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Imagine investing thousands of dollars in advertising campaigns for your Magento store, and getting disappointing results. If you can relate, you are not alone. Many of our Magento clients are struggling with the same challenge.

Recently, one of our Magento clients shared this issue with us. Despite paying attention to each advertising aspect, i.e. whether bidding on the most effective keywords, working with a big budget, or using highly engaging marketing copy, he could not achieve his expected advertising goals.

We looked into it to figure out various factors that might be affecting ad performance. Surprisingly, we found that “Slow Magento Website Speed” could be the culprit behind not so performing ads.

The question is obvious, how a technical aspect like Magento website speed can impact advertising performance and cost? In this blog, we’ll uncover the connection between Magento website speed and advertising performance, and understand how your slow eCommerce website can cost you extra advertising dollars.

Let’s get started with it.

Connection Between Magento Website Speed and Ad Performance

Imagine users visiting your website after seeing your advertisement, and getting greeted by a slow-loading website. Do you think they’ll wait patiently for your website to load slowly? 

No, people enjoy slow motion in movies and TikTok, not on a website. They’ll likely hit the back button and leave. As a result, your bounce rate increases instead of your revenue.

When it comes to advertising, your primary objective is to grab the attention of your target audience by achieving a high ad rank with the lowest possible CPC (cost-per-click). To achieve this, you need a good quality score (learn more).

So, even when you have a beautifully designed ad landing page but your Magento website loads slowly like a tortoise, your advertising efforts, and budget will be wasted. And due to the high bounce rate of your site, your Ads will get low-quality scores, leading to an increase in your CPC amount.

Let me say this with more clarity.

The bounce rate is not the only thing that your slow-loading Magento website will give you, it will also harm the user experience and question your brand’s reputation. And a poor user experience can affect your advertising campaigns in many ways. 

Let’s check how a low-quality score leads to a higher CPC in the below image.

How a Slow Magento Website Can Cost You Advertising Dollars

For slow-loading websites, advertisers may need to bid higher to ensure their ads remain visible, resulting in an increased cost of advertising budget.

Now, this is the decision time.

Do you still want to spend extra dollars on your advertising campaigns or improve your website speed to lower your CPC? 

Option 2, right? That’s why I’m adding some possible areas you can work on to improve your Magento website speed that helps you minimize your advertising cost.

How to Speed Up Your Magento Store

So, you’ve learned the importance of Magento website speed. Now to provide your users with the best shopping experience, you can try your hands on these ways to improve your Magento website speed.

1. Choose the Server Closest to Your Location

2. Enable Cache in Your Magento Store

3. Use CDN (Content Delivery Network)

4. Minify CSS and JavaScript

5. Disable Javascript Bundling

6. Upgrade Magento to its Latest Version

7. Review and Update Your Third-Party Extensions

8. Disable/Uninstall Magento 2 Module

9. Disable Debug Logs

10. Clear Varnish Cache

You can find the detailed steps here: Magento 2 Speed Up | 13 Optimization Tips.

Working on these areas will help you improve your Magento site speed to a good extent, and will help you perform well on Google PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse. But if you ask, is there any ultimate solution to let your Magento website load at its best?

I would say yes, that’s possible!! There is a theme that is specifically made to solve the website speed issues and guarantees you a “100/100 Google pagespeed score” for your Magento store.

Hyva themes to speed up Slow Magento Website

So, are you ready to meet the ultimate solution to “Magento Speed Issues”?

Introducing “Hyvä Theme” for Accelerating Website Performance

How Hyva Theme can help you improve speed of your magento eCommerce store?

As you’re working with Magento, you are possibly aware of Hyva Theme but let me also share a little information on what Hyva theme is and how it will help you improve Magento store speed.

The Hyvä Theme is the frontend theme for Magento that allows you to create lightweight and fast-loading eCommerce websites. It has the power to reduce your website load time dramatically. Where any basic Magento website takes at least 4-6 seconds to load, the Hyva theme can bring your Magento website load time to 1-2 seconds.

In short, the Hyva theme is “everything that your Magento store needs to load quickly“. And yes, the Hyva theme holds many more benefits that help you to improve your Ad quality score.

Let’s understand them.

How Hyva Theme Helps to Improve Your Ad Quality Score

One of the important parameters of Google Ad Quality Score is the “Landing Page Experience”—providing visitors with an excellent experience on your website.

And for an outstanding user experience, you can blindly trust the Hyva theme for your Magento website. Here’s how:

  1. Speed—you can achieve a super fast website without compromising advanced functionality.
  2. Responsive—you can focus on each and every user with different screen sizes.
  3. Navigation—your visitors can roam easily throughout your website. 
  4. SEO—you can surprise Google with better website structure, speed, and performance.
  5. Advancement—using custom extensions won’t affect the website’s performance.

These are not all benefits that you get with the Hyva theme, there are more. To know each of them, you can visit our blog on Hyvä Theme Benefits That Your Store Needs.

Conclusion

In the end, I would only remind you that no one likes slow websites. And when it comes to advertising, your slow website will definitely hinder the overall success of your ad campaign. This is because factors such as advertising performance, ad budget, quality score, and website speed, are all interconnected.

If you improve your speed, you will see an improvement in your quality score. An improvement in quality scores will ultimately lead to better ad rankings and lower CPC, which means fewer advertising dollars will bring you better ad rankings.

This makes it 100% clear that a slow-loading website costs extra advertising dollars and still does not provide desired results. Moreover, we have witnessed an ultimate solution to improve Magento website speed, which is the “Hyva theme”.

Now, the decision is yours. You can invest your precious time in tried and tested methods to improve your Magento website speed or you can go ahead with a highly recommended solution—the Hyva theme.

PS: We aureate labs, a Magento agency, are an official supplier of Hyva Theme, and we’ve 10+ years of experienced Magento developers, who can help you with fixing your Magento speed issues or any other. Feel free to get in touch for hassle-free Hyva implementation in your Magento store.

Before opting for the Hyva theme makeover, you must be curious about what would be the expected outcomes.

Let’s take a look at some case studies that show how useful the Hyva theme has turned out for Magento store owners.

Hyva Theme Case Studies

In this section, I’m adding some real-life success stories of Hyva Theme, which has helped Magento store owners in improving their website speed & performance to a great extent.

1. Imaginfires Saw 296% Increase in Site Speed With Hyva Theme

ImaginFires UK's top Bioethanol Fireplaces Supplier - Hyva Theme Case Study

Imaginefires, the UK’s top Bioethanol Fireplaces Supplier, experienced a poor website performance impacting their conversion rate. We have implemented the Hyva theme for improved functionality and features.

Results of Imaginefire's Google Lighthouse score

Having such a number of lighthouse scores was nearly impossible for the Magento platform before the Hyva theme. 

2. Grand Stores Achieves 104% Increase in Page Speed With Hyva Theme

Grand Stores - Hyva Theme Case Study

We implemented Hyva Theme for Grand Stores, one of our clients, who was facing several challenges due to low page speed. As a result, they were able to improve their page speed by 104% than what it was. 

Results of Grand Store's Google Lighthouse score

3. Hyva Theme Success Story of Australia’s Leading Food Equipment Importer & Supplier

Australia's Leading Food Equipment Importer & Supplier - Hyva Theme Case Study

Federal Hospitality Equipment came to us with an issue of the heavy and cluttered design of their website, which led to slow website speed and poor user experience.

We simplified their website design and implemented Hyva Theme. This resulted in better user experience and improvement in engagement rate.

Results of Grand Store's Google Lighthouse score

All these case studies definitely describe that the Hyva theme is the perfect match for improving Magento website speed and performance without making any extra hassles.

Hyvä VS PWA: Where to Invest?

Mar 17th, 2023 14 min to read

Are you one of those sad souls struggling with Magento Website Speed?

And unable to decide between Hyvä Theme and PWA, which one would be better to invest in?

Well, the feeling is kind of mutual.

I experienced the same feeling when I recently decided to build a house. And I had 2 different locations for that in mind, each one had unique benefits.

So I can relate to you that it’s like being in 2 tempting worlds, as each offering has its own irresistible charms.

And investing in the wrong one can turn your moment of absolute bliss into a regrettable experience. And I’ve no intention to scare you with this, my only purpose is to help you make the best choice for your Magento business.

So, slow down before you do something that you’ll regret. What I can suggest you do is to do some good research on “What’s Good” and “What’s Bad” depending upon your business requirements.

And if you’re lazy enough to not roam across various web pages to do research, I’ve brought all the information here in this blog for you. I’ve included almost every factor you may need to check before you choose between Hyvä Theme and PWA for your next Magento project.

For even lazier people we’ve added a Table of Content below to drive them directly to an answer to “Where to Invest? Hyvä or PWA?” 😉

So, keep reading…

Before I finalized my house location, I asked myself some basic questions, regarding what will be the impact of buying land in that specific locations.

And while choosing between Hyvä and PWA we should do the same and question ourselves;

  • What are they?
  • What are their capabilities?
  • Which is better suited for my business?
  • Which one of them is better for investment?

Let’s get started with…

What is Hyvä Theme?

Hyvä Theme is an open-source frontend for Magento 2 that allows you to build lightweight and fast-loading eCommerce websites.

If you want to give a new and refreshing face to your existing Magento store, then you can do that by implementing Hyvä Theme. 

When you build a new eCommerce store or revamping your existing online store using Hyvä Theme, you can expect the best performance and user experience for your shoppers.

What is PWA?

A progressive web app (PWA) is a web-based application that utilizes service workers, manifests, and other web-platform features, along with progressive enhancement techniques, to provide users with an experience similar to that of using native apps. 

It does not require installation like native mobile apps, yet it operates, feels, and provides users with experiences similar to native apps. It also works offline and provides a seamless experience on desktop and mobile devices.

So, now that we’ve understood Hyvä and PWA, we can start learning their capabilities.

Let's going gif

Capabilities of Hyvä theme & PWA:

For your information, I would love to reveal that Hyvä and PWA are not like those old people who started life decades ago. They were recently introduced to everyone in 2020 and 2015 respectively. And even in this smaller period, they took no time in becoming the popular talks of the online town.

And now to choose the best for your business type I’m going to compare Hyvä and PWA on the basis of their functionalities, strengths, performance, time to market, pricing, and target businesses.

So, Sit back & hold your seat, as we’re ready to delve into their capabilities now!

Hyvä vs PWA: Unique Functionalities

For Hyvä, I’ve added the following as its unique functionality.

1. Enhanced Performance

Hyvä Theme has removed heavy-weighted Javascript libraries (RequireJS and KnockoutJS) and has included lightweight with a single JavaScript framework called Alpine.js. It has also eliminated all CSS frameworks and replaced them with Tailwind CSS, reducing CSS output. 

In short, they require lesser code compared to the default Magento theme, the Luma theme, which eventually helped in boosting the performance.

Hyvä theme benefits

2. Less Complex

Hyvä theme was built from scratch on a blank canvas to match the level of perfect speed. It has removed each source that took a long time to respond. And right above I told you that Hyvä requires lesser code, and lesser code means lesser complexity.

3. Better Experience for Developers

Hyvä themes provide a simplified development experience for developers. It uses the PHP templating system that’s already part of Magento, and it’s designed to make coding easier and faster than other Magento frontend themes. Hyvä themes allow Magento developers to quickly build beautiful and flexible frontend themes for Magento using frameworks like TailwindCSS and AlpineJS which is the only learning curve for the developers.

Hyvä VS PWA

4. Lesser Dependencies

With Hyvä, you have to count on only 2 resources to load your website; which is TailwindCSS and Alpine.js. These technologies work together seamlessly to provide you with the ultimate loading experience.

5. SEO-friendly

Google’s Search Console has a Core Web Vitals report that measures loading, interactivity, and visual stability. Hyvä Themes passes all three tests, which can help you improve rankings, lower bounce rates, and increase conversions due to its faster loading speeds.

PWA has several functionalities to add here:

1. Native App-like experience

PWA provides a native app-like experience by utilizing modern web technologies to create an immersive user experience that closely resembles that of a native app. This includes features such as offline functionality, push notifications, and smooth animations, resulting in a seamless experience that feels like a native app without the need for a separate download or installation.

2. Device Agnostic

PWAs are web-based applications that are highly connected, hosted online, and can be accessed on any device, regardless of the operating system. This ensures a consistent user experience, whether the user is accessing the application on an iOS or Android device. Additionally, developing PWAs eliminates the need for developers to create multiple apps for different mobile platforms, resulting in significant savings in time and effort.

4. Push Notifications

PWAs allow users to receive real-time updates and alerts, even when the website is not open in their browser or device. This feature provides a seamless and convenient user experience, while also enabling businesses to engage with their audience in a timely and relevant manner.

5. Splendid Security

PWA provides enhanced security features such as HTTPS encryption, service workers, and manifest files, ensuring that data is transmitted securely and reducing the risk of security breaches. These features also enable PWAs to work offline and keep user data safe even when there is no internet connection.

6. Reliable & Speedy Webpage Loading

PWA offers a seamless browsing experience by utilizing caching, background data fetching, and smart resource allocation. This means that users can access your website quickly, even with poor connectivity or on low-end devices, without compromising on the user experience.

7. Search Engine Indexing

There is no direct effect of PWA on SEO; but PWA enhances page load speed, facilitates user engagement, improves security that contributes to improving overall SEO rankings. As a Magento PWA owner, you don’t need to follow any different set of rules to improve SEO, it is more or less the same as a traditional Magento eCommerce store.

Hyvä vs PWA: Performance

You know the importance of high performance, and speed, as the first impression of your website on visitors, is heavily influenced by how quickly it loads and performs.

And as we’re discussing Hyvä vs PWA; which are hyped for their speed, Performance is crucial to look after.

