Magento - The radical Ecommerce open source

Magento is the new improved e-commerce platform that gives a superior force to web traders to get rid of obstacles in the way of business process implementations. With downloads surpassing the magical figure of 600,000, Magento is easily the fastest growing commercially available tool for online business solutions.

Don’t be misled by the free and open source background of Magento—it excels the best commercial tools with its theme based structure and support for a panoply of digital products.

We at Maven Infosoft have solid expertise in working with all leading e-commerce and portal-building platforms and have managed and implemented heavy-duty enterprise-level content management systems. We can safely assert that Magento has outshone all of them.

There remain a few uncertainties, as with any growing and emergent platform, in the design and development capabilities that Magento has to offer. The high competence level required means that it is not for all and sundry. Having said that, Magento is by far the most adaptable and compliant e-commerce program to hit the online trading market.

In many ways, Magento is not a typical open source solution. It is free to download and use. It does give you the ability to create customize themes and module extensions. It has all the potential for swell in usage and gain in popularity. However, it has a dedicated company supporting its growth. Magento is the product of Varien, an e-commerce design house that seems to benefit from Magento by offering traditional web agency services.

Magento is based on a theme based framework with individual layouts, templates and skins, which in turn has greater look and feel customize capability. Once you get the hang of it, creating stores in Magento turns into a piece of cake. Unlike shopping carts and content management systems devoid of themes, this framework elevates Magento to a different level

The comprehensive features available reflect long years of e-commerce experience. Features such as advanced pricing rules, product image zoom, side-by-side comparison and inventory management indicate the strong relevance to marketing functions and requirements. Other features that we approve of are:

• Ready to go iPhone theme
  
• Single page checkout
  
• Availability of real time rates from UPS, FedEx and the US Postal Service
  
• Great analytics and reporting
  
• One administration panel and product catalog to manage  multiple websites/stores
  
• Customer reviews
  
• Flexible coupon rules for flexibility of campaigns
  
• Layered and faceted navigation for filtering
  
• Google Website Optimizer integration
  
• URL rewrites
  
• Newsletter management
  
• Easy integration of third party tools using Web API
  
• Choice of more than 50 payment gateways
  
• Option to up sell during checkout
  
• Self-generating site maps
  
• Full support for digital and downloadable products
  
• RSS feeds for customers and administrators alike
  

Though Magento does have simple usage rules including easy handling of the administration interface, it does require developers to have fundamental skills in PHP, MySQL, SOAP, XML, XHTML, Apache and CSS. This is indeed the case for most shopping carts or platforms, but Magento is much more application oriented. Even a standard implementation will have you accessing files and programming code that other simpler platforms do not ask for.

All said and done, Magento is an outstanding tool for online commerce and web marketing. It is no less than a boon for leading Internet retailers.

If you are looking to design and develop Magento ecommerce store for your business, Maven Infosoft is a one stop helping point for all your requirements. 

Maven Infosoft is one of the initial starters who work on Magento since its first version. The expertise of Magento developers at Maven Infosoft, serves Magento customers to meet their Enterprise requirements.

Maven Infosoft provides services for enterprise Magento theme development, enterprise Magento template design, Magento extensions like Vendor module, Purchase module, accounting module and Magento payment extensions like iVeri, Paymentec, Safepay, Secpay, Secpay 3D secure, DIBS DirectPay, Cardinal Direct, Cardinal 3D secure

As Magento is free open source application, Maven Infosoft also provides free Magento theme, free Magento templates, and free Magento extensions to help Magento grow in terms of ecommerce application.

Like Magento, Maven Infosoft is helping internet business to grow further to reach new heights.

For more information please refer http://www.offshoresoftwaredevelopmentindia.com/php-mysql-pgsql-programming/magento-customization-solutions.html

Or drop us an email at info@offshoresoftwaredevelopmentindia.com

Author Name: - Anand Pandya

Resource: - http://www.offshoresoftwaredevelopmentindia.com/blog/

Magento version release 1.1.7

In keeping with its proven history of coming up with effective enhancement time and again, Magento has released new version with number of fixes and improvements.
Magento, the proven high end open-source eCommerce solution offering unprecedented flexibility and control, the new release covers over 350 issue resolutions with new functionalities.
Google Website Optimizer Integration in Magento 1.1.7 is a major enhancement to the application. Website Optimizer is an easy-to-use tool for testing site content that delivers actionable results.

Here is the list of major highlights
• Google Website Optimizer integration
• Google Base integration
• Scheduled DB logs cleaning option

Offshore software Development India offers all the extensions for the new versions. All the Magento extensions developed at Offshore software Development India are compatible with the new version of the Magento.
Please find following services for the new version of the Magento by Offshore software Development India.

