reduced need for in-depth knowledge of core architecture or servers allows developers to focus more on creating features and functionalities without being burdened by infrastructure complexities.

3. Security is better on Shopify

Security is paramount in the digital marketplace, and Shopify is often considered to have better security than Magento/Adobe Commerce. Shopify’s closed-source nature and controlled framework, managed by its own security team, contribute to a more secure environment. Their regular platform updates and maintenance add another security layer, continuously preventing new threats. This reduces the risk of unauthorized access and potential vulnerabilities. 

Additionally, Shopify provides built-in fraud analysis features. SSL encryption certificates provide a secure shopping cart that protects customer data. It’s PCI-DSS compliant, making it a safe environment for credit card transactions. This offers a high level of security for online stores.

Magento also offers various security features, such as encryption, fraud detection, and PCI-DSS compliance. However, Magento has been associated with more security issues, with a significant number of compromised eCommerce sites using Magento/Adobe Commerce. Additionally, with Magento, the merchant is responsible for managing security measures – ie. firewalls, server security and payment gateways. Shopify handles this for its merchants. These factors contribute to Shopify offering better security than Magento/Adobe Commerce.

When and why we think Shopify wins over Magento

For many mid-market B2C eCommerce merchants, migrating to Shopify from Magento/Adobe Commerce represents a strategic move towards a more secure, stable, and high-performing eCommerce platform. With lower maintenance costs, enhanced security, and improved performance, Shopify stands out as an ideal choice for businesses looking to thrive in the mid-market competitive digital marketplace. 

At InteractOne, we specialize in making this transition smooth and efficient, ensuring your business leverages the full potential of Shopify.

Keep in mind that Shopify is not always a great fit for eCommerce merchants, especially when it comes to B2B, Enterprise, or highly custom user experiences. If you need help comparing eCommerce platforms, our team of senior consultants can help. We have many years of experience developing solutions on Shopify, BigCommerce, WordPress, and Magento/Adobe Commerce.

Contact our experts today to help compare platforms or get a free proposal on migrating to Shopify.

Magento, BigCommerce or Shopify. Which One is Right for You?

Magento, BigCommerce or Shopify. Which One is Right for You?

Mar 1, 2024 | Adobe/Magento, B2B, eCommerce, News, Technology

Magento used to be the go-to platform for merchants selling online. Now, SaaS platforms have become the more popular option.  Should you join the crowd and migrate to SaaS?  Well, maybe, in this post, we’ll explore your options and try to help clarify the differences between two of the most popular eCommerce SaaS platforms and the legendary Magento (aka. Adobe Commerce).

The development of SaaS solutions for eCommerce, like BigCommerce and Shopify, has empowered merchants to reduce the costs associated with managing eCommerce websites while providing more site stability, security, and performance. But is SaaS right for your unique business needs? 

In this article we cover… 

Understanding which platform aligns best with your business goals and operational needs can set your organization up for long-term success. 

Need help making platform decisions for your online store or looking to switch to a new eCommerce platform? Contact InteractOne today. 

Magento vs. Shopify vs. BigCommerce: Key Comparisons

FeatureMagentoShopifyBigCommerce
B2BAdvanced and robust B2B features (user roles, price negotiation, etc.)Focused on B2C, but has some B2B capabilitiesGood B2B features (custom pricing, bulk orders, etc.)
FlexibilityOpen-source code provides extensive customizationLimited customization compared to Magento, relies on third-party apps insteadLimited customization compared to Magento, relies on third-party apps instead
ScalabilityDesigned for enterprise scalabilitySuitable for small to mid-market businessesScales well for growing businesses
Ease of UseRequires technical expertise for customizationUser-friendly interface for less technical usersIntuitive interface, easy for beginners but not as easy as Shopify
Cost of OwnershipInitial development costs may be higherMonthly subscription fees; lower initial costsMonthly subscription fees; moderate costs
App/Extension MarketplaceExtensive marketplace for extensions and modulesLarge app store with a variety of add-onsRobust marketplace with diverse extensions but not as big as Shopify
HostingRequires own hosting, providing control over the serverHosted solution with limited no server controlHosted solution with no server control
Community SupportStrong community support and developer ecosystemLarge user community; good support infrastructureActive community and comprehensive support
SecurityHigh security but requires regular updatesShopify manages security, less control for usersStrong emphasis on security measures

 

Need help making platform decisions or replatforming?

Contact InteractOne today for expert assistance.

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Magento: Robust, Highly Scalable and Flexible

Magento has two main editions: Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce. Magento Open Source is free, while Adobe Commerce is a paid, enterprise-level solution with additional features and support. 

Known for its robustness and flexibility, Magento’s open-source nature allows full control over your website’s hosting, design, and functionality. Magento is well-suited for large-scale B2B operations with complex eCommerce needs, including buyer management, special payment terms, custom client shipping methods, customer-specific pricing, requisition lists, and order scheduling. This solution suits various business sectors, including wholesale and distribution, manufacturing, healthcare, and automotive companies like Ford. These industries require a high degree of personalization in their eCommerce platforms.

Target Users: Open-source platform designed to power enterprise eCommerce businesses

Key Features: 

  • Feature-rich eCommerce platform for enterprise brands.
  • Offers extensive customization and scalability, but is relatively complex and better suited for technically savvy business owners and large establishments.

What are Magento’s features?

Magento offers a diverse collection of features for eCommerce businesses, including product management, customer management, order management, and content management. It supports various product types, such as simple, configurable, grouped, and virtual or downloadable products. Magento is known for its flexibility and customization options, allowing developers to create unique and tailored online stores.

Is Magento good for scalability and flexibility?

Magento is designed to be scalable, making it usable for small companies but better suited for mid to large enterprises. Renowned for its ability to handle enterprise-level commerce, it can handle a high volume of products, orders, and website traffic. Magento offers high performance for those with a large inventory. Whether your business deals with thousands or millions of SKUs, Magento’s architecture is designed to scale efficiently. This ensures a smooth user experience even as your store grows and the product catalog expands.

Magento’s open-source advantage

Magento’s open-source code empowers businesses with complete control over their online presence, making it a game-changer in the eCommerce landscape. Developers can delve into the codebase, implementing customizations to align the platform perfectly with the company’s vision. The open-source community around Magento further enriches this experience, providing valuable resources, forums, and extensions that enhance the functionality of Magento stores.

Beyond customization, the open-source nature of Magento also provides flexibility in choosing hosting solutions. Merchants can select a hosting environment tailored to their requirements, ensuring more control over performance and features than SaaS platforms like Shopify, which often have predefined scalability and less flexibility.

Crucially, businesses using Magento’s open-source version enjoy full ownership and control over their stores. This contrasts with certain SaaS platforms, where merchants’ control is limited, relying on the platform provider for updates and maintenance. Magento’s open-source approach not only provides freedom in customization but also ensures companies have autonomy and authority over their eCommerce operations.

What are Magento’s B2B features?

Magento is a great pick for B2B online sellers with complex needs that basic SaaS platforms can’t handle. In B2B, businesses often need special features like personalized pricing structures, complex order workflows, and deep integration with back-office systems. SaaS platforms like Shopify can struggle when faced with these complex needs. 

