Online shopping is becoming more popular as we have greater internet connectivity. There were 1.92 billion online buyers in 2019. This number is expected to rise to 2.05 billion by 2020 and 2.14 billion by 2021.
No matter where customers make their purchases, the majority of their shopping experience is online. A strong online presence is essential for any business’ success. There is no better time than now to get into eCommerce.
It is now easy to create an online store thanks to the availability of readymade eCommerce platforms. Magento 2 is the best option among many options due to its flexibility, scalability and customizability.
This article will show you how to create an eCommerce website. Let’s get to it!
Magento 2 is the best choice for eCommerce websites
Magento is a powerful Content Management System (CMS) that can be used by any type of business. It has been downloaded over 760,000 times worldwide. Magento 2 has been downloaded over 130,000 times and now supports more than 66,000 sites.
Magento 2 was officially launched in 2015. It offers more features and functions, enabling merchants to build robust online shops. Merchants are choosing Magento 2 or to migrate from Magento 1 to Magento 2.
Before we get into the steps of creating a Magento 2 eCommerce site, it’s worth mentioning some of the best features.
Diverse Offers
Magento 2 provides a well-designed package for both small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) as well as larger companies.
Magento Open Source, also known as Magento Community, is a free version. This edition includes almost all of the features you need to create a great eCommerce website. You will need to pay for hosting services when you use the platform. You can choose your own website server, and all the tools you need to speed up your site.
Magento 2 Open Source is the best way to start a new online shop that small-medium merchants have access to.
Magento Commerce (also known as Magento Enterprise) comes with additional out-of-the-box features and professional assistance. The revenue model determines the license cost, which starts at $22,000 annually. You are charged less for the more revenue you generate. You will still need to hire another hosting provider.
Magento Commerce Cloud can be considered as a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). This is Magento 2 Commerce’s managed and automated hosting. Prices start at $40,000 per year.
Magento 2 Commerce and Commerce Cloud Editions can be used by large businesses and B2B companies with complicated business needs.
Designed specifically for eCommerce
Magento was designed specifically for eCommerce purposes. Magento offers essential tools and extensions to meet specific business needs.
Shopping experience personalized
Magento 2 uses advanced technology to monitor shoppers’ shopping habits, analyze their preferences and offer personalized products and services.
Advanced layered navigation and search
Magento 2 is a third-party extension that provides well-organized catalogs to users. It allows them to navigate the site easily and search for desired items.
Optimized checkout
Magento 2 is faster and easier than the previous version. Customers can now complete their orders in just 2 steps instead of the previous 6 step checkout.
You can also improve customer experience and increase conversion rates by using Mageplaza 1 Step Checkout which allows shoppers to complete their purchase in one step.
Many payment and shipping options
Magento 2 supports nearly all international and local shipping and payment options. Customers can therefore make purchases with no worries.
Multiple websites/stores/store views management
Magento 2 users can create multiple websites from a single Magento 2 installation. You can create multiple stores at the website level. You can divide a store into multiple store views, each with different currencies and languages.
This clear hierarchy will allow your business to expand quickly worldwide.
Simple product management
Magento 2’s automatic import/export functionality can be used to manage large catalogs and reduce admin work.
Advertising and marketing tools
You have a lot of integrated and built-in tools to implement marketing and promotion strategies. Administrators can configure the cart price rule from the backend to create multiple promotional programmes. You can also advertise your products and services through multiple channels.
Analytics & Reporting
The eCommerce platform offers robust solutions for tracking, reporting, and analyzing your online store performance. All important statistics such as sales, views and conversion rates, abandonment rates, and so on are collected. All relevant statistics about sales, views, conversion and abandonment rates are collected. These insights will allow you to make the right adjustments to maximize your profits.
High performance
Magento 2 uses PHP 5.5 and PHP 5.6 as defaults and can also be used with PHP 7. This CMS speeds up the site’s performance. Magento 2 performs 20% better than Magento 1.