Magento Payment Gateway Solutions
1. iVeri
2. paymentec
3. safepay

Magento Custom Extensions
1. Magento Advance Search Extension.
2. Magento Non Product Search Extension.
3. Shopping Cart Extension.
4. Custom Shipping Charges Extension.
5. Custom Shipping Date Extension.
6. Image Rotation Extension.
7. Click and Popup Product Extension
8. Hide price Extension.
9. Custom Sitemap Extension.
10. Feature/ Clearance / Sales / New Arrivals Extension.

Magento Data/Site Migration Solutions
1. Migrate OSCommerce site to Magento.
2. Migrate any ecommerce site to Magento.
3. Migrating Data to Magento Site

Magento Theme Design Solutions
1. Magento custom design templates and themes.
2. Magento themes from PSD/JPEG/Any Site.
3. Migrating Data to Magento Site.

For more information please refer http://www.offshoresoftwaredevelopmentindia.com/php-mysql-pgsql-programming/magento-customization-solutions.html

Magento's iPhone Theme: Mobile Commerce for the Masses?

Magento Commerce, an open source ecommerce platform, has introduced an Apple iPhone specific theme that is potentially the first step toward leveling the playing field for small online retailers who want to compete in the lucrative and booming mobile ecommerce market.

Mobile eCommerce has massive potential

Mobile ecommerce (often call m-commerce) is coming; 9 million Americans have already made a purchase from a mobile device, and perhaps half of the United States' 250 million odd mobile handset users are willing to make a purchase in the near future, according to a recent study from The Nielsen Company, New York, N.Y. All of those U.S. users plus the billions of consumers in Asia, Africa, and India, where a mobile handset may serve as phone, mobile TV, and primary point of Internet access, make m-commerce very attractive to e-retailers large and small.

But mobile browsing experiences can be frustrating for customers, and developing ecommerce websites that are functional, legible, and compelling for mobile device users has been the realm of moneyed and massive e-retailers like Amazon.com.

The Apple iPhone actually does an excellent job of rendering websites already, but there are still problems. Most online stores are designed to look good on a modern, flat-panel monitor which may be 19 inches in diagonal. While these sites are rendered properly on the iPhone, they take on diminutive dimensions, requiring an iPhone owner to zoom in, zoom out, and scroll in all directions. Bandwidth can also be a problem. iPhones use WiFi connections (802.11n standard), Bluetooth (radio), fast 3G cellular networks, or older and slower cellular networks depending on what sort of connection is available at a given time. Browsing on WiFi or a speedy 3G network might be no problem, but uploading an online store over older cellular networks can be painfully slow.

To address this, Magento developed a special theme or combination of layout, template, and presentation files that are optimized for an iPhone's browser. This theme still offers great looking graphics, full functionality, and the same payment gateways, but in proportions and layouts that make a store attractive and easy to use on an iPhone's palm-sized LCD screen.

Equalizing m-Commerce

Magento's new iPhone theme is an important (if small) step, giving independent e-retailers an easy way to tap m-commerce's amazing potential. Varien, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based ecommerce developer and consultancy, created Magento Commerce and then unleashed the platform, turning it over to a vibrant community of perhaps 400,000 users (store owners and developers), while staying intimately involved in the platform's development and expansion. The new theme makes it easier for iPhone users to browse and shop Magento-powered sites with ease. Basically, Magento utilizes "the iPhone's inherent navigation methods and offer[s] quick catalog browsing, global site search, customer accounts, and a shopping cart with a complete checkout process," Varien said, "The iPhone extension delivers a user experience that supports the iPhone's touch-screen functionality, taking users on a clearly defined path from browsing to purchasing."

The iPhone is just a Drop in the Bucket

Unfortunately, as awesome, cool, and fantastic as the iPhone may or may not be, it represents a very tiny percentage of the total mobile handset universe. By some estimates, leading mobile phone makers Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG, Sony-Ericsson, BlackBerry, and the like, build between 700 million and 1 billion new mobile handsets each year. While something like 8 million to 10 million iPhones have sold worldwide based on Steve Jobs 2008 MacWorld keynote speech and estimates for the iPhone 3G. So the new Magento iPhone theme only scratches the m-commerce surface. On the other hand, what e-retailer wouldn't want to reach as many as 10 million or so potential customers all of whom represent the iPhone's decidedly upscale user base.

Using the iPhone Theme to gain a Competitive Advantage.

m-Commerce is here to stay, and retailers who implement a mobile solution like Magento's iPhone extension will gain a competitive advantage over other ecommerce sites that are slower to adopt a mobile-specific platform. And there is still hope that Varien or other ecommerce developers will address the mobile mass market soon.