Performance of Hyvä Theme:

We have already discussed above that Hyvä Theme has become hyped for its lightning-fast load speed across all devices, and its commitment to loading within 2 seconds.

So how is that possible? How did Hyvä bring 2 seconds page load speed on Magento? Let me answer that.

Hyvä relies entirely on TailwindCSS and Alpine.JS instead of heavy-weighted javascript libraries.

Magento website

Tailwind CSS gives you a smaller CSS file size, which makes it a better alternative to pure CSS. And on the other hand, AlpineJS has done the same with JavaScript.

However these frameworks operate at a low level, they are elegantly flexible with improved performance and minimal file size. With them, you can explore endless creative possibilities with great performance.

Our clients saw a massive improvement in load speed after we implemented the Hyvä theme for them, the below numbers describe it all.

  • Imaginfires, UK’s leading Bioethanol Fireplaces Suppliers aka our client saw a 296% increase in site speed after we implemented the Hyvä theme for them.
  • Top Jordian Cellular Network Provider Umniah, also our client, Increases site speed by 224% with help of the Hyvä theme.

Performance of PWA:

Along with providing a Native-app experience, PWAs are also known for their speedy browsing transitions, and most technical people would agree with that.

This is achieved through a combination of techniques. For example, PWAs use cache data to store content from frequently accessed pages, such as images, so that they can be loaded quickly without having to fetch them from the server every time. This improves the page load time and makes the browsing experience smoother.

The implementation of PWA resulted in a significant increase in load speed for our clients, as evident from the numbers below.

  • Jollyes, the largest pet superstore in the UK saw a 104% increase in site speed after the implementation of PWA on their website.

Hyvä vs PWA: Time to Market:

Everybody says “Web Development Takes Time”! 

Even when I decided to build my house, the builder had the same answer.

But you chill! I’ve done my research to answer how much time the Hyvä and PWA projects require to get fully developed. Let’s have a closer look.

Hyvä: Time to Market

Hyvä themes are designed to be simple and easy to modify, which helps developers save time when creating and customizing website designs. By using a minimalistic approach, Hyvä allows developers to focus on each part of the UI and make changes quickly and easily. 

This means that the development team can create and customize themes faster. The easier the theme is to develop and modify, the less time the development team needs to spend on it, and the faster the website can be launched.

PWA: Time to Market

Developing a Progressive Web App (PWA) in general is faster than creating a native app because you only need to create one version of the code that works on all devices and operating systems. This saves time and effort compared to building multiple versions for various devices. 

However, the time it takes to develop a website with a PWA or a Hyvä theme depends on:

  • the agency’s experience with the technology,
  • the number of functionalities required, and
  • the complexity of the project.

But when we compare Magento store development time with Hyvä and the same with PWA, Hyvä can offer fast development than PWA.

For example, if you build two stores with the same features, one with a Hyvä theme and the other with a PWA, it will take twice as long to develop the PWA Magento store as it would to build the Hyvä Magento store. 

We have over ten years of experience in Magento development and can confidently say that a website with a Hyvä theme can be developed in just 8 weeks, while a PWA may take around 13 weeks.

Hyvä vs PWA: Pricing

We, humans tend to never buy a single thing without checking the price for it, or the cost following it.

Whether it’s about deciding between a perfect land for your house or Hyvä and PWA for your eCommerce store development; checking after the price is necessary. As we can’t randomly invest in anything.

Hyvä: Pricing

Hyvä Theme comes with a price tag of €1000 as a lifetime license.

By taking this package, you gain entry into a comprehensive Magento ecosystem that comprises an array of resources, such as exclusive access to Slack space, comprehensive documentation, Hyvä Github sources, compatible extensions, and community support.

Hyvä theme

The additional development cost with the Hyvä theme may be around $15,000 to $25,000, for the basic store with no complex functionalities. As the complexity of a project increases, it is common for its associated cost to escalate as well.

PWA: Pricing

On the other hand, PWA doesn’t have a specific license cost to showcase. Progressive Web apps can be developed in many ways such as using Magento PWA studio, Vue Storefront, and other solutions.

However, the development cost to build PWA with no complex functionalities may range from $30,000 to $45,000 depending on the need of your project.

Hyvä vs PWA: Target Businesses

What if you invest in the wrong area for your house?

The daily hassle will be enough to make you cry your eyes out.

And to not let that happen while choosing between Hyvä and PWA, I’ve shared my knowledge on business types and sizes targeted by them.

Hyvä: Target Business

Hyvä themes is a perfect match for Small to Medium businesses, and even larger entities can reap its benefits to some extent. It is faster and easier to implement, and even developers can easily work with it. This also helps to keep the cost of building the website lower.

However, it may not be the best choice for bigger companies that already have an established online store with more complex needs. This is because Hyvä is yet to be completely compatible with Adobe Commerce.

PWA: Target Business

On the other hand, PWAs are perfect for medium to larger enterprises. They are designed in such a way that they work well even with slow internet speeds. This makes them a great option for large enterprises with lots of products and customers who use mobile devices. 

Since PWAs work well with slow internet speeds, they are also suitable for businesses with customers living in rural areas or places with poor internet connectivity.

That being said, there are many cases where a PWA can be beneficial for small businesses as well. For example, a small business with a mobile-first strategy can benefit from a PWA that provides a seamless mobile experience to its users.

But a little reminder, PWAs don’t have a fixed budget as Hyvä theme so the circumstances can also stand where small businesses may not have sufficient funds to implement PWA solutions.

PWA

Where to Invest? Hyvä or PWA?

Finally, the time has come for me to reveal that, where you need to invest between Hyvä and PWA.

Okay, so, we’ve checked most of the areas and we also know that both the Hyvä theme and PWA are able to build decent Magento websites, better load speed, and improved user experience.

But as we can’t consider both at once, so we’ll help you pick the best option for your Magento store development based on various factors including your business needs.

You may find us biased for Hyvä, but we still want to say that Hyvä Theme is the most speedy solution for Magento eCommerce businesses and has a faster time to market. So if you’re a small to medium-sized business owner who is looking to enter the market quickly, with a limited budget but with a blazing-fast website speed, look no further than Hyvä theme. It’s definitely a match!

But…But…But…

In another case, if you’re a medium to large-sized business, looking to avail better performance, speed, and other benefits of PWA, also budget is not the concern, then, you can get yourself a PWA.

Also, we want to add: if your Magento Store sales are impacted only because of store speed; there is no need to implement PWA. Hyvä Theme will do your work.

This means that your decision will completely depend on your unique business requirements. That is what is necessary for your business and what your users require.

So now, Tell me what you’re looking to invest in. Hyvä? or PWA?

I’m waiting in the comment section for your reply 🙂

PS: We offer Hyvä Theme Integration Services and Magento PWA Development services. Whether you’re looking to go with Hyvä Theme or PWA, you can always get our developer’s support to do something magical for your Magento store. Contact us today.

Thanks for Reading!

Hyva theme may have been new, but it’s getting popular among developers and merchants for its eCommerce performance enhancement features, all at a lower cost than headless PWA.

But since it’s just the beginning, many Magento extensions are incompatible with Hyva. Businesses are still figuring out ways to develop compatibility between the Hyva theme and Magento extensions.

To address the Hyva compatibility issue, many third-party extension providers are working in tandem with Hyva. They are working towards a seamless integration experience for customers & developers. This article will cover 10 of these Hyva compatibility extension providers. 

Top 10 Best Hyva Compatibility Extensions Providers

Hyva Compatibility Extension Provider #1: Amasty

Amasty Logo

Amasty, founded in 2009, is an official partner of Adobe and is one of the best companies in offering Hyva compatibility extensions. It offers more than 300+ extensions of Magento and provides a wide range of Magento solutions and services to 100,000+ customers and partners worldwide. 

Amasty is also an official partner of Hyva and has almost 25 Hyva-compatible extensions published. They are working on 10+ extensions to make it compatible with Hyva. Here are some top extensions:

Hyva Compatibility Extension Provider #2: Mageworx

Mageworx logo

Located in the USA, Mageworx has been a well-known Magento extensions provider since 2008; it is pioneered in developing SEO extensions and provides affordable extensions for businesses of any size. Their team of 30 people is certified, professional and experts in providing quality extensions and solutions that help merchants succeed. 

As a Magento extension developer, Mageworx believes it is extremely important that their extensions are compatible with the Hyva theme. Therefore they have made their best extensions compatible with Hyva. Here is the list of extensions

Hyva Compatibility Extension Provider #3: BSS Commerce

BSS commerce logo

BSS Commerce has one of its offerings in Hyva compatibility extension services. Even with more than 40 compatible extensions, the company is continuously working to make each of its modules Hyva-compatible. 

It has been Adobe Bronze Solution as well as Hyva Partner since 2021. With more than 9+ years of experience in building Magento extensions and providing services to small, medium and Enterprise level businesses, it is the most reliable and efficient Magento solutions provider. 

This company is most active on the Hyva board and creates maximum issues on the board; here are some of their most popular Hyva-compatible extensions:

Hyva Compatibility Extension Provider #4: AheadWorks

aheadworks logo

AheadWorks is the child company of Rave Digital, a pioneer in Magento Development and a Magento Professional Solutions Partner. Rave Digital has headquarters in the USA, roofing over 50+ Certified Magento Developers and excellence in providing end-to-end eCommerce solutions for leading B2C brands and global merchants. 

They have created very few Hyva-compatible extensions, which are very useful and effective in running the eCommerce business. Here are some of them:

Hyva Compatibility Extension Provider #5: MageComp

Magecomp logo

Magecomp was established in 2014 and is now one of the leading Magento extensions and services providers. Their team strength has certified Magento developers who provide traditional and customised Magento solutions and deliver the projects on time per the client’s business requirements. The best part of this company is they provide one year of free upgrades and free support for all their extensions and projects. 

They have the highest number of open issues listed on the Hyva board, which means they are making most of their extensions Hyva compatible and few of them are made compatible with Hyva.

In addition, they have almost 45+ extensions that are Hyva-compatible out of the box.

Below are a few compatible extensions. 

Hyva Compatibility Extension Provider #6: Mirasvit

mirasvit logo

Mirasvit is considered one the top Magento extension providers, with 14 years of professional experience in building ready-to-use modules for the Magento platform. 

They provide quality products and can come up with the best solutions for the challenges faced by the merchants, which are also cost-effective. 

Mirasvit has around 15 Hyva-compatible extensions, and that few of them are listed below.

Hyva Compatibility Extension Provider #7: WebKul

webkul logo

Webkul is a 2010-based diversified company that provides extensions for many open-source eCommerce platforms such as Magento, Shopify, Woo commerce, Opencart, etc. 

It has developed the highest number of extensions in Magento, and they are hunting to create more. Most popular amongst customers across the globe, WebKul takes pride in offering end-to-end solutions and excellent customer service. 

Regarding Hyva-compatible extensions, Webkul has very few compatible extensions compared to the number of extensions they have. Though, what they have as their compatible extensions are very effective. Here is the list of them:

Hyva Compatibility Extension Provider #8: MagePlaza

Mageplaza logo

Mageplaza offers a wide range of feature-rich and high-quality Magento 2 extensions for merchants and developers. They have over 220+ extensions for the latest Magento 2 version. 

They strongly emphasise providing the best and most innovative product features and outstanding technical support. Hence they are recognised as the most popular extension provider amongst merchants of all sizes of businesses. 

As they wanted to keep up with the latest themes, they have built some Hyva-compatible extensions, as mentioned below: 

Hyva Compatibility Extension Provider #9: RedChamps

redchamp logo

RedChamps is known for providing innovative and scalable solutions for Magento store merchants. They have developed several Magento extensions and provide the best services to merchants to help them achieve their eCommerce business goals and requirements.  

This company has 25 Hyva-compatible extensions published on the Hyva board, and they don’t stop here. They are continuously working on creating more feature-ladened extensions. Below are the top extensions they provide: 

Hyva Compatibility Extension Provider #10: MageFan

Magefan logo

An eCommerce agency from Ukraine that started developing Magento 2 extensions in 2015 and has provided many cost-effective and feature-rich solutions. 

Their Magento extensions have been used and downloaded by more than 100K customers since the beginning till now. They strive to provide the best extensions to their customers despite the challenges they have faced in the last few years. 

Below are some of the Hyva-compatible extensions: 

Custom Hyva Theme Extension Compatibility

As we mentioned. One way to go about compatibility is to wait for your extension providers to create compatible extensions for your store. But that would lead to uncertainty and may make you wait until they deliver.

The second way is to hire an agency that can help you with custom hyva theme extension compatibility. Don’t worry if the extension of your Magento store is not listed in the above list. You don’t need to remove incompatible plugins with Hyvä. We are one of those agencies that make extensions compatible for your Hyva store.

You will get Hyva development, integration & maintenance support, all under one roof, Hyva theme service.  Feel free to contact our experts to get started today.

FAQs

Here are some Hyva compatibility extensions questions & answers:

What are Hyva compatibility extensions?

Hyva compatibility extensions are the Magento extensions that are made keeping Hyva themes in mind, or if they’re not compatible, they are turned compatible to work with Hyva themes. 

What are Hyva compatibility extension providers?

Hyva compatibility extension providers are the companies that offer Hyva-compatible extension solutions for Hyva-based stores to take advantage of Magento extensions on Magento 2.

Why do you need Hyva compatibility extensions?

As more and more merchants look forward to having a Hyva frontend theme, there’s a desperate need to have all the extension support as they did on Luma or Blank theme. But since the technology stack is new for Hyva, not all extensions are compatible with the theme.

