With global ecommerce sales expected toreach$2.8 trillion, it’s fair to say 2018 has beena big year for the ecommerce industry.
Needless to say, the same is true forone of the most popular ecommerce platforms in the world. Magento has continuedto grow and improve in 2018, with a range of landmark events throughout theyear.
Rad on for the 6 defining moments of2018 for Magento.
1. Growth in Europe
Carrying momentum into the new year canbe difficult, whether you’re a small start-up business or a global ecommerceplatform. Magento’s announcementin mid-March showed they had encountered nosuch problems.
The ecommerce giants announced that,from the same point last year, they had seen more than 100% growth in newcustomers across Europe. That includes both B2B and B2C businesses, along withover 60% of Magento Commerce merchants who operate on hybrid models such asB2B/B2B and B2B2C.
Their secret? It’s down to both stronginvestment in the region and the expansion of their global partner network.Magento reported a 20% increase in newly certified B2B and B2C partners acrossEurope, who help to drive innovation and growth.
2. Magento Imagine 2018
Springmeans only one thing for Magento partners, developers and merchants. It’s timefor Magento’s annual conference. Magento 2018 was the eighth event of its kind,with a wide range of discussions, presentations and networking opportunities.Held in Las Vegas in April, Imagine 2018 attracted more than 3,000 attendeesfrom over 60 countries.
Thetheme was “Lead the Charge”, with Magento Commerce CEO, Mark Lavelle, explainingwhat itmeans to him. “Today, technology and globalisation give rise toleadership opportunities for everyone. It takes different styles and skills tomake change happen, and when leaders come together in a community, they have apowerful impact.”
Essentially,it was about finding success in ecommerce through leadership, from leading yourcompany to becoming leaders in your industry. The keynote speaker for the eventwas Academy Award and Grammy Award winner Jamie Foxx, who revealed he runs hisown Privé Revaux sunglasses brand on Magento.
3. The arrival of GDPR
Not long after Magento Imagine came oneof the biggest changes of the year – not just for ecommerce, but for all businessesmore broadly. We’re talking, of course, about GDPR. The General Data ProtectionRegulation was implemented on 25th May 2018, changing the waycompanies handle their customers’ personal data.
It was essentially an overhaul of the1995 Data Protection Regulation (EU) and 1998 Data Protection Act (UK),covering everything from IP addresses to contact and payment details. Forecommerce companies, who deal with this kind of information on a daily basis,it was set to have a big impact.
Fortunately, Magento was prepared for GDPR with their own data processingagreement, outlining their commitment to the new regulations. We also sharedsome useful tips on how Magento merchants can prepare for the changes, such as:
- Document all personal data
- Review how you seek and recordconsent
- Consider age verification andparental consent
- Prepare procedures fordetecting, reporting and investigating data breaches
4. Adobe Acquires Magento
May brought another big moment forecommerce, with Adobe’sacquisition of Magento Commerce for a huge $1.68 billion. They announced the deal on 21st May, with confirmation justless than a month later on 19th June. But what does it mean formerchants?
In short, it improves the position ofboth Magento and Adobe to deliver ecommerce experiences. Magento will benefitfrom Adobe’s content and data capabilities, while Adobe will gain Magento’sopen commerce expertise. With a wider global community, they’re aiming todeliver ecommerce technology to everyone, everywhere.
5. IR Top 1000
Following an announcement ofsignificant growth across Europe in March, Magento was delighted to report evenmore growth in November – this time in North America. Internet Retailer’sannual Top 1000 ranking of ecommerce retailers revealed that Magento was the leadingcommerce solution in terms of web sales.
More specifically, they found thatmerchants using Magento were earning three times the online sales ofcompetitors using alternative platforms. That means the platform has provided vastlymore web sales for its merchants in one of the world’s largest ecommercemarkets. The US alone accountsfor 7.5% of the global ecommerce market, witharound $340 billion in annual sales.
6. Magento 2.3
Thefinal big Magento news of 2018 came in December, with the launchof Magento 2.3. The latest version of the platform is packed with arange of new tools to help merchants continue their success and growth into2019, such as:
Multi-Source Inventory
Amulti-source inventory allows merchants to manage their inventory from multiplephysical locations within Magento admin. They can assign products andquantities to different fulfilment sources, track each source to better managetheir inventory and integrate with other third-party inventory systems.
Merchantscan even create rules to automatically prioritise certain inventory sourcesover others when it comes to fulfilling orders.
Progressive Web Appsstudio
Withmore and more of global ecommerce taking place on smartphones, Magento hasintroduced a Progressive Web Apps (PWA) studio. This works along with theirpre-existing Progressive Web Apps, which allow merchants to create an app-likeexperience for mobile commerce.
The PWAstudio makes it faster and more cost-effective to create PWA experiences, whichdrive conversion rates and improve the performance of your site. As expectedfrom Magento, the PWA studio will continue to be updated with new features,themes and general improvements to keep Magento merchants at the forefront of theirindustry.
Page Builder
For manymerchants, the most important aspect of an ecommerce platform is how it allowsyou to create and design pages. Magento’s page builder “enables non-technicalusers to take control of their content” with a selection of intuitive features:
- Drag and drop interface
- Multiple content types, including images, videos and banners
- Instant preview capabilities
- Flexible grid system for improved, customised positioning of pageelements
- Full integration with existing Magento functions like widgets and mediagallery
Stay ahead of the game
AsMagento-certified developers, Bing Digital is always at the forefront of theecommerce industry. We provide a wide range of Magento ecommerce services,helping brands from multiple sectors make the most of the powerful platform. Inevery case, we deliver measurable results that give a significant boost to yourbusiness’s bottom line.
Contact us today to talk to a Magento expert andfind out how we can help you.