“We are looking to expand the capabilities of Magento to target additional mobile browsers in the future, but the iPhone, with its smart usability, market share and passionate audience was a natural place to start,” said Chris Marshall, a Varien spokesman.

source:- practicalecommerce.com/

Magento is a new professional open-source eCommerce solution.

Magento is a new professional open-source eCommerce solution offering unprecedented flexibility and control.

Customer Main Features:

Search Engine Friendly URLs
Create search-engine friendly URLs (like http://example.com/product/brand-best-shoe/1234) that make it easier for search engine crawlers to index your site, which ultimately drive more organic search visitors.

Meta-Tags
With each new catalog page (product, category, even a static or dynamic page) you'll be able to define meta tags: page title, description, and keywords.

E-mail Notifications
Magento will makes it easy to get notifications to customers. Customize email templates for a variety of notifications in both HTML and plain text. Examples of e-mails include new customer notifications, order confirmation, order update, lost password, etc.

Customers will have the ability to:
- Find products to compare by clicking "Compare" on the products to add them to the Compare Box as they browse.
- From the Compare Box, a "Compare These" button brings up the product comparison chart.
- View, print and email a comparison chart, showing all of the selected products' comparable attributes and how they stack up against one another.
Layered Navigation allows your customers to filter products in a category using different product attributes. Customers can filter down a large number of items to fit their price range, size, etc., allowing them to find the right products quickly and easily.

On each product page, you'll find:
- Add-a-Tag: Allow logged-in users to add a tag to the product's description.
- Tag Cloud: The tag cloud will display all tags associated to the product. Clicking on a tag will bring up a product listing page with all other products that share the same tag.

The Shopping Cart will be composed of the following:
The products list, which will list the products currently in the cart along with the following information about each:
- Product Thumbnail
- Product Name
- Unit Price
- Quantity (editable)
- Total (per product)
- Remove Button
- Update Button
The totals section, which will show the following applicable totals without having to go through checkout:
- Subtotal
- Tax (if applicable)
- Discounts (if applicable)
- Grand Total (what the customer owes)
- Estimated Shipping, where a customer can enter a zip code and get a shipping quote
- The discount field, where a customer can enter a coupon code

Administration Panel Main Features:

Sales Report
A detailed overview of number of orders, items sold, revenue, shipping charged, discounts applied, taxes collected, etc.

Shopping Cart Report
This shows a per product breakdown of how often products have been added to cart, conversion rate, etc. An additional view shows a breakdown of customers and number of items in their saved shopping carts.

Wishlist Report
A per product breakdown of popularity in wishlist, number of times purchased from wishlist, percentage of wish lists purchases vs. regular purchases, etc.

Reviews Report
The reviews report will show the most active customer reviewers, most frequently reviewed products. Store owners can also view all reviews written by individual customers, or all reviews applied to individual products.

Tags Report
The tags report will show the most active taggers, and most frequently tagged products. Store owners can also view all tags added by individual customers, or all tags added to individual products. The report will also show most popular tags, regardless of product.

Search Report
Will show most popular search terms, or search terms with the highest number of results.

With Magento's Content Management System (CMS), you'll be able to create an unlimited number of static pages and landing pages using HTML. When you're creating a page, you can define the following: - Page Title: Define the title of the page.
- Meta Data: Define meta data like meta description, meta keywords etc.
- URL: Define the page URL (http://www.mystore.com/faq)

Batch Import/Export
With Batch Import/Export, you can easily manage your catalog without having to edit within the admin. Instead, export your data (you can customize exactly what data you export), edit it (add or modify items), and then import it back to see the changes in the catalog.

Not everyone in your company should have access to every facet of your store. That's why Magento features an easy-to-use Permissions Editor. Create users for all your employees then assign them to groups, eg. "Full Admin", "Customer Service", "Warehouse".

source:- webscripts.softpedia.com/

Magento: The Zimbra of Ecommerce?

Magento is a new open source ecommerce platform that aims to handle all aspects of building and maintaining an ecommerce site including shopping carts, shipping, product reviews, and much more. The company looks to play in the “professional open source” space, offering its code base to developers that want to build their own plugins or create customized versions of the software. Magento seems to be off to a good start with more than 10,000 downloads in the two weeks since first being released, according to the company.

Magento plans to make money by offering an enterprise edition, partnerships with third parties that want to integrate with the platform (for example, payment gateways), and a platform for companies to buy and sell components for the software. Other potential revenue streams include training, certifications, and consulting.

The approach Magento is taking to ecommerce software is very similar to the approach Zimbra successfully applied to email. Considering the $350 million pay-off Zimbra received from Yahoo earlier this week, Magento may be onto something as they go after one of the Web’s largest segments in ecommerce.

source:- mashable.com/