So what do you do? Remove all the extension features that don’t support Hyva? No! You either

  • wait for Hyva-compatible extensions developed by extension providers, or
  • hire agencies that can bring incompatible Luma code into Hyva-compatible code as and when you need

All the incompatibility is at the frontend level, where the Hyva theme replaces Luma. The backend-related modules are compatible with Hyva as they are built on the Magento Open Source platform. 


Generally, Magento Stores uses/installs more or less similar kinds of extensions; it makes sense to share compatibility extensions than spending time over and again to make them compatible.

How to check whether the extension is compatible with the Hyva theme?


A Compatibility Module Tracker board is available to check whether the extension is compatible with the Hyva theme. Board is divided into six labels, each representing the status of the extension. Labels are as below:

Open: Extensions in open status means it is yet to be made compatible. 

Accepted: This means extensions are accepted to make it compatible.

In Progress: Extensions on which developers are working to make it compatible. 

Published: Extensions that are made available to use. 

Compatible: Extensions that are fully compatible with Hyva and can be used. 

Closed: Some extensions might be duplicates, or there is an alternative solution for that extension. 

Based on the statuses above, one can find compatible extensions per their requirements. 

References 

Guess what’s common between Nike, United Airlines, and Target? They use headless commerce platforms to create faster and more customized websites.

But what makes them switch to headless commerce or progressive web app development from traditional eCommerce development?

Is it the customization flexibility? Is it more control over the front and the back end? Or is it a faster development process? Well, what if I told you— all of them?

In the given article, I will give you some reasons to follow the headless route of these huge companies. In fact, I have a list of many successful industries that have implemented headless PWA.

I will also hand you the list of platforms with their features and benefits. The list will make it easier for you to choose one and achieve your commerce endeavors.

So without further ado, let’s jump onto headless commerce platforms.

What Is A Headless Commerce Platform?

A headless commerce platform is a platform that separates content management applications from the content delivery application environment.

If

  • you’re good with your existing front-end solution, and
  • want a bit more from your backend system,

a headless commerce platform will convert your objective into reality.

In simple terms, the headless commerce platforms accomplish your headless commerce dreams.

Things you can do with the headless commerce platforms:

  • Connect backends with multiple frontends
  • Deliver faster content to all the digital touchpoints 

Traditional eCommerce platforms force their architecture on you. You can only choose from the templates they provide.

What Are The Benefits Of Headless Commerce Platforms?

Decoupling is good, but headless commerce platforms can benefit you more than one way. It affects your eCommerce in ways you’re not even aware of.

Let’s get them one by one.

Headless platform benefit #1: Built-in Cost-Saving Capabilities

A lot of people think headless commerce platforms are expensive.

It makes sense if you are not counting the cost of inefficiencies. But headless platforms have removed unmeasured redundancies time and again.

If you don’t measure them— you don’t know how much you’re saving in the long term. Let’s keep it this way. You can dismiss the claims if you can measure these elements. Ask yourself:

  • How many redundancies do headless platforms reduce?
  • What is the cost of seamless integration between both ends?
  • What’s the cost of time-consuming and expensive workarounds of creating an omnichannel experience on mobile and web?
  • What’s the hidden cost of sticking to the traditional platform?
  • How much time do you save with customization control?

Are you getting the point? The implementation cost with headless commerce is not fixed at all. So you can’t really claim if it’s truly more expensive than traditional commerce.

Headless platform benefit #2: Flexibility, efficiency, and adaptability

Your consumers are not buying on websites alone.

  • 250 million are shopping on the Facebook marketplace. (1)
  • Instagram is not far behind. 44% of surveyed people shop on Instagram. (2)

And then there’s this crazy number. 33.2 million Americans are looking to shop using smart speakers in 2022. (3)

The number of buying channels keeps increasing.

You have two approaches to it.

  • Either you pick up the traditional method and repurpose digital content on all the channels.
  • Or you pick a headless commerce platform approach to create flexible content on all the channels.

Headless eCommerce platforms let you make changes to the content layer. And guess what? You don’t even need to disrupt the back-end. Your team can launch content campaigns and promotions without touching the system.

So headless platforms separate the interdependency between the marketing and IT department.

Headless platform benefit #3: Better security and protected data

There’s always an unexplained urge to install third-party eCommerce solutions on your website. They’re

  • lucrative, 
  • useful, and 
  • problem-solving. 

But they also have downsides. You drop in a chink on the website every time you install such solutions.

  • Your business becomes insecure. 
  • Malware and unauthorized access may affect your data.

Headless commerce platforms are designed to fill in these security chinks. What makes them more secure? Headless platforms

  • are built on open-source software
  • run within an isolated environment
  • prevent backend code from accessing disk space

You may say staying up to date on the security vulnerabilities will do the job for you. But it’s nearly impossible. To keep up to date with all the security updates is a nut nobody wants to crack. You know they keep getting released every day..

The headless commerce platform lets you get over all these hassles. You don’t have to worry about regular updates because headless commerce already saves you from boatloads of cyber threats.

Headless platform benefit #4: You have a head start in the market

You don’t go about reinventing the light bulb. Do you? Then why would you write a codebase that’s been written and tested over and over the years? Headless commerce platforms apply the same principle to your eCommerce endeavors.

You can launch and relaunch your website at speed you can never imagine.

You don’t need Shopify or Magento web developers to start coding for your website from scratch. How do headless platforms let you early in the market? Well, that’s how you reduce the need for developers, if not eliminate it. In the process, you save

Plus, there are no licensing and vendor-related issues. So you save more time from the unnecessary delays.

Speeding up the development process = faster penetration into the market = first-movers advantages

Headless platform benefit #5: You have better control over marketing campaigns

Any business is about speaking to your customers the way you want. But traditional eCommerce platforms limit the way you deliver marketing materials to them.

But in our case, headless commerce platforms divorce the front end from the backend. You know how the two ends are not tightly coupled. This way you can innovate your marketing campaigns without getting disturbed at the back-end.

Let’s see how you can improve your marketing initiatives.

  • You can roll out new initiatives. Headless commerce platforms use API to pull data from the central repository.
  • The platform lets you launch microsites, blogs, storefronts, and an ‘n’ number of online store experiences without having you go through the hassle of multiple platforms. Yes, you can connect with all these touchpoints to a single platform.
  • You can create consistency between channels. Web to mobile! Headless implementation is just flexible enough to bring consistency to your marketing efforts. 
  • If you’re accustomed to any particular CMS, you can use the design options it offers.

15 Best Headless Ecommerce Platforms

I have created a list of the ten best headless commerce platforms for you. It was difficult for me to rate one above the other. So I decided to skip it and planned to discuss the pros and cons of all these commerce

You can be the best judge and choose the most suitable one.

Top headless commerce platform list.

#1: Adobe Commerce

#2: The.com

#3: OroCommerce

#4 Shopify Plus

#5: BigCommerce

#6: Commerce Layer

#7: Contentful

#8: Kontent

#9: Shogun

#10: Vue StoreFront

#11: commercetools

#12: Elastic Path Commerce

#13: Nacelle

#14: Fabric

#15: Bloomreach

Best headless commerce platform #1: Adobe Commerce

My first pick would be Adobe Commerce.

What is Adobe Commerce?

Adobe commerce… or some call it Magento commerce, is an open-source headless platform solution. You may want to develop a headless Magento store if you’re hoping to add a dynamic shopping cart system to your store.

Adobe commerce also gives infinite flexibility at a meager price. Magento is headless starting from version 2.3. Probably the reason why stores with

Magento 2 support PWA development.

Read More: Magento PWA– Everything you need to know

What are the features of Adobe Commerce?

  • API
  • Cataloging/Categorization
  • SEO Management
  • Communication Management
  • CRM
  • Content Management
  • Payment Options
  • Mobile Access
  • Loyalty Program
  • Inventory Control
  • Shopping Cart
  • Order Management
  • Reporting/Analytics
  • Customer Touch Points
  • Returns Management
  • Promotions Management
  • Channel Management
  • Customer Accounts
  • Shipping Management
  • Web/Mobile App Development
  • eCommerce Management

What are the pros of Adobe Commerce?

  • greater flexibility
  • enhanced performance
  • ability to create custom-tailored content
  • fantastic user experience to customers
  • a good platform to start immediately
  • a strong Magento dev community

What are the cons of Adobe Commerce?

  • expensive customization
  • needs regular security updates
  • vulnerable to attacks
  • not-so-attractive interface

What is the price of Adobe Commerce?

Starts at 1988$ per month. It also has a free trial!

Who is Adobe Commerce best suited for?

  • Adobe Commerce is designed for small to large businesses.
  • Best suitable for the retail industry.

Best headless commerce platform #2: The.com

The.com homepage

The next on the list is The.com

What is The.com?

The.Com breaks all the barriers for you as a headless commerce platform. If designing has been one of the challenges for you, the.com it is. It has a low-code editor which gives you massive front-end freedom.

The.Com claims the pages made on it are the fastest on the internet. As you’d expect from the headless software, The.Com uses serverless architecture.

What are the features of The.Com?

The.com headless services and features

  • SEO Management
  • Pre-built Templates
  • Auto Update
  • Real-Time Editing
  • Reporting/Analytics
  • Landing Pages/Web Forms

What are the pros of The.Com?

  • duplicate the templates easily
  • interface is intuitive
  • integrates with Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics
  • helpful team
  • auto-generated sitemaps for search page indexing
  • speedy and responsive

What are the cons of The.Com?

  • the learning curve is steep
  • few expert developers in the market
  • still need some changes to features

What is the price of The.Com?

The pricing structure for the.com

The.com lets you draft up to 6 websites. You can upgrade to one of these three plans once you’re ready to publish.

  • Starter: $36/Month
  • Member: $199/Month
  • High Volume: $1499+/Month

The.Com doesn’t have any free version. However, you can use the free drafting period.

Who is The.Com best suited for?

  • Best for professional, semi-professional, and freelance web developers
  • SaaS platforms and marketing, branding, and social digital agencies 

Best headless commerce platform #3: OroCommerce

OroCommerce homepage

OroCommerce is next on my list.

What is OroCommerce?

OroCommerce is an open-source headless commerce platform. It is built to serve B2B platforms. But you can use its set of multiple features to meet your eCommerce requirements.

  • B2B, 
  • B2B2B, 
  • B2B2C, 
  • B2C

You can also enjoy SaaS/cloud environment solutions for your headless commerce objectives.

What are the features of OroCommerce?

  • Reordering
  • Channel Management
  • Web/Mobile App Development
  • Order Management
  • Returns Management
  • Cataloging/Categorization
  • Promotions Management
  • Templates
  • Multi-Store
  • Multi-Channel Marketing
  • Marketplace Integration
  • API
  • Inventory Management
  • Inventory Control
  • Email Marketing
  • Reporting/Analytics
  • Data Security
  • CRM
  • Communication Management
  • SEO Management
  • Shipping Management
  • Kitting
  • Shopping Cart
  • Mobile Access

What are the pros of OroCommerce?

  • speeds up the development process of complex businesses
  • systematic built
  • functional implementation is amazing
  • has a powerful data grid tool
  • web catalog is powerful
  • agile CRM
  • huge feature list
  • powerful structure focused on B2B

What are the cons of OroCommerce?

  • the learning curve for development is huge
  • development is complex
  • extensions are limited
  • clumsy on windows environment
  • needs more updates in debugging tool 

What is the price of OroCommerce?

Orocommerce feature list and contact us CTA

OroCommerce hasn’t provided the price for their software. But I know they have free trials and free versions as well.

Who is OroCommerce best suited for?

  • OroCommerce is a perfect fit for midsize and large enterprises
  • Businesses looking to manage multiple pricing lists and catalogs may look into OroCommerce headless solution

Best headless commerce platform #4: Shopify Plus

Shopify homepage

The list is incomplete without Headless Shopify.

What is Shopify Plus?

Shopify Plus is for you if you want high growth for your enterprise eCommerce. It is a multi-channel headless commerce software that handles high traffic volumes. You can credit such high growth to Shopify PWA capabilities.

If you make over $1 million in revenue, Shopify Plus is a headless platform to optimize marketing and revenue. You can sell online and across other digital channels like Facebook and Instagram. Plus also expands the possibilities in other marketplaces like Amazon and eBay.

What are the features of Shopify Plus?

  • Cataloging/Categorization
  • Returns Management
  • Channel Management
  • Promotions Management
  • Multi-Store
  • CRM
  • Kitting
  • Email Marketing
  • Data Security
  • Shopping Cart
  • API
  • Marketplace Integration
  • Inventory Management
  • Mobile Access
  • Content Management
  • eCommerce Management
  • Multi-Channel Marketing
  • Conversion Tracking
  • Order Management
  • Reviews Management
  • SEO Management
  • Templates
  • Inventory Tracking

What are the pros of Shopify Plus?

  • great for multiple site holders
  • easy to learn and get started
  • efficient customization
  • thousands of app support
  • quick and easy to set up
  • default templates for headless websites
  • detailed analytics
  • manage POS and online sales store
  • sections for customized solutions

What are the cons of Shopify Plus?

  • expensive pricing
  • limited in terms of in-built design themes
  • may have server issues at times

What is the price of Shopify Plus?

Shopify pricing page

You’ll need to connect with the Shopify team to figure out the price. But most people I know feel it’s a bit of an expensive solution for headless commerce.

Shopify says their plan starts at USD 2000/month. But don’t take it at face value. The figures may change depending on your needs. However, you can enjoy a free trial for exploration. There’s no free version.

Who is Shopify Plus best suited for?

  • High-volume enterprise businesses
  • Large-sized businesses 

Best headless commerce platform #5: BigCommerce

BigCommerce homepage

BigCommerce will always make the list of best headless commerce platforms.

What is BigCommerce?

