Magento store construction – how to plan it
Building a Magento store is a complex task, but one worth undertaking if you want to create a solid foundation for your e-commerce business. In this article you will learn how to plan such a venture.
1. Determine what sets you apart
The e-commerce market is very competitive, so it is difficult to break through if you do not find something that allows you to stand out from the rest. Therefore, before you go into the various aspects of planning to build a Magento store, determine therefore exactly what products you would like to sell and what you can do to attract the attention of customers.
Do you intend to provide products that are hard to find in your region? Do you want to gain customers with an attractive price, or maybe rather stand out with a more expensive premium offer of the highest quality? There are plenty of ways. Therefore, determine not only your niche, but also what will allow you to break through to others.
2. Choose the right edition
Magento 2 has 2 basic editions to offer.
Magento Open Source
It is a free self-hosted platform that gives access to basic and intermediate commerce features. The open source nature gives you great opportunities to customize the store to your needs. A good choice for small and medium-sized businesses. However, this edition does not give you access to official technical support.
Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce combines the previous advantages of Magento open source, and adds cloud-based infrastructure and 24/7 customer support. This edition is aimed at large companies that need maximum scalability and integration with external solutions.However, the discussed version is relatively expensive. There is no official information on its cost, but before Adobe Commerce was introduced, Magento Commerce Edition and Magento Commerce Cloud versions were in operation. The annual license in their case started at $22,000 and $40,000, respectively, so in the context of AC you can expect a similar range.
3. Analyze the requirements of the Magento platform
Before you go to choose a hosting service, pay attention to Magento requirements. This platform is very powerful and powerful, so it is better to use technology that supports its operation.
Operating system – Linux x86-64 or Mac and Windows using a virtualization application.
Server type – Apache or nginx, although the former is usually chosen.
Memory – 2GB RAM or more.
Database – Magento is compatible with MySQL 5.6 i 5.7.
PHP – Magento 2 is compatible with PHP 7.3, although it is recommended to use version 7.4.
Security – SSL is now the basis of secure online stores.
4. Choose the right hosting
Good Magento hosting is the foundation of your store. For Magento, you basically have 2 main options to choose from:
Dedicated server
An expensive option, which, however, gives you ownership of the entire server. This gives you full control over its infrastructure and how you use resources.Operating a dedicated server requires technical skills, but gives you plenty of benefits.
VPS, or Virtual Private Server, is a solution somewhat similar to a dedicated server. Although in its case you share resources with other users, everyone has, so to speak, "their own share".
VPS is cheaper and simpler to use than a dedicated server, but it doesn't offer as many possibilities.
5. Get the right template
The template will determine the aesthetics of your store, as well as navigation. In this context, you have 3 options to choose from:
Ready-made template
After buying such a template, you customize the content and structure of the store with it in mind and possibly make small changes. This solution will work well for small stores and is the cheapest.
A ready-made template with many changes
The purchased template in this case serves as a foundation, which will be heavily modified for the needs of your store. This option requires a longer search for a suitable project, as well as the use of specialists.
A special template created from scratch
This option gives you the most options if you want to perfectly customize a template for your store's unique needs. It is, of course, the most expensive and requires a lot of time to properly plan the whole project.
Summary
Building a Magento store is not easy. Therefore, it is best to use the services of a professional agency for such a project. It will ensure that everything runs as smoothly as possible and that your investment yields the highest possible returns.