Magento’s open-source architecture lets companies customize their online shops for B2B specifics. It has robust product and customer management features and can easily connect with third-party apps. The enterprise version, Adobe Commerce, adds even more helpful features, such as advanced analytics, customer management, and performance optimization, making it an ideal solution for B2B merchants seeking a powerful and customizable eCommerce platform.

What are the challenges with Magento?

Magento stands out as a powerful solution for companies with specific, advanced eCommerce requirements, but its complexity is both its greatest strength and challenge: 

  • Technical Skills Required: Properly building and maintaining a Magento website demands a high level of technical skill, which may be a drawback for organizations with limited technical capabilities.
  • Full Control Responsibilities: While having complete control of the platform is advantageous, it comes with the responsibility for all aspects of maintenance, updates, and security, placing the onus on the development team.
  • Need for Expert Support: Given these challenges, external support, such as that provided by InteractOne, can be essential to navigate the complexities and ensure a successful Magento implementation.

Many organizations choose Magento for its unmatched customization and scalability. If having full ownership and control over your storefront is a priority, it may be the choice for you. Magento’s proven track record and global reach make it a trusted option for businesses of all sizes.

Adobe Commerce / Magento Open Source Pricing

While Magento Open Source is free, Adobe Commerce has a license fee. The pricing for using Adobe Commerce is a function of online sales. Typically, you can expect licensing costs to start at $2,500 per month. For specific pricing tailored to your requirements, it’s recommended to contact us and we can help you work with Adobe to get a quote.

Shopify: User-Friendly Interface and Quick Setup

Shopify’s rise in popularity can be attributed to its user-friendly interface, strong focus on aesthetic appeal, and robust third-party app ecosystem. Ideal for small to medium-sized businesses, especially in the B2C sector, Shopify offers a streamlined approach to eCommerce. However, it might lack Magento’s depth and extensive customization options.

Shopify is an excellent fit for businesses that don’t have experience building online storefronts and just want to take their small business online and get it up and running quickly.

Target Users: Small to medium businesses and those new to eCommerce.

Key Features: 

  • Easy to use, with a point-of-sale app and over 6,000 integrations.
  • Excellent store security and great for merchants looking to take their small business online and launch rapidly.

What are Shopify’s features?

Shopify is a hosted solution, which means it handles server management and software updates. This leads to a quicker setup process, allowing businesses to establish online stores promptly without dealing with technical complexities.

Shopify is known for its intuitive and user-friendly interface. Setting up an online store, managing products, and processing orders are streamlined processes, making it accessible for users with varying levels of technical proficiency. Its intuitive design tools and abundant themes make it easy for companies to create visually appealing online stores without needing extensive coding experience. Shopify’s popularity has attracted more design talent, making it the dominant platform for aesthetically pleasing UX theme options.

Shopify’s Managed Hosting and Security

Shopify provides a fully hosted solution, sparing merchants from managing their own server hosting and reducing the technical burden for owners. Instead, companies can direct their attention and resources toward enhancing their online storefronts, marketing strategies, and customer engagement. This not only simplifies the technical aspects of running an online store but also allows businesses to focus on what matters most – delivering an exceptional online shopping experience to their customers.

The security of your shop is essential, but it can be stressful. Shopify takes care of security measures, including SSL certification, data backups, and compliance with industry standards. This can be reassuring for organizations that want to ensure the security of their online transactions without managing these aspects themselves.

Shopify’s Extensive App Store

Shopify takes pride in its vast app store with a multitude of add-ons and integrations. You can enhance the functionality of your stores by easily integrating third-party apps for features like email marketing, accounting, and analytics. With a commitment to constant innovation and adaptability, Shopify continues to expand its ecosystem so businesses can stay current with emerging trends and technologies. 

Is Shopify good for growth?

Shopify’s scalability is another advantage. It can comfortably handle spikes in traffic and sales, a testament to its robust infrastructure. This scalability has been tested by high-profile clients like Kylie Jenner, whose eCommerce ventures demand the ability to handle large volumes of traffic and transactions seamlessly. However, some users may find it less flexible for highly complex or extensive eCommerce needs. 

What are the challenges with Shopify?

Using Shopify comes with various benefits, but there are some challenges or drawbacks to consider:

  • Limited Source Code Access: With a SaaS platform, you can’t access the source code, limiting the flexibility of your website. This can pose challenges for merchants with extensive and varied product catalogs or those needing custom pricing options.
  • Selective Business Types: Shopify can be selective about the types of businesses that utilize their platform. For instance, they do not service heavily regulated products, political stores, and certain healthcare products.
  • Transaction Fees: Many pricing plans come with transaction fees, which can add up and impact the overall cost for companies with high sales volumes.
  • Customization Limits: Despite its user-friendly interface, Shopify’s customization options may be limiting for organizations with highly specific design or functionality requirements.
  • Dependency on Apps: While the Shopify App Store provides numerous apps for additional features, relying heavily on third-party apps may increase costs and result in potential compatibility issues.

For businesses looking for an easy-to-use, visually appealing platform with numerous features and reliable performance, Shopify is an excellent choice. Its balance of simplicity, aesthetic appeal, security, and functionality makes it a go-to platform for those aiming to establish a solid online presence with minimal technical complexity.

Shopify Pricing

Low-cost options ($229/mo and lower) are available for small businesses. Midsize businesses will require Shopify Plus, which typically starts at around $1,000 monthly and increases depending on online sales volume. In addition to monthly fees, Shopify also charges transaction fees.  For specific pricing tailored to your requirements, it’s recommended to contact us and we can help you work with Shopify to get a quote.

BigCommerce: Simple and Versatile for Growth

BigCommerce offers a comprehensive, all-in-one solution, making it an appealing choice for companies looking for simplicity. However, it might not match Magento’s level of customization and scalability, especially for enterprises with complex needs.

BigCommerce positions itself as a versatile solution, striking a balance between Magento’s advanced capabilities and Shopify’s user-friendliness. It’s particularly well-suited for businesses that require more out-of-the-box features than Shopify, especially in the B2B domain. BigCommerce offers a more built-in feature set, while Shopify provides a vast array of third-party apps and add-ons for additional functionality Although, it does still have some of the same SaaS platform limitations as Shopify, like a limit on the number of SKUs per product and options per product. 

Target Users: Businesses of all sizes looking to grow.

Key Features:

  • Impressive eCommerce features, best-in-class uptime, and robust security.
  • Suitable for growing small to mid-range businesses and wholesalers, with the ability to handle small and large stores with many SKUs.

Is BigCommerce flexible?

BigCommerce distinguishes itself by offering extensive customization possibilities through its integrations and flexible APIs and webhooks. This feature enables organizations to seamlessly integrate with their existing tech stack, tailoring their online presence to specific needs. This high degree of customization sets BigCommerce apart from competitors like Shopify, where such extensive adaptability might not be as readily accessible.

While BigCommerce’s ecosystem is not as extensive or robust as Shopify’s, it still provides many integrations and apps. Shopify’s widespread popularity ensures a broad range of third-party connections, giving it an advantage over BigCommerce. Yet, BigCommerce is particularly advantageous for businesses requiring a higher degree of built-in features without the need for extensive customization or third-party apps.

Is BigCommerce suitable for growing businesses?

BigCommerce’s focus on scalability sets it apart from Magento and Shopify. It’s an excellent fit for establishments of all sizes, particularly those looking to grow. It offers reliable performance for companies experiencing growth, like Skullcandy, ensuring that your eCommerce platform can grow alongside your business without needing a platform migration. It can handle both small and large stores with many SKUs, making it a scalable option for growing companies.