BigCommerce is one of the most popular headless eCommerce platforms. Like other platforms, it’s an open-source solution that focuses especially on cloud-based SaaS.

BigCommerce lets you choose your tech stack. Its headless APIs help you build a separate system for your website. You also can’t discount the partnership with front-end frameworks and content management systems like WordPress, Drupal, etc.

What are the features of BigCommerce?

  • Cataloging/Categorization
  • Email Marketing
  • Bulk Ordering
  • Marketplace Integration
  • Customer Touch Points
  • Channel Management
  • Inventory Control
  • Shipping Management
  • Content Management
  • Returns Management
  • Order Management
  • Promotions Management
  • SEO Management
  • Shopping Cart
  • Inventory Optimization
  • eCommerce Management
  • Multi-Channel Marketing
  • API
  • Reordering
  • Reporting/Analytics
  • Payment Options

What are the pros of BigCommerce?

  • has many templates to explore
  • easily scalable and expandable
  • designing freedom
  • offers inclusive features at entry-level product options
  • helpful customer support
  • availability of many third-party apps
  • easy to figure out
  • the platforms get regular updates and are set up perfectly
  • comprehensive product manager feature
  • a facelifted interface
  • customization and reliability
  • simple and accurate integration
  • strong order management

What are the cons of BigCommerce?

  • asks to change password every quarter (annoying experience)
  • difficult to work with if you’re trying more than basics
  • theme editor may require a tricky setup
  • the in-browser theme editor may turn out buggy and unreliable
  • difficult for merchants to design their stores without developers

What is the price of BigCommerce?

BigCommerce pricing plan

  • Starts at $29.95 
  • Plus @ $79.95/month 
  • Pro @$299.95/month 

Enterprise: You’ll need to contact BigCommerce.

BigCommerce free trial offer

You can see if it works for you with the free trial version. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a free version.

Who is BigCommerce best suited for?

  • BigCommerce is for retail businesses of all sizes, 
  • A good pick if you need a customizable website with a centralized dashboard

Best headless commerce platform #6: Commerce Layer

CommerceLayer homepage

Commerce Layer cuts to the list because it lets you go the headless way easily.

What is a Commerce Layer?

Commerce Layer allows modern developers to build enterprise headless commerce. You need a Commerce Layer if your brand is fast-growing.

The headless solution is powerful yet simple to implement. Commerce Layer has an effective API for blistering websites. You can use it on any breed of the technology stack to scale a shoppable website.

What are the features of the Commerce Layer?

  • API
  • Customer Touchpoints
  • Inventory Optimization

What are the pros of the Commerce Layer?

  • very comfortable to use
  • multi-purpose benefits
  • simple structure
  • integrate POS software and sell in-store
  • flexible with wearable and voice devises

What are the cons of the Commerce Layer?

  • not a self-explanatory interface

What is the price of the Commerce Layer?

Commercelayer pricing plan

Commerce Layer lets you start free of cost but with limited features. Businesses with comprehensive requirements will have to connect with the Layer’s team.

Commerce Layer gives a free trial for you to explore.

Who is Commerce Layer best suited for?

  • Commerce Layer is for you if you have a fast-growing brand
  • Best for digital-first brands looking to go headless
  • Businesses looking to scale internationally
  • Merchants looking for reliable and future-proof solutions

Best headless commerce platform #7: Contentful

Contentful homepage

No headless eCommerce platform list is complete without contentful.

What is Contentful?

The entire point of having a headless eCommerce is to market your materials on different platforms without being caught in the hassle. Contentful lets you break the non-omnichannel experience and powers digital experiences’ speed, reliability, and performance.

Contentful integrates many tools using APIs and unites content in one repository. Quick turnaround time for marketing materials and content from one repository makes it a must-have headless CMS for eCommerce.

What are the features of Contentful?

  • Data Synchronization
  • Access Controls/Permissions
  • Digital Asset Management
  • Collaboration Tools
  • Offline Access
  • Content Management
  • Archiving & Retention
  • Document Management
  • Information Governance
  • File Sharing
  • Mobile Access
  • Search/Filter
  • Workflow Management
  • Version Control

What are the pros of Contentful?

  • effective for writing and managing content
  • safe and well-designed CMS
  • positive experience
  • friendly configuration 
  • stable CMS
  • clear data structure
  • auto configurable APIs
  • ease of use and scalability
  • manage a large amount of data
  • loads quicker than many CMS

What are the cons of Contentful?

  • you may feel lost if you’re not aware of what you’re up to (tricky navigation)
  • content preview right before publishing is limited
  • offer only mail support
  • lack of secure log to record all the events
  • expensive
  • the learning curve is big

What is the price of Contentful?

Contentful pricing structure

Contentful starts at 489$ per month. It has a free trial and a free version too.

Who is Contentful best suited for?

  • Contentful is best if you want to quickly deliver digital experiences across multiple channels.

Best headless commerce platform #8: Kentico Kontent

Kentico Kontent homepage

I couldn’t resist adding Kontent with a “K.”

What is Kentico Kontent?

Kontent, the name is self-explanatory. It has something to do with the headless CMS platform. It has easy-to-use content management tools for content marketers.

Developers no longer have to rely on it, and they can engage themselves in building interactive and seamless shopping experiences. Kontent allows marketers to focus on creating content without needing developers involved.

What are the features of Kentico Kontent?

  • Text Editing
  • Mobile Access
  • SEO Management
  • SDKs
  • Content Publishing Options
  • API
  • Full-Text Search
  • For Marketers
  • Access Controls/Permissions
  • Document Classification
  • Multi-Channel Marketing
  • Video Support
  • Reporting/Analytics
  • For Developers
  • Customizable Templates
  • Version Control
  • Website Management

What are the pros of Kentico Kontent?

  • effective customer support
  • allows good customization
  • simple and easy to use
  • flexibility in content taxonomy
  • easy implementation 
  • powerful user interface
  • flat learning curve
  • flexible and adaptable from the user’s point of view
  • seamless integration with the modern tech stack

What are the cons of Kentico Kontent?

  • may need upfront knowledge to reap the best out of the platform
  • requires developers to make basic changes
  • the price tag is high, and there’s no cheaper plan for small businesses

What is the price of Kentico Kontent?

Kontent pricing structure

Business plan: $1249.00 /month

Premium plan: $2,499/month

Enterprise plan: Connect with Kentico

Kontent has a free trial version for 30 days. You also get a free version to use.

Kontent 30-day free trial form

Who is Kentico Kontent best suited for?

  • Kontent is good for medium and large enterprises. 
  • Digital agency clients looking to streamline amazing shopping experiences

Best headless commerce platform #9: Shogun

Shogun Homepage

Shogun comes first to my mind whenever the talks are about front-end headless platforms. I can give direct insights into how amazing the Shogun experience has been because Aureates is partners with them.

My team has worked with them directly and has created some of the best headless eCommerce in the industry.

What is Shogun?

The Shogun Frontend platform lets you build phenomenal headless shopping experiences. Businesses looking to gain control over design customization and wishing to deliver blazing-fast websites can use Shogun as a handy platform.

You can push your eCommerce team to create custom elements in almost no time without putting on much time into coding. Shogun does the everyday tasks for you much better.

What are the features of Shogun?

  • Content Management
  • Customizable Templates
  • AB Testing
  • API
  • Access Controls/Permissions
  • Integrated Development Environment
  • Inventory Optimization
  • SEO Management
  • Web/Mobile App Development
  • Drag & Drop
  • Reporting/Analytics

What are the pros of Shogun?

  • easy to learn
  • anyone can use it
  • reduces loading time for desktop and mobile
  • limitless customization potential
  • less code, more control
  • simplified content management
  • codeless store update

What are the cons of Shogun?

  • no free plan is available
  • the prices are low
  • not many templates

What is the price of Shogun?3

Shogun pricing differs across multiple pricing platforms.

Shogun price for Shopify

Build: $39/month 

Measure: $99/month 

Team: $299/month 

Enterprise: Custom plan

Shogun pricing for Shopify

The shogun pricing for BigCommerce

Shogun pricing for BigCommerce

Build: $49/month 

Measure: $149/month 

Optimize: $349/month

Shogun also offers a 7-days free trial.

Who is Shogun best suited for?

  • If you want more from Shopify Plus and BigCommerce, Shogun’s headless frontend is the way.
  • Small to enterprise-scaled businesses

Best headless commerce platform #10: Vue StoreFront

Vue Storefront homepage

It often doesn’t happen when you talk about headless commerce platforms, and Vue Storefront is not on the list. 🙂

What is Vue StoreFront?

Vue Storefront is a headless eCommerce frontend that can be connected with any eCommerce platform like Magento, Shopify, or BigCommerce.

You can improve your front-end without making a single change at the backend. It ends the interdependency between the two. Vue Storefront lets you create Progressive Web Apps for any eCommerce platform. Many long-time Magento merchants look at Vue Storefront as an Adobe commerce alternative.

Read our comparison between Magento PWA studio and Vue Storefront before making any decision. 

What are the features of Vue StoreFront?

  • Cataloging/Categorization
  • Abandoned Cart Saver
  • Credit Card Processing
  • eCommerce Management
  • Order Management
  • Inventory Management
  • SEO Management

What are the pros of Vue StoreFront?

  • solution for flexible eCommerce platforms
  • helps fasten the Google page speed score
  • easy to set up, open-source headless solution
  • the large community of active users
  • regular updates
  • makes use of new technologies very well
  • supports elastic search and GraphQL to make development journeys more powerful and efficient

What are the cons of Vue StoreFront?

  • hard for merchants to use
  • the solution is only for developers
  • missing features like catalog rules
  • limited functionalities
  • huge learning curve

What is the price of Vue StoreFront?

Vue Storefront pricing contact form

Vue Storefront doesn’t mention the price. You’ll have to reach out to the team for a price discussion. But it has a free trial and a free version.

Who is Vue StoreFront best suited for?

Good news: We have developed a Shopify-VueStorefront connector for Vue that will save thousands of dollars in customization

Best headless commerce platform #11: Commercetools

Commerce Tools homepage

commercetools makes it to the list because it’s one of the leading headless platforms.

What are Commercetools?

Commercetools are used to build next-generation B2B and B2C eCommerce. So far now, the legacy suits have restricted eCommerce websites from customization and scalability. Commercetools breaks the need for legacy tools with its headless and API-first approach.

You can use this headless platform to make a multi-tenant SaaS commerce platform for two reasons:

  • Commercetools is cloud-native
  • Commercetools deploys flexible microservices

Global 500 SaaS enterprises use a headless commerce approach with Commerce Tools to produce seamless experiences at different touchpoints.

What are the features of Commercetools?

  • Web/Mobile App Development
  • Content Management
  • CRM
  • SEO Management
  • Returns Management
  • Email Marketing
  • Promotions Management
  • Conversion Tracking
  • Reviews Management
  • Kitting
  • Multi-Store
  • Multi-Channel Marketing
  • Templates
  • Customer Touch Points
  • Data Security
  • Mobile Access
  • Inventory Management
  • API

What are the pros of Commercetools?

  • informative documentation
  • microservice-architecture is scalable
  • supports cloud-native platform
  • no need to use SQL
  • APIs are easy to extend
  • requires less maintenance
  • ever-expanding eCommerce solution

What are the cons of Commercetools?

  • there are no modern frontend SDKs
  • complex integration with 3rd party platforms
  • The pricing slab is not very customizable
  • data mapping limitations

What is the price of the Commercetools?

Commercetools hasn’t disclosed their prices yet. You can contact the vendor for the price. However, you can learn the ins and outs during your free trial version.

Some secretive customers have shared the price

  • Implementation →  $300,000 – $1 Million
  • License Fees →  $200,000/year  – $500,000/year
  • Specialized resources→ $150,000/year

Commerce tools free trial offer

Who are the Commercetools best suited for?

  • Go for Commercetools should you need eCommerce solutions for niche industries like 
  • retail, 
  • electronics, 
  • travel, 
  • fashion, 
  • automotive, 
  • wholesale, 
  • entertainment, 
  • telecommunications.
  • B2B and B2B SaaS solutions

Best headless commerce platform #12: Elastic path Commerce

Elastic path homepage

If you’re talking about headless platforms and flexibility in the same place, you will have to talk about elastic path commerce.

What is Elastic path Commerce?

Elastic Path Commerce is a platform that puts business on the agility pedestal. Flexibility has been a long-talked issue in traditional commerce. Elastic path applies a headless approach with the patented eCommerce technologies.

Its flexible enterprise commerce solution helps you create an omnichannel experience throughout the sales funnel in the customer journey. You can expect your business to have higher engagement and revenue with the Elastic path.

What are the features of Elastic path Commerce?

  • Inventory Tracking
  • Shipping Management
  • Shopping Cart
  • Categorization/Grouping
  • Promotions Management
  • Order Management
  • Communication Management
  • Templates
  • Multi-Store
  • API
  • Integrated Development Environment
  • Inventory Control
  • Inventory Management
  • Data Security
  • Reordering
  • Reporting/Analytics
  • Content Management
  • Web/Mobile App Development
  • Conversion Tracking
  • Mobile Access
  • eCommerce Management
  • Returns Management
  • Bulk Ordering
  • Payment Processing
  • Inventory Optimization
  • Reviews Management
  • Marketplace Integration
  • Cataloging/Categorization
  • Customer Touchpoints
  • Payment Options

What are the pros of Elastic path Commerce?

  • Has a smooth and reliable API.
  • easy access to the web tools
  • easy to use
  • flexible business solution module
  • API is high-speed
  • has plenty of advanced features
  • a better developer experience
  • amazing billing options

What are the cons of Elastic path Commerce?

