Imagine This: Major Moves for Magento Merchants

Allison Howen
by Allison Howen 26 Apr, 2012
Imagine This: Major Moves for Magento Merchants

It looks like ecommerce platform Magento is running at full-speed ahead.

Magento, which is a division of eBay's X.commerce initiative, was the recipient of a bundle of new updates this week at the Imagine ecommerce Conference that took place in Las Vegas.

The new updates offer merchants and developers the ability to create more customized and easier shopping experiences for consumers, and are available in the latest versions of the Magento Community and Magento Enterprise software. The biggest updates include the integration of HTML5 for Magento Mobile and PayPal Payments.

Since smartphones are becoming one of the most popular channels for consumers, Magento is now offering its merchants a simple way to create a more compelling mobile shopping experience.

Magento's new mobile offerings include gesture-based controls, multi-touch and image scaling, device-specific audio and video capabilities. Other new features aim at creating a user-friendly experience for consumers, including an easy-to-use search and results display, the ability to drag and drop products to the shopping cart, the capability to zoom and easily swipe between product images, as well as the inclusion of cross- and up-sell features.

The customizable HTML5 theme also supports iPhone, Android and Mobile Opera browsers.

"From research to checkout and beyond, merchants can now drive conversions more effectively, increase order size and build customer loyalty," says Roy Rubin, general manager of Magento and chief product and customer officer of X.commerce. 

The other major Magento announcement is the integration of the PayPal small-business product suite, which helps merchants compete in multi-channel retail environments. PayPal Payments offers merchants one solution that makes it simple to accept payments online, from a mobile device or in-person.

PayPal Payments is available in three tiers, with every tier offering a full suite of payment solutions. Magento users can select PayPal Standard, Advanced, Pro or Express Checkout directly from the Magento platform -- based on which solution best meets their business' needs.

Additional updates to the Magento platform include advanced visitor segmentation capabilities, the ability to enable consumers to create multiple wish lists and an improved content management system for Magento Enterprise users, as well as the automatic generation of coupon codes for both Magento Enterprise and Community merchants.

Magento has been gaining a lot of momentum recently. Prior to the Imagine Conference, the company announced partnerships with VisiStat, Bronto Software and 500friends. The X.commerce open ecosystem that Magento is a part of provides users with a large selection of end-to-end commerce technologies, including shopping carts, payment services, inventory management, marketplace integration, SEO and more.

Allison Howen
Allison Howen
I'm a creative and adaptable journalist with experience in both print and digital media. Some of my best attributes include my social media management, writing and video editing skills. Skills: • Managing social media accounts with tools like HootSuite and Sprout Social • Creating and marketing content for print and digital media • Editing videos with software like Avid Media Composer • Composing articles with Adobe InCopy • Strong knowledge of AP Style • Skilled at interviewing and writing • Able to work on a deadline and produce quality results • Organized and detail oriented • Innovative problem solver