What are BigCommerce’s B2B features?

BigCommerce serves B2B needs with features designed for seamless business transactions. The platform allows merchants to create customer groups and segments, facilitating personalized pricing, discounts, and product catalog tailoring. Custom pricing arrangements, quote management, bulk ordering, purchase order processing, account management tools, and requisition lists further enhance the B2B experience, ensuring efficiency and flexibility in managing transactions and customer relationships.

When comparing B2B features, BigCommerce stands out for its user-friendly approach and comprehensive tools. Unlike Shopify, BigCommerce offers more built-in B2B features, including quote management and requisition lists. While Magento is renowned for its high customization capabilities, BigCommerce strikes a balance by providing good B2B functionality without the complexity. Magento excels in advanced features and customization but might require more technical knowledge. Shopify, on the other hand, may necessitate additional custom apps for comprehensive B2B functionality, potentially increasing costs. BigCommerce emerges as an ideal choice for businesses seeking a middle ground – a platform offering great B2B features with all the benefits of SaaS.

Is BigCommerce good value for money?

While BigCommerce may not match Magento’s customization and scalability for complex enterprise needs, it balances advanced capabilities and user-friendliness, making it cost-effective, especially for B2B-focused organizations.

BigCommerce minimizes reliance on third-party apps with robust built-in features, ensuring a streamlined and cost-efficient eCommerce experience. It’s a solid choice for businesses seeking a middle ground between advanced functionality and ease of use in the competitive eCommerce platform landscape.

BigCommerce Enterprise is ideal for mid-range businesses and wholesalers in growth phases, offering powerful tools and excellent value for money. Its commitment to providing value to expanding companies sets it apart in the eCommerce space, making it a standout option for those seeking a robust solution for evolving needs.

What are BigCommerce’s challenges?

While BigCommerce offers many advantages, there are some challenges or drawbacks to consider:

  • Customization Constraints: Compared to highly customizable platforms like Magento, BigCommerce may have limitations in fine-tuning website design and functionality.
  • Learning Curve: While generally user-friendly, there may be a learning curve for those new to eCommerce or transitioning from other platforms. It’s not as user-friendly as Shopify.
  • Third-Party App Costs: Businesses may incur additional costs when using third-party apps to extend functionality, as BigCommerce’s built-in tools may not fully cover certain features.
  • Product Variant Limitations: If you have a massive number of SKUs, there are constraints on product variants and options, which may impact specific use cases.

For businesses seeking a middle ground—a platform that offers more advanced features than Shopify but without the complexity of Magento—BigCommerce is an ideal choice. It provides a balanced mix of functionality, flexibility, and ease of use, making it suitable for many eCommerce applications.

BigCommerce Pricing

Pricing for small stores can start as low as $29 a month, but any merchant doing over $400k annually in online sales will require BigCommerce Enterprise, which starts at $1,000 per month and goes up depending on online sales volume. For specific pricing tailored to your requirements, it’s recommended to contact us and we can help you work with BigCommerce to get a quote.

Magento, BigCommerce or Shopify: Which should you choose?

Deciding between Magento, BigCommerce, and Shopify is a strategic choice that hinges on your specific business needs, technical resources, operational scale, and long-term growth plans. Each platform offers distinct advantages: Magento’s robustness and customization for complex needs, Shopify’s user-friendliness and aesthetic appeal for small to medium-sized businesses, and BigCommerce’s balanced approach for merchants needing more built-in features and scalability. 

At InteractOne, our role extends beyond just recommending a platform. We partner with you to understand your unique challenges and opportunities, guiding you through the selection and setup process. Our expertise ensures that your eCommerce journey is built on a solid foundation tailored to your business’s unique trajectory.

    Get expert help today!

    An InteractOne Senior Team Member will get back to you within a day.

    Drop Us a Line At:

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    Adobe Announcements: Firefly AI & much much more!

    Adobe Announcements: Firefly AI & much much more!

    Apr 19, 2023 | Adobe/Magento, B2B, eCommerce, News, Technology

    The world has been abuzz recently with news of generative AI. Even though artificial intelligence has existed in some form for decades, marketers and eCommerce pros need to pay attention to the ongoing seismic shifts in this growing segment. This is important, especially if you are an Adobe customer. Because Shantanu Narayen, Chairman and CEO of Adobe, stole the show at their company’s annual Adobe Summit by announcing they’re entering the AI race, joining Microsoft, Google, and others by introducing a new family of generative AI models called Firefly. Firefly is a new group of generative AI models focused on creating images, video, and text effects. Firefly uses generative AI with graphics tools like brushes, color gradients, and video tools to speed up production and make it easier for creators to produce high-quality content. “Our belief is that generative AI will enhance human ingenuity, not replace it,” said Narayen; he also added, “Over time, AI will help us reimagine every aspect of marketing.” At launch, Adobe refers to Firefly as a Beta and will only be available through a website. But eventually, Adobe plans to tightly integrate generative AI tools within its suite of creative apps, like Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere, for your team to take advantage of. This addition to their suite of offerings is a big deal for Adobe. The company sits at the center of the creative app ecosystem, and over much of the past year, it’s stayed on the sidelines while newcomers to the creative space began to offer powerful tools for creating images, videos, and sound for next to nothing. The Adobe Summit also saw the launch of Sensei GenAI, natively embedded into the Adobe Experience Platform. However, it was not immediately clear how this would enhance the platform’s existing Sensei AI capabilities. Again, the aim seems to allow users to work with generative AI capabilities within Adobe Experience Cloud. In addition, Adobe also announced Adobe Mix Modeler, a new dashboard giving a cross-channel view of campaign performance, allowing real-time optimization of channel spend. Let’s take a look at the bigger picture of this announcement from Adobe and what it means for you, its customer base, and what other Adobe Commerce features are currently available to help you optimize performance.

    AI-optimized Live Search Results

      Almost two years ago, Adobe Commerce launched Live Search to provide lightning-fast search results, intelligent faceting, and search merchandising capabilities without investing in an expensive third-party solution. The latest release expands the use of Adobe Sensei in Live Search to deliver personalized results that boost relevance and conversion rates. For example, customers can optimize search results for specific queries by selecting from a set of five AI algorithms that include:
      • Recommended for You
      • Trending
      • Most Purchased
      Your team members can preview the impact of each algorithm in a test window before pushing anything live. Once a rule is set, Adobe Sensei automatically adjusts search results based on textual relevance and the selected algorithm to create a highly personalized product discovery experience. For example, the ‘Recommended for You’ algorithm surfaces products based on the shopper’s current and previous on-site behavior, and ‘Trending’ boosts products based on recent sales momentum. To learn more about Live Search capabilities, check out the release notes and documentation.

      Faster Live Search Setup and Performance

      Thanks to a new storefront widget, customers can now configure and launch a complete search interface and product listing page that will load not one, not two, not three, but five times faster. These increased load times are possible since all queries will be routed to Adobe’s search service for processing. In addition, the widget improves overall performance by removing the search traffic load from the site. Learn more about the Live Search widget here.

