Magento - Innovative Open-Source Enterprise Technology for highly efficient e-Commerce Solutions
E-commerce is the growth market par excellence and promises considerable growth rates in the future. Multichannel, mobile and social commerce are the current trends in web-based business. Magento as a powerful e-commerce platform is the ideal software for the deployment of high quality state-of-the-art web shops.
About Magento
Magento was developed by the U.S. eCommerce company Varien, founded as an ad agency in Los Angeles in 2001. Varien has been designing eCommerce projects since 2003. The company began to develop the Magento online store system in 2007. The first usable version, Magento 1.0, was released to the international market at the end of March 2008. Since then, the system has become an established alternative with a lively ecosystem of service providers and business partners. The application is available with the GNU General Public License (GPL).
Technological basis
Magento is written in PHP and uses the MySQL database. Other databases, such as PostgreSQL and Oracle, can be used with corresponding interface adaptations. Magento is based on the object-oriented ZendFramework, which forms the technological base for the system itself and for individual upgrades. Among the highly efficient basic features of the system is the integrated multi-domain concept, which makes it possible to generate several different views of an online store or to manage completely different stores within the same Magento entity. In addition, a variety of inventory management, product presentation and sales process options is available for individual stores. The processing of customer orders is also simplified by providing a variety of payment systems, variable tax rates and the ability to define separate customer groups.
Magento's flexibility makes it possible to integrate individual templates into the system to give each online store its own distinctive look. Magento distinguishes between business logic and presentation level. That allows a 1:1 implementation of design features in the system, which leads to a unified customer approach across all channels. Special user experiences can be implemented using rich media applications.
Last but not least, thanks to its open system architecture Magento represents a new generation of eCommerce software that offers comprehensive basic features but can also be tailored to individual needs. Individual modules can expand the system in almost any direction, implement individual business logic and solve special requirements. This ensures not only the topicality and future viability of Magento but also the system's ability to adapt and transform itself in a rapidly changing market environment. By strictly separating core functions and expansion modules, adjustments can be made to the online store at any time without affecting the core of the system. With that, the website can always be updated despite its highly flexible functionality.
Magento and the user
Magento also convinces with its user friendliness and its focus on the product itself. The user is guided through the store step by step, thus ensuring optimal usability of the system. A wish list feature allows the customer to earmark and organize his or her favorite products. These are then transferred to the shopping cart at a later date. A product search and a persisting shopping cart are other features that makes shopping easier for the customer. The product search enables users to quickly find items in the web shop. After activating the "Persistent Shopping Carts", it is possible that customers fill their shopping cart in the evening and place the order days later without losing the cart.
Features such as intelligent search functions, filters and product ratings contribute to the customers’ shopping experience and offer a wide range of simplifications that are missed as core functionalities in many other shop solutions. As a social commerce platform Magento also offers many features that exceed pure usability aspects.
Magento products and application fields
Magento as a software system is available in two different variants: the Magento Community Edition as an open-source project can be loaded and used for own projects without paying any licensing fees. As a certified version with added service components by the manufacturer, Magento Enterprise is provided for professional use in business critical environments. Both versions are suitable for productive deployments. The decision for one version depends on many factors and should be based on professional consultancy. In addition to these two products there is another innovative platform: Magento mobile provides a mobile version of a web shop for iPhone, iPad, and Android-based devices.
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