  • need bug fixes at some points
  • may not feel user-friendly to everyone
  • learning-curve is huge
  • needs improvement in the CloudOps
  • the upgrade system takes a lot of time

What is the price of Elastic path Commerce

Elastic path contact us form

The pricing for Elastic Path is divided into two parts. It starts with the upfront pricing (licensing fee). Then the pricing model switches to the transaction model. You’ll be billed over the transaction volumes. There’s no free trial or free version.

You’ll have to get in touch with its executive to learn about its pricing. The pricing may start at $50000.00 based on your usage every month. 

Who is Elastic path Commerce best suited for?

  • Elastic Path is one platform with many business models.
  • Power up your B2B, B2C, and B2B2C business with EPC


Best headless commerce platform #13: Nacelle

Nacelle homepage

The nacelle is new. But it still manages to get past much headless commerce. Why? You’ll know the reasons.

What is Nacelle?

The nacelle is a headless platform for eCommerce merchants sick of slow websites and terrible mobile conversion rates. Your website needs a flexible and scalable solution to go big in the future. Nacelle does everything traditional platforms do, but everything at a 3X pace.

Let’s say you wanted a lightning-fast store that gives you a 25%+ increase in conversion. Nacelle helps you develop progressive web apps (PWAs) that run faster than any ordinary store. Check out how PWA increases web app conversion rates. Also, check some other PWA benefits that nacelle can offer.

In general, you can expect an increase in 

  • higher traffic
  • better conversion rates, 
  • larger average cart sizes

What are the features of Nacelle?

  • Mobile Access

What are the pros of Nacelle?

  • fast, modern-PWA
  • excellent customer support
  • cutting-edge commerce tools
  • has a less complex backend
  • great development experience

What are the cons of Nacelle?

  • the learning curve is big

What is the price of Nacelle?

Nacelle contact us form

Nacelle bills you $5000.00 per month for every user. Unfortunately, there’s no free version or free trial

Who is Nacelle best suited for?

  • The nacelle is for you if you’re concerned with scaling and boosting conversions.
  • You’d also love it if an eCommerce team looking for high mobile performance and a great tech stack arrangement.

Best headless commerce platform #14: Fabric

Fabric Homepage

Though Fabric copy says “The Future Of Commerce,” I feel it’s already the present of headless commerce.

What is Fabric?

Fabric is the headless platform designed to increase the growth of your eCommerce. The platform has an open and modular design that lets you control the web elements at the modular level.

Ecommerce retailers can use fabric to grow their revenues by 3X numbers.

What are the features of Fabric?

  • Cataloging/Categorization
  • Inventory Optimization
  • Bulk Ordering
  • Search/Filter
  • Promotions Management
  • Reporting/Analytics
  • Order Tracking
  • Web/Mobile App Development
  • Integrated Development Environment
  • Marketplace Integration
  • Order Management
  • Inventory Control
  • Shopping Cart
  • Inventory Management
  • Payment Options
  • Reordering
  • Content Management
  • Returns Management
  • Shipping Management
  • API
  • eCommerce Management
  • SEO Management
  • Mobile Access

What are the pros of Fabric?

  • an “API-centric” approach
  • omnichannel architecture methodology
  • accelerated roadmaps with modular architecture
  • faster time-to-market
  • ease of deployment
  • the ultimate level of support
  • smooth transition of websites without re-platforming
  • flexible and scalable commerce tool
  • easy to use
  • deals with complex custom pricing very well

What are the cons of Fabric?

  • no noticeable issue with fabric so far
  • steeper learning curve

What is the price of Fabric?

Fabric charges $6000.00 every month per user. You can’t learn it for free as it doesn’t have a free version or free trial.

Who is Fabric best suited for?

  • Fabric best suits brands and eCommerce merchants looking for scalable and functional tools.
  • You’ll also love Fabric if you need microservices and APIs to generate an omnichannel experience.

Best headless commerce platform #15: Bloomreach

Bloomreach homepage

I wanted to end the list with a bang. What’s better than Bloomreach for this?

What is Bloomreach?

Bloomreach is a headless commerce platform that creates amazing cloud experiences. It’s a #1 platform if you want to deliver a personalized experience to your customers. The platform allows you to build a super-customizable journey for the shoppers.

You can also manage the storefront with Bloomreach’s API. For decades, adding products to any page has been a hassle. Bloomreach’s headless solution is designed to solve the problem.

What are the features of Bloomreach?

  • User Interaction Tracking
  • Digital Asset Management
  • Workflow Management
  • Data Integration
  • Document Management
  • Website Visitor Tracking
  • Customizable Templates
  • Campaign Management
  • Full-Text Search
  • Customer Profiles
  • Content Publishing Options
  • Access Controls/Permissions
  • Pageview Tracking
  • Segmentation
  • Customizable CTAs
  • Drip Campaigns
  • Search/Filter
  • Text Editing
  • Approval Process Control
  • Data Visualization
  • Indexing
  • Activity Dashboard
  • Dynamic Content
  • Functions/Calculations
  • Conversion Tracking
  • Rich Text Editor
  • Referral Tracking
  • Configurable Workflow
  • AB Testing
  • Version Control
  • Goal Setting / Tracking
  • Third-Party Integration
  • Customer Segmentation
  • Alerts/Notifications
  • Lead Qualification
  • Analytics
  • Rule-Based Publishing
  • GDPR Compliance
  • Template Management
  • Predictive Modeling
  • API
  • Collaboration Tools
  • ROI Tracking
  • Data Connectors
  • Lead Management
  • Personalization
  • Campaign Analytics
  • Content Management
  • Brand Management
  • SEO Management
  • Marketing Automation
  • Private Dashboards
  • Multi-Channel Marketing
  • Public Dashboards
  • Image Editing
  • KPI Monitoring
  • Time on Site Tracking
  • Website Management
  • Mobile Access

What are the pros of Bloomreach?

  • useful data insights
  • versatile software
  • easy to understand
  • logical upgrades
  • helpful and insightful support staff
  • feature-rich software
  • well-designed software
  • responsive and knowledgeable support team
  • easy integration

What are the cons of Bloomreach?

  • may feel complex to implement
  • difficult than ordinary CMS
  • CMS freezing issue is quite common
  • some chinks in the feature need to be worked out
  • lots of features make it a bit complex suite to use
  • expensive
  • The mobile version still needs a UI overhaul

What is the price of Bloomreach?

Bloomreach contact us form

Bloomreach contact us form

Bloomreach has not provided pricing details, but you don’t have any free version or free trial to get your hands dirty.

Who is Bloomreach best suited for?

  • Bloomreach is a powerful platform for all the businesses
  • Best for you if you need a multi-channel content delivery solution
  • Suited for
  • retail, 
  • distribution, 
  • manufacturing, 
  • transportation, 
  • hospitality

How To Choose Headless Commerce Platforms For Your Business?

I know the list doesn’t solve the problem for you. Then how do you pick the best headless platform for your organization? 

Trust me; if you can answer what you need headless commerce for, you can answer what platform you need.

So ask yourself if you need more control over the

  • front-end customization?
  • Back-end system?
  • CMS?

Here’s a step-by-step process to identify the top headless commerce platform for business.

Step #1: Understand your business case more closely

  • Are you looking for agility?
  • Do you want to use modern technology to give a competitive digital experience?
  • What are your thoughts on a personalized multichannel experience?
  • Do you want to provide the best retail experience?

If you can answer these questions, you can say you understand your business case clearly. 

Step #2: Know more about the headless approach

While shopping for new things may be tempting, you shouldn’t take headless commerce as grocery shopping.

Take your time to understand these concepts:

  • Web-first vs. content-first approach
  • Monolith vs. microservices architecture

Source

  • Hybrid CMSs
  • The self-hosted model managed to host PaaS vs. SaaS

Step #3: Check the suitable pricing

All the headless commerce platforms have differing prices. 

  • figure out the most important features you need, 
  • map their availability with the headless platform, and 
  • check the best pricing rate.

Step #4: Check how powerful the support is

You may feel attracted to the cheaper headless solutions. But the price is not the only factor determining a good headless platform. You would want to consider the quality of customer support.

Look! Most headless tools are complex. They continuously need support from the community and dedicated helpline executives. It’s all the more reason why you can’t ignore 24*7 support. 

Step #5: Evaluate the headless tool

I think this should come up a bit in the list. Nevertheless, it’s the most important learning process about headless platforms. 

Things you should watch out for:

  • Do they have flexible APIs?
  • Do they have developer training modules?
  • How good is the learning documentation?
  • How fast do you hear from the headless vendor?
  • Do solutions match your business case?
  • Can the headless solution integrate with your existing commerce?
  • How easy is it for you to start using the headless platform?

Once you have evaluated the platform, it’s time to evaluate its makers.

Step #6: Evaluate the vendors and their proposals

You’re getting a better sense of the vendor at this stage.

  • Learn what you’re paying for. Get the list ready by them!
  • Do they listen to your ideas?
  • What are their consulting services?
  • What does their company’s culture look like?


Summary of headless commerce platforms

I gave you the reasons to go headless. And then the list of top 10 headless platforms that I feel can make a difference in the eCommerce industry.

The essential part of running an eCommerce business is maintaining a competitive edge over your rivals. Headless at the moment is one way to deliver an amazing digital experience.

Let me know what’s your preferred headless commerce in the comments. Also, color me wrong if I haven’t mentioned any headless platform that I should have. 🙂

Magento 2.4.4 Upgrade: Know How to Upgrade your Magento Store

Apr 15th, 2022 5 min to read

Magento 2.4.4 is here! With this release, Magento has introduced several new features to improve your eCommerce store’s performance and security. Now you can get a website that runs on the latest version with 100% compliance.

This release includes all changes included in the 2.4.3 release and also contains multiple performance enhancements, especially in terms of checkout, cart, and catalog page load speed improvements. Therefore, it’s important for you to keep your Magento store up-to-date with the latest version available. 

In this post, we are going to highlight the features and benefits of the latest version of Magento. Also, you can find the best way to upgrade your Magento Store to  Magento 2.4.4.

Let’s get started!

Magento 2.4.4 Highlights

 Magento has released the latest version of Magento Commerce and Open Source 2.4.4 with various functional fixes and enhancements. This release includes significant performance and security improvements, bug fixes, and Release Notes updates.

Following are some of the highlights of this Magento 2.4.4 release:

  1. Supports PHP 8.1 to accelerate your site performance by 15-20%
  2. Added support for Elasticsearch 7.16 and MySQL 8
  3. Introduced GraphQL coverage for e-commerce operations with B2B enhancements
  4. Enhanced security with 2FA (Two Factor Authentication) for admins and Google reCAPTCHA for storefronts
  5. Upgraded PayPal JavaScript SDK with support for checkout and payment authorization on mobile
  6. Improved page rendering speed up to 50% with optimized use of JavaScript libraries in Magento UI library components
  7. Expanded support for PWA Studio with new tools and capabilities that enable you to build PWA storefronts on top of Magento
  8. Enhanced product security with support for Composer 2 and removal of deprecated core integration mechanism

Why Upgrade to Magento 2.4.4

With every new release, Magento brings a bunch of new features and functionalities that not only make the upgrade process easier but also help to bring your store to the latest technologies.

Magento 2.4.4 upgrade

Let’s check what you can miss if you do not upgrade to Magento 2.4.4 version.

What’s new in Magento 2.4.4 for Merchants

  • Shopping with the help of the Seller
  • Adobe Sensei-powered Live Search
  • Asset Management and a Better Media Gallery
  • Purchase online and pick up in-store (BOPIS)
  • Workflows for B2B Order Approval
  • Tool for Site-Wide Analysis
  • Composer Update Plugin
  • Upgrade Compatibility Tool
  • In-Product Guidance
  • Latest PHP version 7.4

Magento users are now able to migrate their stores to the Magento 2.4.4 version to avail of all the above features. Let’s see the step-by-step instructions to upgrade Magento 2.4.4.

How to Upgrade Your Magento Store to version 2.4.4

Migrating an eCommerce store is not an easy task and you have to undergo a lot of trouble just for upgrading your store to the latest version. But when it comes to such a powerful platform like Magento, you can rest assured as the brand has been continually improving its core functionality through several upgrades. 

Magento upgrade

What is Magento Setup Upgrade?

Magento 2 is a powerful eCommerce platform that comes with a lot of flexibility and customization options. Although these features are what make it so popular, they also make it vulnerable to security issues and bugs. That’s why upgrades are crucial for keeping your website safe and in tip-top shape.

Before we start with the upgrade process, here are the things you should check before upgrading your store:

Compatibility: Verify that all your current extensions and themes are compatible with Magento 2.4.4

Review Changelog: Go through all the changes made in the new release to avoid any conflicts with your current setup.

Simple Steps to upgrade Magento store to 2.4

You can download the latest release of Magento from its official website. 

Note: To upgrade from any previous version of Magento, you must use Composer

To upgrade your Magento store to Magento 2.4.4 from a previous version, complete the following steps:

Step 1: Review prerequisites for upgrading to Magento 2.4

Step 2: Set up your environment for upgrades

Step 3: Backup your store

Step 4: Install upgrades using Composer

Step 5: Update the database schema and data

Step 6: Deploy static view files

Step 7: Disable Maintenance Mode

Step 8: Clear Static Files

Step 9: Recompile Your Store If Needed

There could be some possible issues you might face while performing the Magento upgrade. To fix those issues you can hire the best Adobe Certified Magento Developers.

Magento 2 Upgrade Service

Magento upgrade

Magento has been the gold standard for eCommerce platforms over the years. The new Magento 2.4.4 builds on top of that legacy. You can upgrade your old and antiquated Magento store for several store benefits..

Your business needs a reliable Magento development partner like Aureate Labs to give the best revisions and upgrades to your Magento Store. Let our certified Magento developers help you upgrade your store with the latest release of Magento.