      Advanced Segmentation and Targeting

      Another new extension, Audience Activation, is changing the game! If you are looking to deliver real-time, one-to-one personalized experiences to your customers, you’ll want to take a mental note. With this update, your team can now use audiences created in Real-Time CDP to target content (dynamic blocks) and promotions (cart price rules) in Adobe Commerce. For example, a merchant can highlight a 20% off promotion on high-margin accessories to customers with a high propensity to purchase discounted add-ons. This deep integration enables more sophisticated personalization strategies that leverage data from the commerce site and other sources — like ERP and CRM systems — and AI-powered segmentation tools unique to Real-Time CDP. Learn more about the Audience Activation here.

      High-intent Data Sharing

      The surge in online interactions since the start of the pandemic has raised buyers’ expectations. Most expect businesses to tailor every interaction to their needs and preferences. To meet these demands, Adobe released a new update to the Experience Platform connected for Adobe Commerce, better known as Data Connection. This release will empower businesses to build rich customer profiles, including back-office order status information, and help to deliver personalized commerce journeys. This powerful native integration goes above and beyond the traditional storefront behavior monitoring and gives marketers access to the data they need to fuel more personalized, relevant, and timely messages, as well as power in-context promotions or content to each prospect or customer. For example, an order canceled due to a supply chain issue can trigger a customer notification with a substitution offer and special discount. The same data can also be used to understand the impact of cancellations on customer lifetime value. For B2B customers, Data Connection also shares information when requisition lists are created, and products are added or removed from lists. Learn more about Adobe Commerce data sharing capabilities here.

      Payment Services for UK and France

      Payment services for Adobe Commerce give merchants the simplicity of a unified platform, making it easier to securely manage transactions and order data from every storefront in one place – your eCommerce dashboard. Now available in the UK and France, Payment Services provides payment options, easy onboarding, and comprehensive customer reporting in multiple markets. Offering this level of payment options is another important way to make your customer’s shopping experience more seamless for better results. Learn more about payment services here.

      New Catalog Service Capabilities

      Enhancements to Catalog Service for Adobe Commerce now allow customers to retrieve category data and individual product details, which speeds up the time required to render category menus and trees on any page. Merchants can also request specific layers of the category tree to show only relevant data to the shopper.

      Bringing it All Together

      If this announcement proves anything, it’s that the Adobe Commerce platform is not only continuously growing in its offering and abilities, but it’s also increasing in complexity, which can feel overwhelming for eCommerce managers and teams. That’s where we come in. If you want to learn more about these new features or simply want to make the most of your current site, schedule a call with one of our Dev team members today. Stay tuned for more information on Firefly release notes and how Adobe Commerce can continue helping you and your brand succeed.

        Get expert help today!

        An InteractOne Senior Team Member will get back to you within a day.

        Drop Us a Line At:

        Our Contact Form

        Phone (USA): (513) 469-3362

        4665 Cornell Rd. Suite 255
        Cincinnati, OH 45241

        UPDATED for 2023 Shipping Rate Changes: how to prep & what to expect

        UPDATED for 2023 Shipping Rate Changes: how to prep & what to expect

        Mar 28, 2023 | Adobe/Magento, B2B, eCommerce, News, Technology

        When it comes to shipping, staying informed about current rates and shipping rate changes is crucial for ensuring that your customers are always aware of the latest costs and delivery times, and this year is certainly no exception. With inflation rates higher than ever, carriers such as UPS, UPS, DHL, and FedEx are definitely looking at an increase in costs which they will no doubt be passing along to you, the shipper.

        In this blog is everything you need to know about these price changes and what’s to come, but more importantly, what you can do to stay ahead.

        Read on for a full breakdown of the 2023 shipping price rates.

        USPS

        The following fee changes took effect on January 22, 2023:

        • Priority Mail commercial rates increased by 3.6%
        • Priority Mail Express service prices increased by 6.6%
        • Priority Mail Flat rates increased by 3$
        • First-Class Package Service prices increased by 7.8% 
        • Parcel Select service prices increased by approximately 5.5%
        • There is no price increase for Parcel Select Ground

        It is important to note that these rate changes will vary between service levels and depend on where you print USPS labels. For a complete guide to USPS’s shipping rate changes, click here. 

        UPS

        The 2023 UPS shipping rates that went into effect on December 22, 2022, have seen an average increase of about 6.9% across the board, matching FedEx.

        DHL Express

        DHL Express wasted no time enacting their 2023 shipping rate increases by an average of 7.9% on January 1, 2023. 

        FedEx

        The 2023 FedEx shipping rates that went into effect on January 2, 2023, have seen an average increase of about 6.9% across the board. The exact increase percentage from last year to this year varies depending on the package’s size, weight, shipping destination, and shipping origin. 

        It’s also worth noting that a delivery area surcharge of $13.25 will be applied per package for shipments traveling to specific ZIP codes within the contiguous 48 states. The exact amount of fuel surcharge will depend on market conditions and will be updated once more later this year on April 4, 2023.

        A complete list of FedEx’s shipping rate changes can be found on their website.

        Canada Post

        The 2023 Canada Post shipping rates increased by an average of 4.0% domestically and 1.4% US and internationally on January 9, 2023. For a full guide on Canada Post’s shipping rate changes, visit their guide.

        How You Can Save on Shipping in 2023

        This year, shipping rate increases didn’t entirely roll back from the higher prices during the peak holiday season. However, shipment services will continue growing in price year after year. If you don’t want to fall behind, use these tips to stay ahead:

        Free Shipping

        If you offer Free Shipping here are some options available to you:

        An Increase in product prices – If you’re still dead-set on maintaining your ‘free shipping’ options then an increase in product prices may be where you make up the loss incurred from the increased shipping costs. If you increase your products’ prices by the same percentage as these shipping increases you will maintain your magins. Although, your repeat and loyal customers may notice an increase in price, which could lead to an impact in their purchase frequency and shopping habits. This may be something worth A/B testing. 

        You could just do nothing – If you choose this route then you’ll need to absorb the increased cost of shipping yourself. Confirm your margins and your profitability before taking this route. 

        Consider a switch to ‘Free Shipping Minimums” – There is a compromise to be found between increasing your product prices and doing nothing. And that compromise is to add a free shipping minimum. This tactic has been shown to increase the average order value, which will help to offset the increased cost in shipping. This strategy will also pass along the cost of shipping directly to your customers if their order fails to reach the minimum threshold.

        Flat Rate

        If you offer Flat Rate Shipping here are some options available to you:

        You could just do nothing – Same as with Free Shipping, if you choose to do nothing then you’ll have to eat the cost yourself. Confirm this plan’s sustainability and long term functionality. 

        Adjust or introduce Order Value Ranges – There’s no rule that says your flat rates need to be the same for every order. Consider offering a higher flat rate on smaller orders and lower flat rates as orders and cart sizes increase. This will help off-set the increase in shipping costs. 

        Increase product prices – If you increase your products’ prices by the same percentage as these shipping increases you will maintain your magins. Although, your repeat and loyal customers may notice an increase in price, which could lead to an impact in their purchase frequency. 

        Increase Flat Rate Shipping – This increase may lead to similar results as an increase in product prices and it may impact your abandoned cart rates as customers will see this charge later on in the sales process. Consider altering the messaging and frequency of your Cart Abandonment emails if this is the path you choose.

        Calculated Shipping Rate

        If you offer Calculated Shipping here are some options available to you:

        You could just do nothing – If you use a calculated rates provider or app and you choose to do nothing then these new charges will be automatically updated as soon as they are implemented. 

