Magento will cease development and patching of its Magento 1 platform at the end of June. Several development partners have announced that they will continue to support the platform for a short period of time. However, all merchants using Magento 1 software will have to choose a new e-commerce software sooner or later.
Not all merchants may decide to use open source software anymore, because compared to the early days of Magento, today's SaaS, or software for rent, is significantly better than it was in 2008.
Using open source Magento software
Magento is open source software, with support ending on June 30, 2020. This means that once you have used it to build your online store, you are responsible for maintaining the entire software and for ensuring the security of its use by your customers. The biggest downside of open source is that people with malicious intent have the same ability to download and examine the code.
Basically, hackers have full access to your source code. This isn’t as bad as it sounds – developers work hard to keep the code secure, but hackers are always looking for weaknesses in the code that they can exploit. They also have a huge financial incentive, as this is e-commerce software that is used by thousands of other e-commerce sites.
When a new security hole is discovered, Magento releases a patch to fix it. With active software, new features and fixes are developed regularly until the platform is obsolete.
Sometimes these updates are small and don’t take much time, and sometimes they are quite large and require a lot of time and effort from your e-commerce manager or development partner. In either case, keeping your site up-to-date and secure can be expensive and time-consuming.
SaaS (software as a service) is becoming very popular because it allows merchants to avoid paying for updates and managing the risks associated with updates. However, it also comes with limitations that merchants using Magento may not be used to.
Advantages of SaaS e-commerce software
SaaS e-commerce platforms are attractive to businesses moving from Magento because they solve many of the pain points associated with open source.
With aaS, you simply rent the software instead of owning it. The software owner handles all the technical aspects, allowing you to focus on more important things, like growing your e-commerce business. Regular updates and development of your e-commerce site are a thing of the past, and the monthly fee also includes hosting and general SLA costs.
New features can be easily added using apps (some free, some paid) from the Shopify app store that the merchant can install and remove themselves. You usually don't need a developer to install an app or module, although sometimes the advice of a Shopify expert can be helpful, otherwise you may simply not find the right solution.
Overall, more money is left in your pocket from the development and maintenance budget, which in turn can be used to better market the e-store's products.
The downsides of SaaS platforms
If you don't have access to the source code, there are just some things you unfortunately can't do yourself.
SaaS platforms add flexibility through apps or plugins that you can easily install, but that doesn’t mean you can always configure and develop the software however you like. Merchants coming from Magento 1 may simply have to rethink their e-commerce needs and give up some functionality. For example, you may need to adapt your shopping journey strategy to the capabilities of your software, while with Magento 1 you can build everything you need for your shopping process.
Review your Magento e-commerce journey and automated backend processes and ask a Shopify expert for a consultation. This way you will immediately know if you can continue with similar e-commerce functionality or if you will have to make some compromises
Shopify - The SaaS e-commerce market leader
Shopify is one of the first SaaS e-commerce platforms to gain global recognition and acceptance, and thanks to its early adoption and continuous improvement, it is arguably the most popular SaaS platform. From the very beginning, Shopify has sought to make it quick and easy for merchants to build their own sites.
This may seem common today, but when Shopify first came out, it was almost unheard of. Back then, platforms and their management were more the domain of developers, and the focus was on very complex systems. No one was aiming for ease of use or trying to make it accessible to the average merchant.
Shopify's focus on keeping the software fast means you can't customize it endlessly. Simplicity and convenience are Shopify's greatest strength and also its greatest weakness.
Shopify's strengths
The simplicity of the Shopify platform really helps the merchant focus on the core business of their business, which is selling products.
Training new employees to run your e-commerce operations through Shopify is also much easier than on more complex platforms.
You will likely spend significantly less time updating and maintaining your Shopify website, so you and your staff can focus on other areas. You certainly won't need a large development partner with a software development team, as most of the work required can be done by a single Shopify expert.
Shopify obviously enjoys all the aforementioned benefits of a SaaS e-commerce store, which there’s no point in going into detail here. Instead, we’ll touch on its biggest strength compared to its closest SaaS competitors. The thing that makes Shopify stand out is its large community and hype surrounding the platform. This attention and growing merchant base means it has incredible third-party support in both the app development market and in terms of templates. No other SaaS platform can compete with Shopify yet. Shopify just recently launched its 1,000,000th online store.
Shopify Shortcomings
Shopify is a good example of a closed and not so flexible SaaS platform, the main way to add new functionality is through API connections. However, access to the API is partially or completely restricted to the public or requires separate permission from Shopify. For example, it is not possible to make many changes to the checkout view and operating a multilingual e-shop is complicated. Although Shopify has made several major software steps in the last 6 months to make it easier to run international e-shops.
Coming from Magento 1, you're used to being able to program your own solution despite all the limitations. However, when you're moving to a SaaS platform like Shopify, you definitely need to familiarize yourself with the available functionality and make sure you understand how the chosen platform covers your e-commerce needs.
Why do merchants prefer Shopify?
The initial cost and ease of setting up a Shopify e-store are very attractive, especially for smaller businesses with limited resources. If you are still in the early stages of growth, your e-commerce needs can be more easily accommodated by the limitations of the technology. For larger, more established merchants, it is much more difficult to change their systems or adapt processes to the platform.
If your needs are more complex than average and changing your work processes would negatively impact your business, you probably don't want to use SaaS software.
If your requirements are more flexible and Shopify covers your needs with its basic functionality and additional applications, then you should definitely consider migrating your Magento 1 e-store to Shopify. Shopify can really make your life much easier, and you will never have to worry about whether a new software update or security patch will break your e-store or not.
