Considering e-commerce? The open-source system known as Magento continues to offer one of the most flexible and socially aware e-commerce systems available. It handily competes with systems offered by much larger sites that enable you to operate a stand-alone e-commerce site. The other day, I was listening to a Sitepoint podcast that featured Roy Rubin, who said he started Magento as an alternative to the other open-source heavyweight, OS Commerce, which Zen Cart is derived from.
Well, the need for a more flexible, modern e-commerce system has proven so great, that Magento has taken-off at a breakneck pace – it has now been downloaded over 1.1 million times! Kudos go to all concerned for a product that just keeps getting better and better; for example, there are now several add-on’s that integrate with Facebook.
Still, by far the most powerful feature of Magento is its ability to manage multiple stores under a single admin panel, yet landing pages, sales and marketing promotions, and of course, inventory, remain separate. In other words, if you own several domains, you can have Magento installed just once, yet operate a separate store under each one. You simply log-in once to your Magento admin panel – perform your updates, then switch to a different store and continue your maintenance.
Listen to the Frog – if you are considering either starting, or growing an existing e-commerce biz, you should seriously consider Magento. It’s an open-source system for which community support has literally taken off. It offers many progressive marketing features, such as news-letters, wish-lists, gift cards and social media integration.
There is a demo store set-up at the Magento site where you can look at the back-end and get a feel for how user-friendly it is.
If you want to try it on your own, you will have to be dedicated. A user guide can be a real time saver. E-commerce can be tricky, and security must be tight. A well planned execution is going to save you time and frustration later. I did a some research, and note that several Magento starter guides have been released, but the best bang-for-the-buck appears to be the Unofficial Magento User Guide.
In any case, if you need marketing advice, want to explore a newsletter campaign, or help in getting your online business up and humming, the Frog and company are here to help!