        Decrease Product Price – Since your shipping rates are going to be automatically updated via your carrier extensions and applications a decrease in product price is an option. Once again, ensure that your margins are sustainable and pricing remains consistent and strategically in-line with the rest of your product line and your competitors.

        Adjust for 2023 and beyond

        While your current 2023 budget may need to be adjusted to account for some of these new charges, this might be a blessing in disguise. You could use this opportunity to rethink your entire shipping strategy from the ground up. If none of your calculations hit on your target margin, pricing strategy or shipping rate then it is time to go back to the drawing board. The team here at InteractOne is experienced and knowledgeable and ready to help craft a shipping strategy that works for you and your plans.

          Get expert help today!

          An InteractOne Senior Team Member will get back to you within a day.

          Drop Us a Line At:

          Our Contact Form

          Or, if you prefer an old-fashioned phone call:
          Phone (USA): (513) 469-3362

          4665 Cornell Rd. Suite 255
          Cincinnati, OH 45241

          Adobe Commerce B2B Tech Innovations You Must Have

          Adobe Commerce B2B Tech Innovations You Must Have

          Nov 7, 2022 | Adobe/Magento, B2B, News

          How much of your marketing experience is one-size-fits-all?

          We live in a world where increasingly, the customer holds the buying power. This means that for many business-to-business (B2B) brands to be successful, they need to turn individual users into product champions to help simplify complex buying journeys.

          But you already know that trying to speak to everyone in B2B means diluting the power of your message to your actual target audiences. On the other hand, a personalized marketing approach creates a better experience that leads to faster conversions and stronger prospect relationships.

          Personalized marketing can take up your team’s time and resources. But, if you’re a fast-growing company dealing with volumes of data and different types of users, personalization reaps the biggest results at scale. The more you can cut through the noise to personalize the ideal customer experience, the more successful your marketing will be.

          So where do you start — and what makes personalized marketing worth the effort?

          In this blog, we’ll discuss some new innovations that can help your business use personalization to achieve better conversion results.

          A Dynamic Duo for Revenue Growth

          How much of your marketing experience is one-size-fits-all?

          We live in a world where increasingly, the customer holds the buying power. This means that for many business-to-business (B2B) brands to be successful, they need to turn individual users into product champions to help simplify complex buying journeys.

          But you already know that trying to speak to everyone in B2B means diluting the power of your message to your actual target audiences. On the other hand, a personalized marketing approach creates a better experience that leads to faster conversions and stronger prospect relationships.

          Personalized marketing can take up your team’s time and resources. But, if you’re a fast-growing company dealing with volumes of data and different types of users, personalization reaps the biggest results at scale. The more you can cut through the noise to personalize the ideal customer experience, the more successful your marketing will be.

          So where do you start — and what makes personalized marketing worth the effort?

          In this blog, we’ll discuss some new innovations that can help your business use personalization to achieve better conversion results.

          Deploying the Appropriate Level of Personalization

          To give customers the tailored experiences they value, brands need to create a large amount of content across multiple channels – social, email, blogs, and more – because a personalized experience is just as much about the conversation as it is about the content. 

          Adobe announced Dynamic Chat for Marketo Engage to give website visitors the tailored and interactive experience they expect. Dynamic Chat enables brands to build vital connections when customers are ready. For example, site visitors can book a meeting with your sales team via chat technology, simplifying and accelerating their buyer journey. In addition, your team can quickly deploy the right chat based on detailed lead and account attributes to fully integrate chat into their cross-channel lead or account-based strategies. Your team will also be able to quickly analyze how many conversations have occurred, interaction rates, conversation completion, or abandonment rates, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. 

          To streamline cross-channel engagement beyond Marketo Engage, your team will now be able to create custom API-based campaigns and workflow actions that can be accessed in the UI and used in bringing campaigns to life.

          Web Developer

          Coordination between your marketing and sales teams is critical when engaging with the same accounts. To help streamline the process, Adobe is announcing a solution, Predictive Lead and Account Scoring, to help these two teams focus on the right prospects and act as one. This new solution will utilize article intelligence powered by Adobe Sensei to predict how likely a potential lead is to purchase a product or service based on certain attributes, such as site interactions, forms filled out, and more. 

          Sales representatives will also be able to prioritize leads and accounts that might otherwise close with Sales Insight from Marketo Engage. Sales Insight provides your sales team with multi-step engagement tools and content right inside your customer relationship management (CRM) for a complete workflow without the need to toggle between multiple applications. 

          With a single system for customer activity across teams, your team will have the capability to automatically start and stop campaigns based on sales engagement, and see all the activity marketing efforts for their accounts together in a single view. The result is more consistent and personalized experiences for customers, more effective sales teams, and higher marketing ROI.

          Bringing it all together

          Even though Adobe offers an excellent array of B2B innovations, these out-of-the-box solutions will still require personalization to be fully functional with any large eCommerce store.

          That’s where we come in. If you want to learn more about these new features or you simply want to make the most of your current store, schedule a call with a member of our Dev team today.

            Get expert help today!

            An InteractOne Senior Team Member will get back to you within a day.

            Drop Us a Line At:

            Our Contact Form

            Or, if you prefer an old-fashioned phone call:
            Phone (USA): (513) 469-3362

            4665 Cornell Rd. Suite 255
            Cincinnati, OH 45241

            Most Costly Adobe Commerce Problems – And How to Fix Them

            Most Costly Adobe Commerce Problems – And How to Fix Them

            Sep 7, 2022 | Adobe/Magento, News, Technology

            A lot of different factors are involved in the development of an eCommerce website and it is ultimately those same factors that will decide the fate of your business. They will also play a large role in  how users are going to interact with or find your website. 

            In this blog, we are going to share the most common issues encountered with the Adobe Commerce platform that your team might be experiencing and how to solve them. If you want to learn a little more about the powerful and exclusive money-making features of Abobe Commerce check out our blogs The 5 Most Valuable, Exclusive, Money-Making Features on Adobe Commerce and Future Proof your Webstore with Adobe Commerce 2.4.5

            Slow Performance

            Having a fast-loading, high-performance website is crucial to your eCommerce business. Why? Because the speed of your web pages play a vital role in your user experience, conversions, and Search Ranking. Unfortunately, too many eCommerce merchants place a priority on having a site with too many bells and whistles and an overly sophisticated website design, all of which slow the site rendering speed. 

            A slow-loading site can cause major conversion rate issues that dramatically affect your sales.  Some extensions (and extension providers) are notorious for breaking Adobe Commerce’s cache and not working properly with JS bundling and CSS/HTML minification.  These extensions can create very slow page loads and poor performance across the site.

            Your site speed is important for the overall user experience you are trying to create and if your site takes a long time to load (especially on mobile) causing impatient customers to leave your site, increasing l your overall bounce rate and reducing the average time spent on your site. Slow loading sites also get lower SEO scores from Google and affect your business’s conversion rates; which further exacerbates the problem. In fact, the highest eCommerce conversion rates occur on pages with load times between 0-2 seconds, with nearly 70% of consumers admitting that a page speed beyond this impacts their willingness to buy from an online retailer, according to a study by Portent. 

            Every extension should be reviewed by a senior developer before being installed and a full regression test and possibly a load test of the site should be performed before releasing the extension to production. For more information on factors that might be affecting your site speed, check out our blog, Perfect Page, Poor Traffic? Why Site Speed Matters. 