Security
None of the premade platforms can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Magento 2 is no exception. The Magento 2 security team is confident that they have removed all potential vulnerabilities and are ready to deal with any.
Magento 2 businesses can also protect their websites by using secure hosting providers. They use safe protocols and back up regularly.
Responsive design
Magento 2 was designed to work on a variety of devices. Its user interface (UI), and themes automatically adjust to all screen sizes and resolutions.
Mobile-first design provides users with the best viewing experience and allows your website to rank higher in search engines.
SEO friendly
Magento 2 has many improvements in SEO after several updates. Rich Snippets and Customizable Robos.txt are some of the most notable features. Schema.org integration is also included.
To get better results, stores can be integrated with custom modules and more advanced modules.
How do you create an eCommerce website with the Magento 2 platform
Knowing that Magento 2 is powerful and can launch a promising online company, it is time to take the critical steps necessary to create an eCommerce website using this platform.
This post will concentrate on setting up a Magento 2 Open Source website. It is the most popular option for growing businesses.
Step 1: Examine the requirements for Magento 2 technology stack
Similar to other web development platforms, Magento 2 requires a specific technology stack.
Operating System: Linux x86 64 or other Linux distributions are required. Magento 2 is currently not supported on macOS or Microsoft Windows. You can still develop locally on Windows and Mac using virtualizations or NAMP apps.
Web Server: You have the option to use Apache 2.4 or Nginx1.x. Apache requires that you enable mod_rewrite/mod_version modules.
Memory: Magento 2 and other extensions require at least 2GB Random Access Memory (RAM) to install and update.
Database:
- MySQL 5.6 for Magento 2.1.1 and Magento 2.0.x
- MySQL 5.6, MySQL 5.7 for Magento 2.1.2 or higher
- MySQL 8.0 is available for on-premise installations
PHP: Magento 2 supports PHP 7.4 and PHP 7.6. Magento 2.4 supports PHP 7.4.0. To optimize performance and avoid common problems, you should also take note of the PHP extensions, PHP settings, and PHP OPcache.
Security:
- Valid Secure Sockets Layer SSL certificate required for HTTPS
- Transport Layer Security (TLS), required for repo.magento.com integration.
Mail Server
- Mail Transfer Agent (MTA).
- SMTP server
These requirements are important to know before you move on to the next step. This will help prevent you from losing time and potentially causing headaches.
Step 2: Choose a hosting provider
Selecting a reliable web host is a critical step to ensure stable performance and building a profitable online business.
You must first look for hosting providers that meet the Magento 2 system requirements. Many hosting providers offer the necessary equipment and tools to run Magento 2. There are also vendors who offer the required equipment and tools for Magento 2.
Next, you need to assess the performance of your hosting servers. It should take less than 2 seconds for Magento 2 to load. This will increase the conversion rate. It is important to have a server that responds quickly.
Your chosen hosting plan must contain an SSL certificate, as required by Magento 2 (and many other popular payment gateways). It would also be a good idea to look for hosting packages that offer domain registration.
You will choose the best hosting plan for your current business needs when choosing your initial hosting plan. Your business will expand and scale up over time. Hosting plans must be flexible enough to accommodate future growth.
Pricing for Magento 2 hosting can vary widely from one company to the next. To get the best ROI, it is best to look at the most reliable and trusted solutions.
Not to be outdone, there are always possible issues that could cause your site to go down. A dedicated and experienced team is essential to ensure your site runs smoothly.
Step 3: Download Magento 2 and install it
It is controversial to decide whether you should immediately download and update Magento 2’s latest version . Some believe the stability of the new version takes time. Magento suggests that merchants always update to the most recent version.
This article will show you how to create an online store using Magento 2.4.0. The most recent version was released July 28, 2020.
Magento Open Source 2.4.0 can be downloaded from the Magento official website. First, create an account to download the software. Register at the download stage.