So, if you’re still running a prior version of Magento 2.4.4 or an older version of Magento, it’s time to upgrade your store to get these latest improvements and enhancements that come with Magento 2.4.4. Get started with the best Magento 2 Upgrade Service

Wrap Up!

The latest release of Magento Open Source 2.4.4 and Commerce 2.4.4 is out now with new features, security enhancements, and performance improvements for both merchants and developers.

As we all know, Magento is an open-source platform that requires periodic upgrades to improve its efficiency and enhance its performance for a better user experience. Therefore, it’s time for you to upgrade your store with the latest release of Magento i.e., Magento 2.4.4 if you haven’t already done so by now!

Additional Notes

If you think you need a better alternative to boost your Magento store speed, you can go for the Hyva theme. Hyva theme has far more performance benefits than the traditional Luma theme.. Aureate Labs has a decade of experience in upgrading the user experience for the eCommerce businesses with its exceptional services. Want to know more about it? Check out our Hyva Theme Development service or contact us now!

I’m surprised most websites don’t understand the pain points of hiring a Magento developer (or agency). Ask them how to hire a Magento developer and hear them repeat the same chorus over and over again.

  1. Talk with the company
  2. See the portfolio
  3. Get the price card… yawn!

Well, everything is fine. But how? How do I talk with the company? How do I get the price card? 

This made me create this in-depth guide to hiring a dedicated Magento developer for your eCommerce store. And guess what? I’ve come up with a proper hiring flow chart.

I have divided my research into two stages 

  • self-research stage (doing the homework right)
  • in-person research stage (doing the fieldwork right)

You can follow these two stages to hire an experienced Magento developer for your eCommerce journey.

Stage 1: Self-research stage

The self-research stage demands you to put your online research wizardry into use. You’re not talking with the company at this stage. You’re simply filtering a few options based on your intuition and data.

This stage starts with the most common method— researching on Google.

Lots of review websites help pull out top Magento companies. But I prefer either Clutch or GoodFirms.

Search long-tail keywords like 

  • Top Magento companies + Clutch
  • Hire Magento companies + Clutch
  • Best Magento companies + Clutch
Google search result on top Magento company

Click on one of the search engine results. You’ll find the list of the Magento companies.

List of Magento companies in Clutch

The good part is— you can filter these companies based on

  • Location
  • Services
  • Budget
  • Hourly rate
  • Industry
  • Reviews

So I tried location and hourly rate filters.

Clutch’s Top Magento companies from Surat

You can try it for any other location on earth.

Clutch’s Top Magento companies from Florida

Filter any five companies based on your preference. 

For the sake of your simplicity, I have created a spreadsheet template. 

Template to hire Magento developer

Put any five companies in the template that you think can meet your requirements. Again, this is just a vague calculation.

I’ve put my five favorite prospects from Clutch and rated them 5 because they have listings in Clutch (which is obvious).

Step #2: Check their local presence

Again, Google will tell you how visible the Magento services are in their local markets. And it’s really helpful if you want to work with Magento developers in the same city.

If they are visible on local searches, you can attest to the fact they’re also working on their SEO marketing. Their expertise can come in handy during your eCommerce marketing process. Make local searches like:

  • Magento company near me
  • Best Magento company + “city”
  • Top Magento company + “city”
Local search for top Magento company in Surat

Click on “More places” at the bottom of the page.

Try all the local keywords. If you don’t find the company on top 10 of any local terms, give them 0. Give them 3 or 4 and you can find them in one or two terms. And a  perfect 5 if they’re visible for all the local search terms.

Local presence of Magento companies in Google search

Here’s what my score looks like.

Step #3: Take a deeper look at their portfolios

You want to get into the kind of projects they’ve been handling. This requires both intuition and data to understand if they’re truly delivering the results. Please note, you haven’t gotten in touch with them yet.

So you have to apply your senses to understand the caliber of Magento 2 developer.

The intuition part requires you to feel the experience of the projects they’ve worked on. Go to the client’s website. Give yourself some time. Feel it like a user. 

Give them more scores if they’ve worked on your niche.

For example, Aureate has worked on multiple beauty brands. It’s a green signal for you if you also specialize in the same industry.

Aureate Labs Magento work profile

Dig in their portfolios. Check all the niches and find the percentage of their preferences. 

In my case, I wanted to start a website on anti-aging biohacking products. So Aureate fits perfectly with my requirements. They had 40% of their clientele from skincare brands. 

Here’s the scoreline so far!

I have divided the portfolio analysis into three parts:

The numbers game

You’ll go through the numbers they tell you on their websites. They need not necessarily be true. Don’t take them at face value, but keep them in your mind.

Would be an added advantage if they’ve expertise in your niche and have numbers to show in the same domain.

Stat results by the Magento development company

Read all the case studies carefully.

Based on pure numbers, here’s how I rated them.

The second sub-part of the portfolio is to check the traffic yourself.

The traffic

Before you check the traffic of any project, you should know most Magento agencies work on other eCommerce platforms as well. So make sure you pick the projects built on Magento and not Shopify or BigCommerce.

Now the question is, how do you know this? Well, here’s how you can check the eCommerce CMS for any client project.

  1. Open the BuiltWith tool.
Built With tool homepage
  1. Plugin the client’s website you want to check
Search the website with Built With
  1. Confirm the eCommerce platform
Confirm your platform details
Identifying eCommerce builder for one of the brands

Now that you know the project is built on Magento, use SEMrush to find the organic traffic for the website.

Identifying traffic numbers for one of the Magento commerce with SEMrush

You can see the crazy roller-coasters in their organic traffic for the past year. 

Similarly, I checked all the clients’ projects. Few were very disappointed not because they had low traffic. But they didn’t use a secure channel for their websites.

Do I blame the Magento agency? Absolutely! Even if they didn’t make the store from scratch— the onus was on them to ask their clients for the secure network. 

And if somehow the store owners were stubborn, the Magento agency had no business putting such insecure projects on their portfolios!

Insecure Magento store

You can also use free SEO analysis tools like RankWatch as well to get insights on many other metrics. Of course, they aren’t as accurate as Google analytics. But you still get the traffic numbers for benchmarking.

RankWatch traffic estimator

Here’s the fresh score now. 

PageSpeed insight

Magento developers’ portfolios are incomplete without testing the speed of the stores they’ve worked with.

The process is very similar to measuring their traffic. But this time, we’ll use Google’s PageSpeed insight tool. It’s free of cost! 

  1. Select the list of projects that match your niche.
  1. Analyze the link in the tool.
Performance of Magento store on Page Speed Insight Tool
  1. Find out the average of all the performance score

I tested the page speed of three projects per Magento development agency. The scores were not very good! For the average performance score 

  • << 50, I gave 1.
  • >> 50 but << 60, I gave 2
  • >> 60 but << 70, I gave 3
  • >> 70 but << 80, I gave 4
  • >> 80, I gave 5

Again, you can use other tools like RankWatch to test the website performance score. Follow the same process as we did with PageSpeed Insight. 

But I’d recommend you to stick with Google’s testing tool.

Page Speed Grade of the Magento Store

Ahh! The scorecard is getting competitive.

Also read: 15 Reasons For Bad Magento Performance

Step #4: Analyze patterns in their testimonials

Like numbers, you have to pay close attention to their web testimonials. Again, you don’t have to take them to their face value, especially the one with the customer jacking approach.

Customer Jacking: I was struggling with my Magento eCommerce website. My web traffic was low. I wasn’t getting enough conversion. Then all of a sudden, someone opened the doors to heaven when I met X Magento agency. Now I’m a rich braggart who owns a 20 million dollars company.” 😀

To be honest, it’s much easier to create fake testimonials than you think. I will show you the example with the fake testimonial generator. You put in the main keyword. Click on generate.

Fake testimonial generation tool

And Tadah!! :/

Fake testimonial generated

Did you see it? It’s that easy! Now I’m not saying all the testimonials are fake.

But you can do emotion analysis on text data and ensure if the testimonials are true or not.

For example, this testimonial has a venture date: 2015! 

A client reviews Magento company

The client is quite vocal about the year they started working together.

You can simply check the traffic since the client started working with the Magento development agency.

Semrush traffic analysis prove the testimonial correct

You can see how the traffic of Lancer SkinCare shot up since 2015. So the stat concludes that testimony is honest.

The other way to recognize the emotions of texts is by putting the texts inside the emotion-recognition tool. Unfortunately, I don’t have the tools to demonstrate it.

I looked at 4 testimonials per Magento agency. Also looked up their LinkedIn profiles to cross-verify the testimonials. Here’s the score after all the hard work from my end. 🙂

Step #5: Check online reviews

Unlike website testimonials, you’re checking reviews on either Google or Clutch this time. You can apply the sample principle to determine if the reviews are genuine or not.

Another cool metric is to check the average number of reviews each Magento developer has got.

Search the “name of the company” on Google first.

Google reviews on Google search for the Magento development company

Note down the number of reviews they have got and the average rating.

Repeat the process on Clutch, Yelp, Glassdoor, etc.

Review for the Magento development company on Clutch

Do it for all the companies and note down the average rating score. Add them up and put the scores accordingly on the sheet. More or less, all the companies had a good rating.

The score so far is pretty tight.

Step #6: Find out more about their work culture

You’re not hiring a Magento agency. You’re hiring a Magento partner. They’re going to be with you for a long time. Both of your work cultures should match. Now I’m not asking to go radical about matching every detail.

But the idea is to fall on the same page. Find out more about the team you’re going to work with (at least through LinkedIn profiles).

The list of Magento workforce

Learn more about the company’s working atmosphere. Find out how it treats the team members because what you see the output is directly proportional to the mental states of the members.

Surreal work culture in Magento company

Try to find out the happy faces. You’re trying to understand how happy everyone is working with the Magento company. Not just clients!

I usually look up Linkedin and Twitter profiles to follow their nitty-gritty. Again, most companies looked like they worked in synergy. So I gave all of them the same score.

I cut one point because there’s always room for improvement.

Step #7: Observe how they interact with customers

The best part about online customer interaction is— everything is right in front of your eyes. You have plenty of resources to observe how the Magento developers behave/interact with customers, clients, etc.

  • Go through the blog post comments and see how they respond
  • You can check their social media handles and uncover how they interact
  • Check their contribution to Magento communities and their value addition
  • Find out how quickly they respond to the user-generated content
  • Deduct scores for companies that don’t respond at all

Again, I’m not asking you to morally school them. But it’s just an extra cushion to give yourself a good chance to interact with them should there be any issue. Take a look at this crazy score.

Step #8: Figure out the additional services they offer

Whether you’re getting worked on Front-end or back-end, you’ll need Magento maintenance and security services. Similarly, your eCommerce store may need digital marketing services as well.

The point is— you can always choose multiple agencies to handle multiple operations. But I’d recommend you go with the one that offers 360-degree solutions. 

Now, why do I say this? Well, you need compatibility between different solutions. 

Hiring a Magento agency that also offers multiple solutions can reduce the siloing effect and increase efficiency.

Our Services page

You’d want to check out these multiple services and decide what’s most important for you. Finally, you can rate them based on the services you prefer. Here’s my rating.

Step #9: Dig into their certification “pasts”

To be honest, I don’t believe in hiring a Magento company based on certificates. The portfolio is on my priority list. This is why I’ve put certificates at the bottom of the steps. 

But let’s consider the coincidence that 3 out of 5 companies have the same portfolio score. It’s then I use certificates as the key differentiators.

The best way to find the certification is on their websites. Unfortunately, I was surprised that all five companies claim themselves as certified experts. But I couldn’t find the certificates. 

Not sure how deeply they are buried in the website schema, but I left disappointed at this point. And that’s why I gave zero to every entry in the list.

Reports and numbers

Step #10: Check online presence on maximum platforms

Well, this is one of my favorite strategies to separate the wheat from the chaff! So I look into the client’s online presence. Remember how we dug into the client’s testimonials? This follows pretty much the same route.

  • The first step is to finalize the list of clients you want to test.
  • The second step is to put the client’s website URL in the free listing management tool in SEMrush.
Local listing of the Magento company
  • The third and final step is to observe the number of websites they’ve been listed on.
The list of the local listings tapped by the Magento development agency

Now, why are we doing this? Well, we’re trying to understand how visible the brand is. The Lancer Skincare is listed on at least 18 platforms. That’s not bad! So you can use this metric for at least three client projects per developer. 

Find out the average listing numbers. And give a score to their social media visibility. My score would be:

Step #11: Determine their experience

It’s one of the most crucial factors to determine the Magento agency you’re going to work with. I have added it to the last of the list because I wanted to end the self-research stage with a kind of remembrance.

You can find out their experience on Clutch.

Work experience on Magento development on Clutch

Give your scores based on years of experience. Here’s mine:

Uhh! That was pretty insane stuff. I have the total ready for the first round of research.

Please note we’re not counting any Magento developers out yet!! Wait for round 2 of research. This round will test the real waters and reveal if your observations truly match with the company.

Stage 2: In-person research

In the second stage of research, we’ll get in touch with all these companies and their clients in-person. We’re assuming you’ve called all these companies in person once. 

Now here’s what you have to do.

Step #1: Analyze your meeting with Magento developer

Ask yourself: 

  • How did the meeting go? 
  • Did the dedicated Magento developer look dedicated?
  • What were their research questions?

You have to apply all your psychological awareness to that meeting. Notice the cues they’ve been dropping. Do they sound shady? Do they cut your ideas? What do they think of your niche?

Everything needs to be answered. You should go home feeling satisfied with every answer they give you.

You can also put forth questions regarding deadlines, pricing, and expertise. The key to good communication is transparency.