            Conflicts

            For the eCommerce teams that do not plan their websites correctly, it is easy to go overboard and install extensions that affect your website’s functionality. That can be easy to do with the 3,800 extensions that the official Adobe Commerce Marketplace offers. This is because sometimes it’s not possible for all 3rd party extensions to be tested against one another. They also might not be of top quality which may hinder your customer’s experience. Another conflict your team might be experiencing is incorrect database configurations. If you are using Magento 2.4 or above, it is essential that your team upgrade your database to MySQL 8; which can take your performance to the next level. According to a report, this database upgrade can improve the performance of a website twice as much as its previous versions.

            To help stay on point with your sales strategy while improving your performance and experience on your website, the solution to this issue is to ensure that full regression testing and load testing are routinely performed before releasing any extension into production. In addition, you can set indexers to ‘update on schedule’ rather than ‘update on save’ to help eliminate Adobe Commerce performance issues in case of large volumes of traffic, especially around the holidays or other particularly busy times. 

            Support

            Sometimes extension providers are slow to respond to support requests or they simply stop supporting their extension.  Although not common, we have seen this happen several times in the past.  The most significant impact can be when an extension provider decides to stop supporting their extension altogether.  This means the merchant is forced to either pay a developer to keep upgrading the extension to match overall site upgrades or replace that extension with something else.  

            One of the most popular extensions to lose support recently has been the Ultimo theme.  This extension was used by many merchants, all of whom were left with no support when the Ultimo theme developer decided to no longer support or upgrade their theme.

            The recommended solution to this issue is to only purchase extensions from the bigger and more well regarded providers like Aheadworks or Magefan who have more resources for support and are not likely to fold up shop anytime soon.

            Solutions

            Slow loading pages, especially for mobile users, are by far the most important and costly of the issues outlined above when it comes to improving conversion because these issues involves not only a lot of quality assurance testing, but the following interdependent processes:

            • Analyzing all 3rd party extensions and custom code to find which modules are causing performance issues.
            • Any necessary work to resolve those issues (replacing modules, refactoring code, etc.).
            • Full regression testing of the site to ensure the resolutions work properly.
            • Identifying any unused or bloated Javascript code causing performance issues.
            • Any unforeseen work that might be required to remove/replace or refactor Javascript code.
            • Full regression testing of the site to ensure the proper functionality is in place based on the above task. 
            • Minimize CSS/HTML and Javascript
            • Full regression testing of the site again.
            • Work with full page caching and CDNs to further optimize page loads and image sizes etc.
            • Full regression testing of the site again.

            After these steps are followed to correct and improve your site speed, your team can determine which approaches to take for further conversion improvement, such as A/B testing or hiring a third-party expert.

            Side Note: ​​If this all seems like a lot that’s because it is. If you’d like to speak with an expert click here.

            Bringing it all Together

            Before proceeding to make any changes to these third-party codes or any performance issues, it is important to make sure you understand where the bugs and issues reside and how to fix them; which can quickly turn into a larger task than originally anticipated. That’s where we come in. It’s vital to have a team of experts that understand your needs and who provide the right solutions to help you stay at the top of search results and ensure a better return on your investment. Please feel free to reach out if you’d like to talk.

              Get expert help today!

              An InteractOne Senior Team Member will get back to you within a day.

              Drop Us a Line At:

              Our Contact Form

              Or, if you prefer an old-fashioned phone call:
              Phone (USA): (513) 469-3362

              4665 Cornell Rd. Suite 255
              Cincinnati, OH 45241

              Now Available – Future Proof your Webstore with Adobe Commerce 2.4.5

              Now Available – Future Proof your Webstore with Adobe Commerce 2.4.5

              Aug 9, 2022 | Adobe/Magento, News, Technology

              Adobe’s (Magento) latest and greatest update is arriving tomorrow, August 10th – Adobe Commerce 2.4.5.

              Adobe Commerce 2.4.5, marks a new step forward in commerce capabilities, security, and performance. The advancements in this release set the foundation for the next several years of Adobe innovations to ensure your commerce business continues to be resilient. This release strategy also ensures that customers maintain the ability to adapt to changing market trends with continued flexibility to customize.

              In addition to platform quality improvements and enhanced security, Adobe Commerce 2.4.5 includes improvements to payment methods, accessibility, Adobe Commerce branding, integrated Google Modules, and Adobe Commerce IMS integration (single Adobe account login). 

              Other updates include PWA 12.5, Live Search B2B support, B2B Shared Catalog scalability and performance improvements, GraphQL Caching Performance improvements, Page Builder 1.7.2, and updates to Channel Manager and Upgrade Compatibility Tool.

              Adobe Commerce is not only growing in its offering and abilities but it is also continuing to increase in its complexity; which can feel overwhelming for eCommerce managers and teams. That’s where we come in. We’ve been a Certified Adobe partner for 14 years now, all the way back to the launch of the original  ‘Magento! version’. Book your consultation with a senior member of our development team to implement these changes and updates once the launch is live.

              Stay tuned for more information on release notes and how Adobe Commerce 2.4.5 will directly affect you and your brand.

                Get expert help today!

                An InteractOne Senior Team Member will get back to you within a day.

                Drop Us a Line At:

                Our Contact Form

                Or, if you prefer an old-fashioned phone call:
                Phone (USA): (513) 469-3362

                4665 Cornell Rd. Suite 255
                Cincinnati, OH 45241

                The 5 Most Valuable, Exclusive, Money-Making Features on Adobe Commerce

                The 5 Most Valuable, Exclusive, Money-Making Features on Adobe Commerce

                Jul 12, 2022 | Adobe/Magento, eCommerce, News

                As the world continues to evolve as a digital-first paradigm, customers’ expectations are higher than ever. They expect great performance, top-notch security, and engaging interactions that meet them where they are. As an eCommerce manager, it’s important to know you’re on solid ground with every aspect of your storefront, from infrastructure to innovative tools to on-point back- and front-end performance to achieve this level of personalization

                Whether you want to offer additional shopping experiences, payment methods, personalization services, or shopping assistance tools, Adobe Commerce (AC) is here to help. The robust set of features this platform provides are powerful and unique, but they might not meet all of your unique needs straight out of the box. Customization to create unique and compelling user experiences is required to make the most out of AC. Our team of experts can help you leverage the powerful features of AC and customize the platform to create shopping experiences that delight your customers and fuel your growth.

                In this blog, we will unveil the top features of AC that will empower you to deliver a personalized shopping experience both in-store and online for your customers.

                Five features exclusive to Adobe Commerce

                The AC platform offers the best of both the Adobe and Magento brands: a world-class, open-source B2B and B2C eCommerce platform, plus a JavaScript-based content management system capable of crafting personalized digital experiences for customers.

                Here are some of its exclusive features that will take your customers from browse to buy:

                1. Content Staging: This feature allows merchants to schedule the release of new banners, pages, promotions, and content updates. This feature is extremely beneficial for managing (scheduling) sale events. For example, with this feature, your team will have the ability to schedule a new sale to start at midnight and all the content and promotion will automatically update without your content administrator being required to update the site at midnight manually. Conversely, the sale can also be scheduled to end at a certain time, requiring no manual intervention from the content admin.

