Web Development

Pros & Cons of Magento Web Development

January 29, 2018 , 4 minutes
magento development

Earlier this year, I caught up with the development team at iFactory to discuss their theory behind what makes Magento web development so special and how they’ve used it to enhance ecommerce capability for their clients.

For 13 years, iFactory has grown to become one of Brisbane’s leading independent digital and creative agencies. They’ve won a tonne of awards for their work and their commitment to delivering intelligent digital solutions. But that’s enough from me, let’s hear from them.

In your opinion, what makes Magento special?

Well, the core mission of Magento has been the same from the get-go, which is to provide a high-performance and infinitely expandable eCommerce framework for online retailers of any size and shape. It also helps that a growing contingent of developers around the world have helped it grow with new extensions and capabilities to help deliver a better online shopping experience.

To add to that, while many open source Content Management Systems can accommodate online shops, Magento flipped the script by making eCommerce the system’s primary focus. This meant that the needs of online retailers were considered first, with delivering blog posts (for example) given a lower priority.

If you look at the behaviour of an online shopper, you’d agree that their demands for instantly accessible shopping is a big priority. We’ve seen Magento respond to this with a commitment to speed, smoothly handled payment gateway integrations and simplifying the way a user browses a huge range of items.

Tell me about your experience with Magento web development

We’ve been using Magento for many years and love pushing it in new and interesting directions. Its versatility and speed means that, with the right web developer know-how, Magento can be used to deliver everything large-scale eCommerce solutions to customised boutique storefronts.

You’ve worked with some interesting ecommerce clients. Can you tell me about some of the more memorable Magento web development projects of late?

Sure. Earlier this year, we worked with AVE Bikes. As a new company to Australia their range of ebikes needed a website that was just as expertly engineered for performance as the bikes themselves.

The client needed to deliver an online sales tool that not only lets users see their range of bikes in their full glory but also customise them with different parts, accessories and even frame colour, with the price updating in real time. It was a lot to consider, but overall it was the speed of the site that was crucial to get right.  We also knew how important it was that the site layout respond well on mobile and tablet devices.

To that end, we used the Magento web development framework to build a bike customisation tool, which seamlessly integrated into the larger website, also built entirely in Magento. Site administrators could then update bike models, part pricing or availability and the site would automatically use that information to present options to the end user. Magento’s focus on site responsiveness allowed these complex, customised pages to load virtually instantly on the user’s device.

The second project we’re proud of is Contented Chef. They are a highly regarded and successful supplier of home-style meals delivered straight to your door. They came to us already having a site which was built on another eCommerce-ready platform. However, site responsiveness was a recurring issue and the decision was made to redevelop it using Magento. Not only did this allow an impressive speed increase which satisfied user demand, it also resulted in better search engine results as they prioritise sites which load faster than others.

Using Magento also allowed Contented Chef to add more complex functionality, such as the ability to run business-facing and client-facing versions of the site simultaneously, reducing administration overhead.

Any final thoughts on Magento?

We view the potential of Magento web development in the future as limitless and are already developing new projects that we can’t wait to share with the world in 2018.

magento web development by ifactory

iFactory is a fiercely independent full-service digital and creative agency, specialising in digital strategy, internet marketing, website design, application development and website support.