February 21, 2018 By BJ Cook,

Are you ready to make the move to Magento Commerce 2 (M2)? How do you know when the time is right and if you're fully prepared?

Making the decision to upgrade might seem scary or like a lot of work, but as an ecommerce company, failure to do so could prevent your business from reaching its potential. M2 can facilitate long-term growth and scalability, and offers the flexibility needed to keep up with the evolution of your company. We aren’t going to lie; migrating is a lot of work … but it doesn’t need to be scary.

As a starting point, we recommend mapping out a plan of attack that starts with an inventory of what your website contains, and how that maps into Magento 2.2, or soon to be Magento 2.3. Once you're done with that, identify the right team members, partners, and/or technology vendors that need to play a role in the migration. This will allow you to get everyone on the same page and avoid any potential issues. Once your team is in place, develop a roadmap with milestones along the way and get to executing.

We are a digital agency with a long history of growing ecommerce brands and helping them succeed with the Magento platform (and by long history, we mean almost 10 years). We’ve helped many merchants prepare to replatform, and we know the secrets for ensuring that the move is smooth and successful. Check out these Magento insights and tips from some of our Magento practice team leaders:

What are the biggest benefits of M2?
  • It is completely customizable. You can tweak features and functionality, and ultimately maintain full control over what your website does and doesn’t do. With access to the source code, Magento can be configured to match your business goals exactly, and at the scale you need.
  • Multi-store functionality, or the ability to have one Magento installation with multiple stores, languages, and/or currencies.
  • Business to business (B2B) features, including tiered account management, quick reorder functionality, negotiated pricing terms, and customized product catalogs. (Want an example? Check out this B2B case study on a global shoe brand that we helped migrate from M1 to M2.)
Which merchants are the best fit for Magento 2?

Growing ecommerce companies that need a platform that can scale at the same pace as their brand. Magento is customizable and flexible, so as your business grows and changes, Magento will be able to keep pace.

What is the biggest difference between M1 and M2?

M2 offices a new suite of tools in their platform ecosystem, including B2B functionality, business intelligence, order management, and cloud deployment. The customer shopping experience has been streamlined and optimized for performance as well, and includes a newly upgraded and user-friendly admin to help merchants be efficient in their typical day-to-day work.

What would you say to a merchant that is nervous about moving to M2?

The migration process can be as complicated or as simple as you want it to be. All Magento installations start “out of the box,” and then as you add customizations, it gets more complicated but also more advanced. The beauty of Magento is that it’s so versatile, you can code it to do virtually anything you want.

Want to learn more about migrating to M2?

If you’re located in San Diego, join us for Mimosas & Magento and learn more about how M2 can facilitate growth and scalability for your business in a casual, interactive, and educational setting. We'll talk about your biggest concerns, how to prepare, and the secrets to making your replatform smooth and successful. This is a free event on Thursday, February 22nd, but space is limited, so RSVP soon to save your spot!

If you’re not local to San Diego, stay tuned for a recap of our event, including key insights and takeaways. We’ll post it to our blog within the week following the event, so check back here or subscribe to our newsletter below!

You can also check out our Injinji case study for a real-life example of one of our clients that recently made the move to M2. Injinji, the performance toe sock brand, partnered with Digital Operative to launch a new ecommerce experience on M2 for consumers that focuses on better product education, interactive merchandising, and social proof.

Get In Touch!

We are a Magento Professional Solutions Partner that has been helping merchants succeed with the Magento platform for nearly ten years. We offer a variety of technology services focused around the Magento platform, including Magento 2 Enterprise Development, Managed Support and Continuous Improvement, and Magento 1 to Magento 2 Migration. Contact us to learn more about our Magento Development services!

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