Note down scores for every question they answer. Here’s what I did:

I asked them four common questions:

  1. How long will the project take?
  2. What’s the best pricing model for the project?
  3. Have you worked on my niche? If not, how do you research?
  4. Will I be included in team meetings?

I weighed 5 marks each for all the questions and took the average score. Here’s the report card:

Step #2: How did they communicate

You want to be tracking how well they communicate with you. Are they hesitant in introducing you to their team members?

Top Magento agencies understand the importance of communication as much as they understand the importance of eCommerce development. A project is only as good as you and they communicate.

Keep asking them if they understand your project. Look! No one knows about your business more than you. 

You’re the leader of your brand! If they don’t communicate the way you want— I wouldn’t say dump them, but try to get into the crux of the matter.

They might be spitting the truth. Who knows? When you talk with 5 Magento development companies and if everyone speaks the same thing, then maybe your idea needs a bit of refinement. But if a few of them approve of your idea— you better go with them.

Here’re my scores for them.

Step #3: Ask for a sample test

I ask for a sample test from every agency I work with. You may feel most companies won’t agree with it. That’s partly true. Many won’t! But for that reason, the least you can do is ask if they can work for a week or month.

My main concern with long commitments is you can’t get out of the contract despite the unwarranted performances. So treat short commitments as sample testing. You can notice your numbers pre and post-deal.

Deduct their scores if they push you to sign long-term contracts. I asked all these five companies and 4 of them were okay with short-term projects. Again, you shouldn’t involve baseless metrics to analyze their performance for such a short period. 

Involve the most relevant ones. And never discount your intuitions. Here’s my score for sample testing.

Scores and results

Step #4: Post-development customer service

I guess this is another key factor for deciding if I want to work with the Magento company. When I say customer service— I don’t necessarily mean free services. It can be both— free and paid.

While you’re attending their meetings, ask what sort of additional services they offer. You also want to know about these services because that prepares your expectations with them. You want to match expectations with them and not hurdle jump!

I asked all of these companies and their customer service. Every one of them promised maintenance services apart from a few months of free tech support. So here’s my score to them:

results and analysis

Also read: 9 DIY Tips To Maintain Your Magento Store

Step #5: Check their security services

Gosh! This is more important than page speed I suppose. Your eCommerce store will deal with plenty of transactions. So your Magento partners must create a safe and secure domain.

HTTPS and HTTP2 are musts. Ask them if they’re going to use secure channels for you. I checked one of the insecure client’s projects. I was stunned. They put me in doubt for these Magento eCommerce companies.

Not secured website

Needless to mention— I cut their scores. 🙂 If they don’t come clean, you can test the security scores of their clients yourself. I test HTTP2 scores on this website. 

HTTP2 support tool

Put all the URLs of the agency’s clients. Analyze if they use proper security measures.

Ahh! The scorecard is getting populated here.

scores and analysis

Step #6: Ask their clients, directly

You’ve done all the hard work. Congratulations! Finally, the last step to filter the best Magento development company is to reach out to their clients, directly! Might sound weird, but no one can give you a better explanation about their experiences than the ones standing on the portfolio.

You can make a list of the clients you want to talk with. Go to their websites and arrange their “contact us” details.

Contact us page info by the Magento development company

Now you can call them and have their insights. Don’t forget to incentivize them for their honest feedback. I usually give backlinks to them (provided they are in the same niche).

If you’re not a call person, email works as well. Write warm words like:

“Hey Lancer, I have been following your website for quite some time now. It looks amazing and the products are wonderful. I would love to have a similar-looking website. Of late I have been in touch with your Magento agency. How was your experience working with them and what do you think of them? Your insights matter a lot. Feel free to claim a backlink to your website once my store is ready. :)”

This trick works 9 out of 10 times. I asked 3 clients per agency, 13 of them responded warmly. So I decided to score accordingly.

Phew!! We’re done now. Let’s calculate the total for the second research phase.

That’s tight! Now add stage 1 with stage 2.

Finalizing your Magento 2 company

That’s that! You can add as many metrics to your template and calculate scores for all the companies based on your research, intuition, and data. 

Don’t hurry into the process! You’re hiring a partner who’s responsible to make or break your business. So follow these steps diligently and make sure you don’t rush just because you want to start early.

Once you’ve put efforts early in filtering the right Magento company, you’ve won half the battle already.

For more interesting blogs— you may want to keep following us at AureateLabs.

Hyvä Theme Benefits That Your Store Needs

Feb 11th, 2022 5 min to read

We somehow feel your store has gotten the vaccination for slow page loads… 

And a sure-shot happiness booster as well.

How? Well, anyone looking to 

… have access to the fastest Magento 2.0 theme ever, Hyvä themes

What is the Hyvä theme?

The Hyva theme is “Everything your current store offers + Lightning fast page speed.”

Don’t trust us yet? Here’s how Hyvä boosts your super-tired store.

What are the benefits of the Hyvä theme for merchants?

You’ll have “Hyvä theme Benefits” + “benefits of your current store” – “the downsides of your existing store.” Easy peasy? 

#1: Need for speed… most wanted! 

#A: Your users want speed! They love instant gratification. And their attention span is depleting in general (we’re not using the goldfish myth :D). So, it’s natural, speed is the most wanted thing from your store.

#B: Store speed is the first thing your users notice. Your older store gave one impression— “you didn’t care about your users.” You may feel you cared, but a dead-tired store flips your efforts upside down.

#C: 70% of customers feel page speed impacts their buying decisions. Enough reason to have a fast-loading website? The biggest takeaway from Hyvä is… check out number 4.

#D: 50% of users can give up videos and animations to have a fast surfing experience. But Hyvä themes make sure your users don’t have to give up on anything. Your users can achieve intergalactic glory without having to give up on visual content. 😀

#2: From dead conversion rates… to the daddy conversion rates…

e-Commerce site speed is one of the biggest fuels for conversion. You want your Magento store to be blazing quick because:

  • initial 5 seconds of Page Load Time influence conversion rates.
  • you also lose 4.42% of conversion rates with a 1-second page load delay (between seconds 0-5).

Now conversion rate correlates with e-Commerce performance. That’s sole reason why businesses are traveling length for conversion rate optimization.. This is why you need the Hyvä theme benefits to tickmark all the needs for web performance. Which it does! 

And with better page speed, 

  • you spend less time optimizing your store and 
  • invest more time in other key areas such as branding.

#3: Not free… but costs less in the long run!

Hyvä theme costs you 1,130 US Dollars… only 1,130 US Dollars more than your existing store! 😀 Now, what makes you buy such an expensive deal? Well, everything!

Let’s break it down for you…

  1. You will spend money to fix site speed in Luma. Right?
  2. You will tune your Luma store. Right?
  3. You will overuse Luma functionalities because it’s free. Right?

Everything comes with an extra cost. Tuning and fixing other fronts will take you at least 50 more hours. Let’s say you pay 25 dollars to optimize your store. Where are you standing now?

The idea is clear: you don’t want the website to get clumsy. Otherwise, you pay again to optimize that… back to square one?

And for a matter of fact, we know merchants are somehow fed up with the slow Magento 2 storefront. The tweet sums it up:

#4: Early to market… and early to rise!

If Hyvä theme benefits implementation takes 100 hours, other technologies take thrice as much time.

So what it takes your store three months to get ready, let’s say, may take six months or even 9 months with existing technology. Of course, you don’t want it when time is a valuable commodity at the moment.

Your competitors are charging up with the latest themes and technology. You’re competing with 24 million e-Commerce businesses in the world. Don’t forget about businesses in the hybrid space. 

But what keeps us talking about the Hyvä theme is— it might even beat its record.

Take a look at the tweet:

So they Hare-d their way one month earlier to their Hyvä schedule. Well done, Hyvä!

#5: A vaccinated developer… is a non-spreader!

Hyvä theme benefits give a lot of control to you, but you may still need developers for high-end personalization.

Your developers have had toxic relationships with old themes. You might not be aware of it. But as we said— Hyvä rolled out as a vaccine for them. 

It would help if you had developers and designers in the best mental state. They’re more stressed than the industry thinks. Otherwise, they’ll spread their state to your website. 

And your website state would be passed on to the users. And you already know what that would result in…

  • Terrible website
  • Poor conversion rate
  • Hysterised sales funnel
  • Poor sales figure 🙁

Check the tweet… 

If transitivity theory existed in real life… it would be this tweet!

Happy Developers = Happy Merchants = Happy Customers.

Our final argument… 

You need Hyvä if your customers demand performance. Hands down! Hyvä is an optimal solution if you’re 

  • creating a new website from scratch… Have Hyvä deployed straight away!
  • migrating from Magento 1 to Magento 2... The fact you’re switching Magento versions, it’s best you migrate to Hyva at the same time. You avoid cost doubling.

You can also put in place Hyvä if you’re already on Magento 2. Hyvä migration may play a bit tricky. To benefit from Magento theme migration, you may want to leave it to experts.. So check out our Hyvä theme development service package now.

5 Tips To Increase Your Magento Store Profits

Jan 18th, 2022 5 min to read

How to improve your Magento store profits?

Stop benchmarking Ford and Liverpool FC Magento stores right away!! They make heavy profits despite not optimizing their stores.

To improve Magento store profits, you need strategies the SMB stores follow. (and also generate profits) 

You also need to answer major questions right from the word go.

  • What’s the Magento edition you’re going to use?
  • What will be your web store theme?
  • Who’s hosting your store, and what do they charge you?

And many more. Many Magento businesses have dumped money into bad returns. So you must take wise steps to turn your Magento store into a success story. Let’s find out how.

Profitable eStore step #1: Choose Magento package based on your needs

Your first step to improve Magento store profit starts up by determining your needs.

Ask yourself— what’re your goals? What do you expect from your store in the next few years? How many SKUs will you run in your store?

Once you’ve identified them, pick your package.

You’d want to go with Magento free community edition/ Magento open source when:

  • you don’t wish to expand your online store shortly
  • your store deals orders from one country only
  • the store doesn’t need a 24/7 support team

Magento enterprise edition/Magento Commerce is a good choice if:

  • you want to exploit the progressive advertising 
  • want features such as rewards, giveaways, promotions, etc.
  • you wish more store functionalities than Magento CE edition
  • the store needs customer support
  • you take international orders and deals in many currencies and languages
  • your store accepts different types of payment modes
  • you want a secure store.

Picking the right Magento edition will prevent you from burning money down. (When your business scales or de-scales).

Profitable eStore step #2: Use Hyva theme for a robust store

There’s a correlation between the lighter yet faster themes and conversion rate. This is the reason why businesses opt for faster themes as their conversion rate optimization technique these days. . 

Source

The Magento theme fails to get you the “green score.” 

You may want to stick with the inbuilt theme to avoid development hassle. But since it’s not fast, it’s not profitable. Store speed is not a choice anymore.

So you need to put the best bet on faster themes like the Hyva theme. Hyva makes your website blazing fast. You can expect pages to load in as little as one second. 

See how Hyva delivers the “green signals.”

Profitable eStore step #3: Make your website sit on a good web service host

It’s another area where you can adjust profitability. The location and service of your host server decide how your website will perform

Consider your current traffic and pay for the server depending on your use. Some servers accept “pay-as-you-use” models. You can adopt these models as well to optimize your spending.

Again, “shared server” is not the only answer to cost cut and push your store towards profitability. Sometimes, a dedicated server may cost you 70x to a shared server yet get more sales and revenue.

Website speed is truly a thing if you’re looking to generate profits in the long run. 

Source

Profitable eStore step #4: Decide if you want to start from scratch

The future of your Magento store profit depends on how you want to start. You either use tons of plugins through the community edition. Or use built-in features from Magento in the enterprise edition.

The community edition needs to use 65 plugins to act as an Enterprise solution if you didn’t know. So you’ll spend a lot of time and money to make the community edition mimic the enterprise features. Don’t forget plugins slow down your Magento store too. 

We’re not giving the verdict. But if starting from scratch is not a pain in the neck for you, you can go with CE. 

But please consider calculating the time valuation. Also, make a comparative analysis to measure the effect of plugins on conversion. Going with CE would be the same as starting from scratch.

Profitable eStore step #5: Let experts handle your Magento store

Either focus on the core issues or become the jack of all trades. 

DIY Magento store is a happening idea. You may even nudge a few customers to your store. But it’s always best to leave complex tasks to the experts.

For example, you may not want to hire costly developers. Maybe you feel they are the roadblocks to your profitability. But it would be best if you plotted the trade-offs your store suffers by not hiring them.

You need developing, marketing, SEO experts, etc., to name a few, to manage the Magento store. They are the ones who push you through the break-even point. The most effective pricing strategy is not spending your time on the things you’re not an expert at.

Over to you

There are plenty of other ways to improve your Magento store’s profit and success. But if you set the foundation strong (the ones we mentioned ), the more you can work towards profitability.

Check our Magento Maintenance services that can help you optimize your store and improve your profits.

13 Tricks To Speed Up Magento 2 Store Without Developer 

Page speed decides if you’re traveling to the beautiful tropical of Hawaii or the overcrowded destinations. Sounds funny? Well, it’s not! :/

Slow Magento 2 stores may turn off 64% of your users. (1) 

Bad user experience = low traffic = bad conversion rate = terrible sales. With poor sales— eh! We don’t want to keep bugging you with the vacation spots again. 🙂

Merchants can speed up Magento 2 online stores themselves.

Anyway, you can still speed up Magento 2 store despite being a store merchant. Here’s why you’ll love the Magento performance optimization process. 

  • Second, the processes are easy to consume and execute.

First step to optimizing Magento speed— very important

Before you decide to take matters into your hands, make sure you know the Magento store’s current speed. Don’t worry! It’s not rocket science. 