Next, please visit Product > Where To Start > Open Source > Get started, Resource > More Resources, Download Releases and Patches or Community > Connect > Get open source
These paths will take you to a page that allows you to download the package.
Next, choose the method you want to install Magento 2. There are two options for online merchants: Composer and Archive (zip/tar). You can now choose whether to download the platform with or without sample data.
Because of its superiority over the other method, the composer method is preferred in most cases. You will need to have some technical skills in order to install Magento 2 via Composer.
You should also consider hiring a developer or host who can install Magento in one click if you’re new to the platform.
Step 4: Complete general configuration
Once your installation is complete, you can begin to fill out the necessary information for your site.
Navigate to the Admin sidebar and navigate to Stores > Setting > Configuration > General. This will allow you to complete the initial settings for the countries, regions, languages, and store names, as well as the address.
This information is essential for legal compliance as well as for customers to get a better understanding of your business. This information will be included in any email or message sent from your website.
These sections include everything you need to know about your business: its name, location and language, currency used, legal address and more.
Step 5: Update your store design
Positive user experiences are crucial for online businesses to succeed. A beautiful website can make online shoppers more satisfied and happy.
Go to the Admin sidebar and go to Content > Elements > Add new Pages, Blocks, or Widgets to your site’s structure.
CMS Pages can be used to display certain parts of your catalog or other useful information.
Blocks allow store administrators to manage HTML code chunks.
To extend core functionality, widgets can be added on to any CMS block.
Next, customize your store’s visual by going to Content > Design > Configuration > clicking on the Edit button for any website you wish to create.
It is important to set up your store theme, in addition to the basic settings. Your store’s appearance, user interface and shopping experience will be greatly affected by the choice of theme. A site with a responsive, eye-catching theme can help you attract more customers and keep them on your site longer.
You have the option to use the default theme as a merchant or shop for custom themes.
Use the default theme
Magento 2 comes with a pre-made theme called LUMA. It includes almost everything you need in order to get started selling.
Get a template theme
The Magento Marketplace has 3000+ themes that you can choose from.
Step 6: Create a catalog
eCommerce websites must have products, categories, and subcategories. Magento 2 allows you to easily upload, manage and add catalogs. You can also create as many subcategories and products as you like in Magento 2.
You can add a product by selecting Catalog > Products > Create Product. The product type you choose can be either simple, configurable, grouped, virtual, bundle, downloadable, or groupable.
You can set the Product Name, SKU and Price as well as other attributes. Also, you can upload images and videos to illustrate the product. Custom options are available.
You can also bulk import products via CSV file. Go to System > Data Transfer > Import.
The next step is categorizing. Customers will find it easier to navigate your products and find what they are looking for faster if you have them organized in subcategories and categories. But don’t make subcategories that force customers to click on a page more than three to four times. A tool to export and import categories is a great help if your site has many products and thousands of subcategories.
Step 7: Establish payment and shipping methods
Shipping options and payment have a significant impact on abandoned cart rates in eCommerce. Magento supports many of these elements.
You can configure shipping methods under Store > Setting > Configuration > Sales > Shipping Methods. All settings related to shipping options will be completed for Magento 2. You can also configure multiple shipping addresses and limit the product quantity to be shipped from multiple addresses.
There are many payment options available under the Payment Methods tab, including PayPal (recommended), Klarna and Amazon Pay.
You’ll need to create your own payment methods, and integrate payment gateways. You can also extend your payment options by integrating API integration or third party payment modules.
Step 8: Go live and preview
After all preparations have been made, it is important to check everything again.
If your site was configured locally, you can now push your files to your web server. Your website is now online and available for customers to enjoy.
Last Thoughts
Magento 2 is a powerful eCommerce platform which allows you to launch an online business in just a few hours. You will need to work harder on improving your store each day.
Are you ready to take the first step in a flourishing market by creating your Magento 2 store?
