Magento 2: What is new and when should you upgrade your store?

2016 is bursting with new platform releases including Drupal 8, Angular 2, and the much anticipated Magento 2.0. Magento is an open-source e-commerce platform built to provide its customers with a flexible, enterprise-level commerce solution. Major version releases for any type of software are always met with trepidation whether the release is of a favorite OS or a website CMS. Post-release issues and bugs are inevitable, especially when dealing with community-driven platforms. With the recent release of Magento 2, many of our clients are asking what is new in the new version of Magento, and when do they need to worry about updating their store? 

Tragic Media believes in strategizing the needs for each project on a case-by-case basis, but existing Magento clients do not need to worry about moving to the new platform this year. Magento has announced that it will continue to support Magento 1.x Community Edition for at least 3 years after the release of Magento 2. While there is no rush, now is the perfect time to learn about the exciting changes in Magento 2 so that you can begin to plan the best time for your company to upgrade.

Key benefits of the new and improved Magento 2.0

1. Improved search - Magento 2 made some major upgrades to its search interface and layered navigation. Additionally, it is now easier than ever to enable, disable, or replace the default search with a 3rd party solution.
2. Improved scalability and performance - Major improvements have been made to the scalability of the platform. Improvements in database extensibility along with changes to the indexer now allow for larger teams to make product updates and process orders without diminished performance. Additionally, server side improvements such as integrating Apache Varnish caching, enable faster performance out-of-the-box with minimal tuning.
3. Modern code base - Using the latest PHP and Javascript frameworks along with making the codebase more modular now allows for even easier customization of the platform for both custom modules and themes alike.
4. A brand new admin interface - One of the most exciting changes is a new, sleek admin interface. The modern admin interface is intuitive and much easier for new team members to learn. The ability to customize and save different Admin panel views, saves time and improves team management capabilities.
   Data Migration Tool - This built in tool helps transfer existing Magento 1.x store data to Magento 2.0.

These are just a few of the most exciting new updates for Magento 2.0. The platform has been completely overhauled and offers lots of improvements for developers and store administrators alike. If you are building a new store, or are transferring from a different system to Magento, we strongly recommend moving into the new improved platform. However, if you have an existing Magento store it may make sense to wait, even if you are looking for a responsive redesign now. If you are considering a move to Magento or are looking to upgrade to the new improved Magento 2.0, contact us for a free consultation.