MAGENTO PRICING AND OTHER THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Nowadays, with the development of science, technology and great strides in internet usage, the commercial industry has been developing at a dizzying pace. The extraordinary global growth of e-Commerce in the past few years has definitely made it one of the most looked-up terms on search engines. This increasing also brought up a question to most businesses and enterprises whether to put their products and services online. With the choices of enterprise and retail e-Commerce, no matter what size or type your company is, there is always an e-Commerce solution that fits the needs. Furthermore, there are plenty of e-Commerce platforms that feature various functions for you to choose, amongst which Magento and Shopify are the two most popular. In this article, we’ll discuss what to consider, the estimated Magento pricing for building an effective e-Commerce website, and the type of web that is the most suitable for your business.

Why should I consider E-Commerce and Magento?

E-commerce refers to the business transactions that are transferred online. This means that whenever you buy and sell something on the Internet, you’re connected in e-commerce.  In modern life, we can see e-commerce everywhere and buy anything just by a click. Before coming to the final decision whether to bring your products and services online, we should all be aware of e-Commerce’s advantages. There are certain advantages of e-Commerce over traditional retail such as ^[1]

• Overcome geographical limitations: Today, the distribution of goods has been spread everywhere in the world. Wherever you are, you just need a device connected to the Internet and online commerce platforms, and they are all you need to buy or sell an item from anywhere in the world. eBay, Amazon or Alibaba are all online shopping centers in which the connection between goods and buyers crosses all rigid borders.
• Gain new customers with search engine visibility: In the Digital Age, shoppers no longer have to go to traditional markets to select their favorite items. Instead, they just sit at home and use the search engines to choose what they need to buy according to their needs, and pick them up from the website. These search engines have been playing an extremely important role in increasing global e-Commerce transactions.
• Lower costs: Selling through an e-Commerce website means you won’t have to invest money in a real store that involves decorating, arranging furniture or running employees. All are digitized, and you will manage them more easily and economically.
• Locate the product quicker: Locate the product that you sell will no longer be a big deal with the management tools of an e-Commerce website. Algorithms will be developed and assist you to remember all business figures.
• Eliminate travel time and cost: It is not uncommon for customers to travel long distances to reach their preferred physical store. e-Commerce enables them to visit the same store virtually on the Internet with just a few swipes on the screen.
• Provide comparison shopping: With the help of e-Commerce, the buyers are able to compare the prices between online stores themselves and make decisions quickly.
• Enable deals, bargains, coupons, and group buying: Bargaining, deals, coupons, or group purchases will be more comfortable than ever with e-Commerce websites. Usually, when buying physically, the buyer will need to use the voucher at another store, and that is inconvenient. But with e-Commerce, we don’t do that.
• Provide abundant information: The sellers will no longer have to consult a long press on the information of the product they sell. Instead, the buyer can directly find out the information directly at the sales website and make a purchase decision quickly.
• Create targeted communication: Using the data that a customer gives in the registration form, and by placing cookies on the customer’s computer, an e-Commerce merchant can access a lot of information about its customers. This will help to identify the target customers for your products.
• Remain open all the time: With an online store, sellers and buyers can make transactions at any time whether it is midnight or dawn. Limitation of closing or opening times is no longer a big deal!
• Create markets for niche products: In the physical world, the exchange of niche products is often difficult for both seller and buyer. Online, it is only a matter of the customer searching for the product in a search engine.

For the products and services that can be sold online vary, flexibility must be the top priority in building any e-Commerce website. Fortunately, almost all e-Commerce platforms nowadays, including Magento, are open source, which means its original source code was made freely available and can be modified or enhanced by anyone ^[2]. This allows businesses to have e-Commerce websites tailored to their needs, also broadens the future of e-Commerce where many more functions could be developed to best serve different needs. With Magento, there is no limitation to possibilities. Extensions are developed and submitted to Magento’s webshop – Marketplace every day, allowing users to download those they think may fit their needs and integrate to their website.