                2. B2B Features: The B2B suite of features is extremely powerful and valuable for merchants in the B2B eCommerce sector.  This suite of features represents millions of dollars worth of custom development that all comes as out-of-the-box functionality that is maintained and upgraded by Adobe Commerce. The B2B module also comes with the following list of additional features:

                • Request for Quote: the customer can request a quote and the admin of your page can either approve or send a revised quote. Once both parties agree, the customer can automatically place the order, with the revised and agreed-upon pricing, directly into their cart.
                • Shared Catalog: If your eCommerce department requires access to multiple catalogs for different customers based on their customer group, this is pretty helpful. This feature also helps set customer-specific pricing alongside the regular pricing rules.
                • Company Accounts: This is the key entity within B2B on which all other features are in some way dependent as it allows joining multiple buyers that belong to the same company into a single company account (or corporate account). The company administrator is able to build the company structure (divisions, subdivisions, and users) in the appropriate hierarchy and provide different user roles and permissions to the company members. This hierarchy allows the company administrator to control user activity for the company account: ordering, quoting, purchasing, access to company credit information or profile, and so on.
                • Requisition List: This is a very helpful tool that allows for frequently ordered items to be created as a list.
                • Quick Order: With most B2B businesses, the end customer will have the list of SKUs and their quantities to place an order directly rather than having to add them one by one from the respective product detail pages.

                3. Customer Segmentation / Rewards & Loyalty: These are often overlooked features, but when they are employed properly they can be great tools for engaging and retaining customers. By segmenting customers and then rewarding them, merchants can greatly increase customer loyalty. A loyalty program for an eCommerce store is a customer retention tool meant to keep customers engaged and loyal to your store. Loyalty rewards may range from freebies, discounts, coupons, or cash back. For example, your analytics department may wish to target all of your female customers who are in the age range of 18 to 40 with specific promotions in real-time. Your team could also take a marketing approach similar to Starbucks who lets individual customers earn stars for every dollar they spend. At 60 stars, they can snag a free drink or get a free slice of cake. For further information on loyalty programs, check out our blog post, What Apparel and Accessories Brands Must Know About Establishing A Loyalty Program.

                4. Dynamic Blocks: This tool provides the ability to display banners and content based on custom segments, promotions, and price rules. For example, using dynamic banners your team can display a banner in the cart letting customers that are getting close to a certain cart size and let them know that if they reach a certain spending threshold they can qualify for wholesale pricing and free shipping. This feature can be extremely useful for any eCommerce business owner that might be using the customer segmentation and loyalty features to create a more personalized shopping experience.

                5. Visual Merchandiser: This advanced tool allows your developers to position products and apply conditions that determine which products appear in the category listing. The result can be a dynamic selection of products that adjusts to changes in the catalog. 

                Side Note: ​​Apart from this list, the Adobe Commerce platform also provides your team with hosting, monitoring, and maintenance that are not available in the Magento Community edition.

                Your team has the option to work in visual mode, which shows each product as a tile on a grid or to work from a list of products in the category. This tool is very useful for any merchant managing a large catalog of products and can be very helpful in making categories well merchandised and easy to shop.

                Bringing it all together

                Ready to take your eCommerce website to new heights? Where your team can access cutting-edge commerce features, functionality, templates, and services — all with the click of a button? Adobe Commerce could be the perfect solution your team is looking for.

                At InteractOne, we have helped hundreds of merchants set up and migrate their eCommerce websites so they can focus on the long-term growth of their business and meeting customers where they are.

                  Get expert help today!

                  An InteractOne Senior Team Member will get back to you within a day.

                  Drop Us a Line At:

                  Our Contact Form

                  Or, if you prefer an old-fashioned phone call:
                  Phone (USA): (513) 469-3362

                  4665 Cornell Rd. Suite 255
                  Cincinnati, OH 45241

                  Magento is Now Adobe Commerce – All You Need to Know

                  Magento is Now Adobe Commerce – All You Need to Know

                  Mar 17, 2022 | Adobe/Magento, eCommerce, News

                  To compete in hyper-competitive, oversaturated markets, companies can’t afford to be complacent. This is true for both mom-and-pop shops and Fortune 500s alike. And while the importance of continuously spurring innovation is universal for all brands, it’s especially critical within the world of Big Tech, an industry where even Goliaths can fall, and fall quickly, should they fail to evolve.

                  One of the most important ways that major players embrace this ethos of ceaselessly optimizing their product offering is through mergers and acquisitions. Facebook expanding its reach and impact with the acquisition of Instagram is a great example. Adobe, the multinational software giant, is no exception to this business practice. Nearly three years after acquiring the Magento platform, Adobe is in its final stages of an integration that has been happening behind the scenes for some time now; a unified Adobe Commerce brand that will not only increase their business but yours, as well.

                  In this blog post, we will discuss what this rebrand and the latest round of updates means for you, your business, and your webstore.

                  What does the Adobe-Magento integration mean?

                  ​​Magento has been a key part of the Adobe family for some time, providing the eCommerce element that was missing from its fantastic digital ecosystem.

                  Yet this renaming comes at a crucial time in the company’s growth and signifies the direction it is heading now and into the future.

                  What does this all mean for customers and merchants?

                  The licensed version formerly known as “Magento Commerce Edition” will now be known as “Adobe Commerce”. The “Magento Open Source”, formerly known as “Magento Community Edition”, will keep the Open Source name. The important thing to remember when you’re skimming this site or you’re in the Adobe Portal and you see “Adobe Commerce”, is that it is still the same Magento Commerce Edition you know and love but with a name that reflects its new owner.

                  The Adobe Commerce platform will offer the best of both the Adobe and Magento brands: a world-class, open-source B2B and B2C eCommerce platform, plus a java-based content management system capable of crafting personalized digital experiences for customers.

                  How will you benefit from the acquisition?

                  Adobe Commerce customers should be excited about what the future holds with this rebrand. With these new integrations, there are both immediate and long-term benefits, including:

                  Progressive Web Applications (PWA) Studio: this new development will make PWA development ownership faster, cheaper, and easier to launch multiple international sites that require multi-currency and multi-language support. PWA Studio enables merchants to use the same cloud hosting for their back-end and storefront. Consequently, you can create an integrated eCommerce site with increased engagement, conversion rates, and revenue.

                  AI-Powered Site Search: This feature offers search-as-you-type results that become smarter over time using Adobe Sensei AI. Analyzing shopper behavior, this search feature will fine-tune results to increase conversions and provide reporting on ‘no result’ searches so that you can optimize for those as well.

                  Product Recommendations for B2B: Originally launched as a B2C feature that used consumer data to create personalized suggestions to enhance the user experience and increase sales, Adobe Commerce turns this feature into a tool that can be utilized by B2B businesses. The feature does all this by automatically analyzing shopper behavior, conversion factors, contextual and item popularity across the storefront. The product recommendations engine will soon accommodate different recommendation rules such that you can include different prices depending on varying buyer catalogs. With less manual input, this feature is a valuable asset to monitor campaign performance and boost your ROI. It can also be integrated into your PWA Studio storefront.

                  Adobe Sign Integration: Need a signature to finalize transactions? This e-signing software is being integrated directly into Adobe Commerce so that buyers can complete their purchase directly on your website without having to disrupt the transaction flow to sign contracts on another platform, or via email, when completing purchase orders, contracts, service agreements, waivers, warranties, and subscriptions. This seamless integration will simplify the purchase process, reduce drop-offs, and increase sales.