  • Paste your URL on free speed testing tools like GT Metrix
  • Measure Magento store speed and performance.
  • Save the snapshot for future references.
  • Measure the numbers after having followed our Magento optimization steps.

Here’s what you can expect after page optimization.

Front-end comparison after Magento speed optimization…

Back-end comparison after Magento speed optimization…

13 quick ways to optimize Magento speed

Let’s quickly fix the speed of your Magento store.

Optimize Magento Step #1: Choose the server closest to your location

It may seem that you’re using the best Magento 2 web hosting services for your store. They all claim

  • high performance
  • secure network
  • optimized servers

But you also need to know not all Magento 2 hosting providers perform across countries. Some may be the best hosts for Magento 2 in the USA, but terrible in the UK. 

So you’d like to go with the webserver 

  • that’s located in your country, 
  • also performs well in your location,

If your country doesn’t have web hosting partners, go for the closest country. You’ll also want to consider these factors while choosing Magento 2.0 hosting for speed:

  1. Check for PCI compliant hosting service… Secure hosts are often speedy.
  2. Make sure the hosting service tackles resource-hungry Magento.

Optimize Magento Step #2: Enable all caches in Magento 2 store

You’d want to enable all the caches in the Magento 2 store. 

Think of caching as an already loaded catapult. You just have to release it and

  • save a few seconds 
  • reach the target as early as possible

Akin to it, the Magento-cache-enable feature helps you pre-store data. This makes data retrieval and page loading a swift process.

Here’s how you can enable cache in Magento 2 store.

Optimize Magento Step #3: Enable Magento 2 flat catalog categories

Using flat catalog categories in Magento 2 will help you speed up the product collection. 

No matter what the size of your catalog is. Whether 500,000 or 400,000 SKUs— flat catalog products get updated every minute. Your users can expect two things out of it.

  • a speedy catalog browsing
  • a seamless buying experience

You can also expect great results from enabling Magento 2 flat catalog.

  • low bounce rate
  • better ranking signal

Optimize Magento Step #4: Minify CSS and JS in Magento 2

Combining all JS and CSS files can drastically improve page load time. You want to minify JavaScript and CSS in Magento 2 stores because that would mean 

  • fewer files
  • compressed data

Now, what does this mean to your users? They

  • spend fewer data in a cumbersome store
  • download only relevant data for interaction
  • experience faster and responsive browsing

Your web server host also gets to handle fewer requests.

Here’s how you minify all js and CSS files in Magento 2.

Check out the resultant requests yourself.

Optimize Magento Step #5: Disable javascript bundling

Disabling JavaScript Bundling is one of our favorite optimization techniques. Why? Because it goes against the built intent. 😀

Magento 2 released the feature to reduce the server request for JavaScript files.

But guess what? It gave everything, but good performance. JS bundling, in reality, creates huge 5-10Mb files with all the Javascript code. You can imagine the file that size would only affect the website performance.

Here’s how you disable JS Bundling

Optimize Magento Step #6: Upgrade Magento version/ don’t miss on magento 2 updates

It has to be the most basic to-do’s of optimizing the Magento store. Soak up all the latest Magento updates and make sure your website is quick and safe for the users.

Here’s how you can update Magento 2 to the latest version.

Update Magento 2 to the latest version

Magento 2 update is usually easy. But not all upgrades are equal. Sometimes, updating Magento to the latest version can get painful. Courtesy of its technicalities and complexity.

In such cases, never shy from having experts handle core upgrade operations for you.

Optimize Magento Step #7: Review and update the third party Magento extension

You may compare Magento 2 core with third-party extensions. But the story is completely different for both. There’s very little you can do about Magento 2 core. They’re developed by experts and well-optimized already. 

But Magento extensions may 

  • choke the website speed
  • create frustrating user experience instead of adding value to their buying journey

Make sure you do a third-party extension audit. Turn extension on and off and observe the site’s speed. You want to do it more frequently for money and conversion pages. If

  • you find a site abusing extension— update them
  • you find it still abusing the site— remove the extension and write the vendor for a refund.

Here’s how you can update the Magento extension

Optimize Magento Step #8: Disable/uninstall Magento 2 module

Disabling unused extensions in Magento 2 is the easiest yet effective step you can take. 

You may have wanted Magento 2 modules in the past! But there’s no point in clinging to unused extensions. They only bring bad site speed and terrible user experience.

Here’s how you remove/uninstall unused Magento modules/extensions.

Optimize Magento Step #9: Disable debug logs

Debug logs take heavy resources in your store. These are the unnecessary large files in the system. The only catch with disabling debug logs in Magento 2 is it may not have the same effect in every store.

So you may find very little to no change as well. But it’s always worth checking if your debug logs are set to default (disabled).

Here’s how you turn off the debug mode in Magento 2.

Optimize Magento Step #10: Use built-in cache/clear varnish cache Magento

Varnish cache is as funny as JS bundling, at least, for us. Magento 2 recommends it for page optimization. But it only reduces the speed of your website. There’s a simple explanation to it. Varnish uses extra software. So it consumes more resources.

On the other hand, you can observe better page performance by disabling varnish. And also choosing the built-in cache application option as an alternative. 

Here’s how you can disable Varnish

Optimize Magento Step #11: Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

Do you need a CDN for a fast Magento 2 store? You need to use CDN in Magento 2 for an uninterrupted information flow between the servers. Constant traffic usually takes up a lot of bandwidth. 

Result? The bottleneck in the bandwidth affects information flow. Using a content delivery network (CDN) gives you control over data flow. You can reduce the stress on bandwidth by carrying on important requests first.

Even free CDN for Magento 2 can promise 

  • better store infrastructure
  • dynamic capacity

Optimize Magento Step #12: Use secure HTTPS connection along with HTTP/2 async file

You can speed up the Magento store by simply using the HTTPs connection for your website. Another addition would be choosing a hosting partner that allows Http/2. 

Here’s an online tool to identify if your site uses HTTP/2. Take a look at the example.

The problems with DIY Magento speed optimization

Look! We love that anyone can follow these steps to optimize their Magento store. But speeding up a slow Magento website has many more technicalities than you can imagine.

You may see better results with these page speed optimization techniques. But the market is getting more competitive. With the internet getting faster, your users will make you pay for every millisecond.

It is why you need page speed optimization experts to save every millisecond they can. You never know— what a millisecond may be worth in the coming Magento sphere.

Magento 2 Website Loading Very Slow? 15 Known Issues That Kill Site Performance

So you’re not the only one whose Magento site is running slow. Your competitors are looking to fix their Magento problems as well.

Looks like someone is having a far more terrible time than you… :/

But you know what— you can have your store play a little less devilish! The hack to it is finding what’s affecting the Magento performance.

So why not find out what’s slowing your Magento 2 site without further ado? This way, you can work on Magento performance optimization quickly. You can then give users the much-needed buying experience.

Why is Magento so slow? 


Magento is so slow because you may be using unnecessary themes, extensions, and customizations. Also, Slow hardware, far hosting server, not caching data, not enabling flat catalog, not minifying CSS and JS, and not updating your store lead to Magento’s slow performance. Remove unused extensions, turn off varnish cache, get CDNs, etc. to fast your slow Magento 2 store.

Now let’s check each one of them in detail.

#1: Your hosting server is too far

Your Magento 2.0 web hosting solution is probably located too far from your location. The farther the hosting provider, the slower the Magento store. Consider a Magento hosting company that is blazing fast, secure and nearest to your geography. 

#2: Your hardware is too slow

Maybe you should check the hardware you’re using to run the Magento store. Magento 2 stores have a hardware requirement benchmark. For example, your server needs to have Linux; your RAM needs to be above 2 GB. You can find a detailed list of Magento 2 technology stack requirements here.

#3: You’re not caching enough data

Maybe you’ve disabled data caching. So the browser is not saving HTTP requests, database queries, or images. Users have to wait to interact with the store because browsers don’t respond quickly. Consider caching for a quicker web load experience. It puts the snail on a rolling spree.

#4: You’re not enabling flat catalog

You could have reduced data fetching requests from the Magento database. All you had to do was to enable a flat catalog. Adobe suggested not to use the flat catalog for whatever reason. But many merchants and developers feel flat catalogs improve page optimization.

#5: You’re not minifying CSS and JS

Maybe you haven’t combined the CSS and JavaScript files. Not minifying your CSS and JS files may lead to bigger data files. And you already know bigger data files take more to load. Though Magento 2 stores are not slow by default, these mistakes reveal what makes them the snail.

#6: You’ve enabled JavaScript bundling

Maybe you took Magento’s advice too seriously this time. But JS bundling is one of the most common Magento issues. Magento started the so-called “technique” to make Magento run faster. But they didn’t know it was eating up the store from within. JS bundling creates 5-10 Mbs of files that load very slow.

Source

#7: You haven’t updated the Magento store yet

We all try to over-fix the store… Completely missing the fact we haven’t updated the store. Every new Magento update comes up with better speed and security features. You’re crumbing loopholes for hackers if you don’t update the stores timely.

#8: You fly your store on lots of third party extensions

Magento marketplace offers 3600+ extensions. It’s easier to get carried away if you’re trying to create a seamless experience for users. But at the end of the day, they’re not coded by your developers. They may have performance and security issues. So it’s always recommended to audit third-party Magento modules.

#9: You aren’t getting rid of the “the unused” Magento extension

We know it’s tough to get rid of the extensions that once served plenty of benefits. But with so many options, you may go overboard with extensions. The worst is— you’re probably not going to use them in the present and future. So when it’s about using Magento extensions, be as miser as you can. Begin your “clean my site campaign” with these unused extensions.

#10: Your debug log is on

Your debug log can hold large data files to slow down any Magento eCommerce store. They record database operations, errors, and system processes of transactions. Deleting them may or may not have any effect on your store. So better count your luck with it.

#11: You’re over-relying on Varnish cache

Magento 2 Varnish Cache came out as a “promising” speed booster. Later it turned out built-in cache boosts slow-loading websites more than Varnish. Maybe you haven’t turned it off yet!

#12: You’re missing big time on Content Delivery Network (CDN)

Maybe you feel your Magento webstore doesn’t need a CDN. But it would help if you acknowledged how CDN revolutionized web hosting services. We know it’s all the “technical stuff.” But we have always got your back. You might as well consider talking with one of our experts to get Aureate services for CDNs.

#13: You’re not running the store on HTTPS and HTTP/2 connection

Ask your web hosts— do they use HTTP2? And what about your website? Are you using HTTPS in your store? If you use HTTPS and HTTP2— your customers can experience page load improvement by 15%.

#14: You’ve picked up a cumbersome theme

We know you’re competing to give the best user experience. But a poor-coded “aesthetic” theme eats up the entire purpose. You should rather pick a simple theme that doesn’t ask you to compromise on the speed front.

#15: Your store has lots of unoptimized images & videos

You want to put high-quality images and videos for the users. But it defeats the purpose if it slows down your store and gives a bad user experience. Imagine what 1000s of un-optimized files can do to your website in synergy.

H2 How can I increase my Magento speed?

You can increase your Magento speed in 12 steps.

  • Step 1: Choose the server closest to your location

  • Step 2: Enable all caches in Magento 2 store

  • Step 3: Enable Magento 2 flat catalog categories

  • Step 4: Minify CSS and JS in Magento 2

  • Step 5: Disable javascript bundling

  • Step 6: Upgrade the Magento version/ don’t miss Magento 2 updates

  • Step 7: Review and update the third-party Magento extension

  • Step 8: Disable/uninstall Magento 2 module

  • Step 9: Disable debug logs

  • Step 10: Use built-in cache/clear varnish cache Magento

  • Step 11: Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

  • Step 12: Use a secure HTTPS connection along with an HTTP/2 async file

Magento Speed Issues Summary 

Magento speed issues are created because of slow and old hardware systems, far located hosting server, uncached data, disabled flat catalog, non-minified CSS & JS files, enabled JS bundles, not-up-to-date Magento store, plenty of third-party extensions, unused plugins, enabled debug log, enabled varnish cache, no CDN, heavy theme, and website on HTTP.

If you don’t get over these issues asap, your customers may abandon you without warning.

DIY store speeding is scary…

You’d never want to go through the Magento page optimization checklist. It’s long, scary, and, more importantly, it’s damn hard to execute.

But you’ve got the vetted experts to absorb the nightmare page optimization brings. So what are you waiting for? Contact us right now.

FAQs

Which mode is faster in Magento?


The mode that is faster in Magento is Production. This mode is ideal for ready stores and is used for live sites. The mode enables cache and compiles other files to significantly boost the website’s performance. However, production mode limits the ability to modify existing code and features. If you need to change any code, you need to switch to developer mode.

Why is Magento admin so slow?


Magento admin is so slow because your front-end processes might be slow. The page might have too many extensions or customizations in place. Or, the page data might be too large to load quickly. This can also happen if cache isn’t enabled or isn’t cleared regularly. Occasionally, it can be an issue with the hardware or the hosting server.

How to reduce HTTP requests in Magento 2?


To reduce HTTP requests, you can follow these steps:
1. Merge all CSS and JavaScript files.
2. Enable full page caching or utilize cache extensions.
3. Optimize page data by eliminating large and unwanted media files.
4. Remove unnecessary or redundant coding through code minifiers
5. Switch to faster loading themes, minimize the number of customizations, and regularly update it. 
6. Use intersection observers to enable lazy loading so the site sends media requests only when required.

What does flushing Magento cache do?


Flushing Magento cache clears the cache in the memory. This function only removes data from the default commerce memory. Items with the commerce tag are cleared from the storage, while other items aren’t affected. This boosts the page performance without affecting the data of other processes that may share the same cache memory.

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