Starting a Magento E-Commerce website

Considered by many as one of the most flexible e-Commerce solutions in the market, Magento offers powerful features right out of the box. It gives merchants the ability to customize just about aspect of their e-Commerce store, and you have complete freedom over the look, feel, and functionalities of your site. For the products and services that can be sold online vary, flexibility must be the top priority in building any e-Commerce website. The website development with Magento is becoming intense globally, as more and more online retailers choose this platform for their e-Commerce services. Therefore, whether you are a new beginner or a mature business, Magento is the need of the hour for extending your sales project.

Magento also has an active community of experts, developers, and agencies allowing merchants to easily connect with others if they need support. And if you need to further extend the functionality of Magento, you can always use add-ons to enhance your site. Let’s what factors influence Magento pricing!

Now when building your own e-Commerce website is hands down the next business move, what should be put into consideration? These are the top 5 things you should pay more attention to.

1. The platform and the website development company: Make sure you do enough research in order to make appropriate choices. Platforms like Magento offer easy-to-manage administration systems but require an experienced developers’ team for the setting-up phase. Choosing the right service provider can save you both time and effort.
2. Users experience: Web design, site speed, and navigation are amongst the factors that form users experience. Take all those factors into account if you wish to get more returning customers.
3. Checkout and payment gateway: Statistics have shown that a complicated checkout process can cause abandoned shopping carts. Various payment options supported could also be an advantage for your e-Commerce site. Platforms like Magento can support the most popular payment options available, from Visa, Mastercard to PayPal, Alipay and even COD (cash on delivery).
4. Mobile optimization: Nearly 60% of eCommerce sales were on mobile platforms, as reported in 2017. The number of users who shop via smartphones is increasing day by day. Therefore, mobile optimization is a must.
5. SEO friendly: It is important that your products appear on the first page of search results so you could reach more potential customers. Fortunately, with Magento, your product link will always be SEO-friendly automatically created.

Magento Pricing: How much will a Magento website cost?

5 things above are those you should pay more attention to, but, of course, not everything you need to know to achieve eCommerce fulfillment. Another frequently asked question is how much you need to pay an eCommerce builder if you want your Magento eCommerce website custom-made. The answer is there’s no fixed price. There are plenty of functions and designs that can be used and added to your site, so how much you would pay depends on how many functions you want. However, the price varies west to east. So, if you are on a budget, consider some offshore services. In this article, we will provide you the estimated Magento pricing for website built in the U.S versus one built in Vietnam. This is a general breakdown of our Magento pricing and other costs associated with maintaining a store on the Magento eCommerce platform:

It’s essential to keep in mind that these are basic starting Magento pricing. They don’t display the total cost of ownership most merchants pay. Add-ons, extensions, customization, and actual site-building expenses all need to be factored in, and they can raise the price dramatically. Commonly, if you want to build a basic effective Magento e-commerce site, Magento pricing may cost you from $1,000 to $150,000.

Let’s talk about Basic Magento Websites, with the most popular option such as free to download, free to use. However, potentially costly to get up and running at a level you’re happy with. Here’s why:

• First, a free website doesn’t come with support. So, if you want any customization, you will have to hire a developer, an agency, or your staff to do this, and it’s absolutely not really cheap.
• Second, since it’s a basic version of the software, Magento Community doesn’t originate with the features and the design quality that you might be after. Fortunately, Magento has a ‘marketplace’ that equips users with an enormous catalogue of customized extensions and design themes that can be used to add features to stores. Of course, these aren’t free. Extensions tend to run around $300 each, while themes can cost anywhere from $30 to $500.

This type of Magento Website is the first step for the small business who want to find a new path for their product and need some test with a limited budget. Gradually, the payment for their e-Commerce may increase and they can invest more for a website to gain a higher profit.

Another option is Magento Enterprise, the significantly more pricey choice. Magento Enterprise is created with exclusive features, it has improved site administration, and it comes with support. There are two versions of the Enterprise system: With Gold Support, Magento pricing would be $22,000 per year, and Platinum Support, which requires about 20% more and charges commission based on traffic.

Many business people who use Magento also end up hiring a full-time developer or contracting out to a freelancer to build their store. Borrowing the outsources also adds significantly to the expense of the final website.