                  New Financing Tool: Looking for capital to scale up your business? The new financing solution that comes from a collaboration between Abobe Commerce and Wayflyer, allows you to use funds to boost inventory and/or vamp up your online marketing efforts. This tool will allow you to add inventory during peak online business seasons and invest in interest and demand-generation activities, such as discounted programs. You will also be able to utilize the Wayflyer Analytics tool to provide insights on your digital marketing campaigns and adjust your marketing funds input to maximize profits.

                  Bringing it all together

                  By bringing in new functions such as Live Search and Adobe Sign to Adobe Commerce, Adobe is continuing to improve the platform and provide solutions for customers every step of their user journey.

                  This may seem like a lot, because it is. Adobe Commerce is becoming more sophisticated by the day. What’s your biggest concern about these updates and the health of your webstore? Tell us all about it.

                    Get expert help today!

                    An InteractOne Senior Team Member will get back to you within a day.

                    Drop Us a Line At:

                    Our Contact Form

                    Or, if you prefer an old-fashioned phone call:
                    Phone (USA): (513) 469-3362

                    4665 Cornell Rd. Suite 255
                    Cincinnati, OH 45241

                    Adobe (Magento) Commerce 2.4.4 – More Than Just a Name Change

                    Adobe (Magento) Commerce 2.4.4 – More Than Just a Name Change

                    Mar 11, 2022 | Adobe/Magento, eCommerce, News

                    Magento’s latest and greatest update is arriving this month. Here’s how this release directly affects you and your brand:

                    If this all feels overwhelming, that’s where we come in. Book your consultation with your Magento Certified Partner right now to implement these changes. Spots are filling up.

                    Magento Name Change

                    You may have already started to notice a little less ‘Magento’ in your life. That’s because Adobe, which purchased Magento back in May of 2018, is changing the name of the licensed version of the platform. Moving forward “Magento Commerce Edition” will now be known as Adobe Commerce. Nothing else about the platform, its services or capabilities, has changed. Just the name. Magento Open Source, also known as Magento Community Edition, will remain the same. But don’t be alarmed or confused when you’re reading this blog or you’re in the Adobe Portal or combing through promotional material when you see “Adobe Commerce”. It’s still the same Magento Enterprise you know and love but with a name that reflects its new owner.

                    Release Date Moved

                    The most recent and relevant bit of news related to the Adobe Commerce 2.4.4 update is related to its release date. Originally slated for March 8th, Adobe has announced that the pre-release period for Adobe Commerce customers is now scheduled for March 29th with the general availability date for both Adobe Commerce and Adobe Open Source now being pushed to April 12. Adobe credits the delay to additional time needed to develop and test security patches.

                    Security Enhancements in Adobe Commerce 2.4.4

                    This new version includes three security improvements, platform security enhancements, and three bug fixes. After the release, several of these security patches have been backported to Adobe Commerce 2.4.3-p2 and Adobe Commerce 2.3.7-p3.

                    Besides, as of now, there have been no confirmed assaults linked to these concerns. On the other hand, some flaws might be used to steal customer information or take over administrator sessions. Other changes include:

                    • The database no longer keeps track of session IDs.
                    • Uploads of non-alpha-numeric file extensions have been improved to ensure safer data upload.
                    • Support for reCAPTCHA has been added to coupon codes.
                    • Swagger is now switched off by default when Adobe Commerce runs in production mode.

                    PayPal Enhancements in Adobe Commerce 2.4.4

                    Merchants will see a number of PayPal improvements with this update including:

                    • Venmo Integration – customers now have a Venmo payment option built into Paypal functionality
                    • Pay Later Updates
                      • The Customer’s country can now be specified when conducting a consumer survey in their native country. The test was previously confined to testing only for the nation in which the merchant is based. This change only applies in sandbox mode.
                      • Customers will now have the option to ‘Pay Later’ based on their geotargeted location. This option is only available to customers, not merchants.
                      • The messaging on the Pay Later section of the checkout page will now deliver accurate information about how much and in how many increments consumers will be charged when utilizing the Pay Later option.

                    Page Builder Update in Adobe Commerce 2.4.4

                    To improve the merchant’s content accessibility, merchants will now be able to add alternative text (alt-text) to Images ( Banner, Slide, Image). GitHub-746

                    Accessibility Updates in Adobe Commerce 2.4.4

                    This latest update will add more conformance to industry-standard accessibility standards. This includes accessible naming and tagging of screen elements, redesigned icons and buttons as well as enhanced tooltips.

                    • The navigational accessibility issues on the Cart and Checkout pages will be resolved. GitHub-34483
                    • All relevant form elements on Product Pages can now be read via Screen Readers. 
                    • Low vision users will see improvements to the contrast for Image Delete as well as new locations for the Icon buttons throughout the storefront. These are to enhance the readability. 
                    • The magnifying glass icon used to perform searches throughout the product interface has a textual alternative and an accessible name.
                    • The Tab key is now used to access the rich text editor toolbar.
                    • On the Catalog > Product details page, the “This Item Has Weight’ input select will now feature visible labels and an accessible name.

                    Cart and Checkout Updates in Adobe Commerce 2.4.4

                    Arguably the most important part of the entire eCommerce experience is seeing some updates as well. Let’s see what’s in store for the Cart and Checkout.

                    • “Advertised Minimum Price” – this link which lives on the Cart page is now clickable and will open as an information popup. Previously this link was broken and had no effect.
                    • Timeout Error – In previous versions after a Session Timeout, Adobe Commerce would display a ‘Payment Error’ message. But now, customers can place orders without errors in deployments with a persistent shopping cart enabled after a session timeout.
                    • Assigning a high order value to a customer address attribute degrades checkout page performance.
                      • Adobe Commerce will revert the shopping cart product quantity to the previous value if the updated quantity is invalid.

                    Product Video Update in Adobe Commerce 2.4.4

                    Currently when adding an incomplete video URL (Admin Catalog > Products > Add Video) the Save button would become disabled and no fields would be filled in. Now, if an incomplete URL is added the Save button will be activated and additional fields will be autocompleted.

                    Import/Export Updates in in Adobe Commerce 2.4.4

                    • Adobe Commerce now converts the timestamp in the export filename to the user’s timezone following a scheduled export. Previously, these values were not converted, and Adobe Commerce displayed the UTC timestamp.
                    • When the same CSV file is imported multiple times, Adobe Commerce no longer creates duplicate images in remote storage.

                    Recommended Upgrade Paths for 2022 and Beyond

                    eCommerce is never truly complete, it’s an evolution, a winding road always laid before you. Your business must remain committed to the journey by introducing the latest functionalities and capabilities to keep your customers engaged and converting. Staying up-to-date not only keeps you in lockstep with your customers but a step ahead of your competitors as well. Upgrading your site to Adobe Commerce 2.4.4 is the next, crucial step. Innovations include:

                    • Faster access to innovative features delivered as SaaS services
                    • Easier and more cost-effective maintenance and upgrades
                    • Continued flexibility and customization to meet unique business needs
                    • Significant increases in performance and scalability
                    • Better developer experience and tooling
                    • Ability to more deeply integrate with other Adobe Experience Cloud applications

                    Don’t waste another day. Don’t lose another conversion. Contact a Senior Member of our Development team and get this update moving today.

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