Besides, Magento also provides maintenance and development services, and they charge the price per hour. If you have a specific strategy for your website, you can try those services to improve and promote your e-Commerce website in the direction that you wish. The rates for hiring a Magento’s developer is quite high, but trust me, it’s worth it!

However, everything is worth its price. When you pay for a Magento Website, you will be able to access to multiple stores. The premium site also assists you with the Search Engine Optimization, customer segmentation, targeted promotions & merchandising, custom coupons, integration with shipping providers, and social media integration.

This type of website is used widely by the big agencies and companies all over the world – who can afford Magento pricing (with some unique services). And the real examples have shown that the effect of an e-Commerce website is out of the blue.

For instance, Cox & Cox – the UK-based online houseware, furniture, and textiles retailer, increased their digital had a big step in mobile commerce with Magento. Cox & Cox signed the contract to upgrade to Magento Commerce 2 in August of 2016. In November of that year, they began discovery work with their own development agency. “We were aware that Magento Commerce 2 was on the horizon, and it felt right for us to take advantage of new web design at the same time while upgrading our other technologies,” said Peet, of the brand’s total digital transformation. Cox & Cox had to go live before August of 2017, ahead of their peak season, November to December. With Mobile Commerce, Cox & Cox Increased Mobile Revenue +44%.

Another significant case study for the success of using a Magento Website is Easy Spirit. This brand saved 50% TCO By Leaving Demandware. This flatform was slow and causing bottlenecks in their order process. Easy Spirit decided it was time for a change, and they chose Magento. “Our partner helped us devise and execute the vision,” said Lee Bissonnette, VP eCommerce Marc Fisher Footwear, “Business operations improved dramatically, as manual work was automated and the staff was reduced from 18 to a handful.” Easy Spirit also enjoyed the fact that Magento Commerce came in at 50 percent less TCO than Demandware, meaning that the shoe brand is reducing costs while boosting sales—a step in the right direction.

All in all, what you would pay depends greatly on what you need and, of course, your eCommerce builder. It would be best if you’re clear about how your eCommerce website would look like and which functions are necessary. However, do not hesitate to consult an expert company in the field to make sure you are making the right move. Besides, considering an offshore service could save you quite a lot.

Regarding the field of eCommerce development, CO-WELL is proud to say that you can always count on us – the recognized best Magento eCommerce website builder in Vietnam. CO-WELL Asia has more than 100 engineers with a wide range of experience in Magento Development and Integration. We have co-operated with a lot of brands and companies in Vietnam and other countries to develop the e-Commerce website with the types of Magento development services.

One of our significant partners is Japan’s Biggest Retail Company, with more than 260 shops throughout the country. This organization has an e-Commerce system that has to deal with an enormous number of daily transactions. Any system failures or points of inconvenience in the purchasing or payment process can lead to tremendous revenue loss.

CO-WELL Asia has created a brand new system for this company to replace the old one, which was in use for over a decade. The legacy system was not built on an e-Commerce platform, which caused challenges in keeping up with market developments. The implementation delivered a vastly improved user experience, reduced purchasing time and an optimized e-Commerce system. With a new website based on the platform of Magento, the company has moved to a new path and achieve more tactical targets.

Another example is Japanese Car Manufacture Company – One of the most famous car brands in Japan, which was running a website that didn’t provide an ideal experience for the end-user. The end-user was transferred to another site to experience the more modern attributes of the process. Our team of qualified engineers gained a deep understanding of both Magento and their business to improve the end-user experience as well as to offer new cooperations with Magento. We find out a solution to move all data to Magento without changing the interface or design of this company’s e-Commerce website. The fundamental differences required us to customize the Magento platform to fit the customer HTML.

Payment flow complexity was an additional difficulty. The services offered to clients included rental services and installment, besides regular sales, needing further Magneto customization.

The successful movement also improved the end-user experience and offered 360° outside views and panoramic views inside the product. CO-WELL Asia integrated this redesign with a brand refresh, showcasing a contemporary identity for the customer.

With all the experience and a team of hundreds of skillful IT engineers, CO-WELL Asia is a truthful partner of every company that wants to build an effective Magento e-commerce website. Drop us a message now at info@co-well.vn for quality service and a reasonable Magento pricing.