September 6, 2022
Magento ranks highly amongst popular e-commerce platforms like BigCommerce, Shopify, and WooCommerce as one of the most used platforms in the world. Every platform offers different advantages and disadvantages, prioritising different business needs such as customisability, user-friendliness, and cost.
Although Magento is one of the more complicated platforms to use, it is also one of the most powerful and versatile options for online sales. With the release of Magento 2.4.5 in August 2022 the new version has introduced a host of fixes and enhancements. We’ll cover the essentials that make this platform tick, the key features and benefits, and who can benefit from using Magento as their e-commerce platform.
Magento came onto the scene under an open-source license in March 2008 and has prioritised flexibility and customisation from the start. The software is PHP-based, suited specifically for web development and easily embedded into HTML. It rose to fame in 2009 as one of the most popular e-commerce platforms available.
In 2017, Magento officially solidified the two editions of its platform: Magento Open Source, and Magento Commerce. While the basic functionalities are the same for both, Open Source is the free edition, favoured by smaller E-commerce companies, while Commerce is a paid version designed for medium-to-large companies.
The distinction remains today, although the paid edition was renamed Adobe Commerce when Adobe acquired the company a year later.
Magento caters to multiple industries and markets due to its versatility. Some of the key features that make Magento a favourite are:
>Compatibility with multiple payment methods
>Advanced SEO capability
>Customisable store and inventory management
>Easy third-party integrations
>Ability to store up to 500,000 products per site
Of course, the fact that Magento is available as both a free and paid edition is appealing as well.
Magento 2.4.5 applies to both the free Magento Open Source and paid Adobe Commerce. Overall, the latest version contains more than 290 performance fixes and enhancements, and more than 20 security fixes and enhancements.
This update is an improvement on an already excellent platform. The new features and fixes are extensively documented in the release notes, but we’ll go through some of the most relevant facts that might help you decide to switch over or continue using Magento.
Some of the 20+ security enhancements include:
>Google reCAPTCHA for Wish List Sharing, Create New Customer Account, and Gift Card forms
>Upgraded MaliciousCode filter to HTMLPurifier
>Added ACL resources to the inventory
>Inventory template security enhancement
These security fixes are major steps forward for any business concerned with preventing and dealing with cyberattacks. Google reCAPTCHA adds an extra layer of fraud detection at multiple levels, HTMLPurifier filters malicious HTML and keeps it standards-compliant, ACL permissions give you more control over your network, and the inventory template keeps data secure.
>Improved tracking and integration mechanisms of AdWords and Analytics
>Built-in modules for Adobe Commerce for Google AdWords, Analytics, Optimiser, and TagManager
>Built-in Google Tag module to upgrade to Google Analytics 4
Google Analytics is a goldmine for businesses looking to gain valuable insights from customer data, and these Magento features allow you to take full advantage of your data. The paid option offers the ability to define custom dimensions for tracking, as well as inbuilt modules that leverage the former API for integration with Google services. Anyone waiting for the July 2023 replacement of Google Analytics with Google Analytics 4 will note that this version is preparing for the switch.
>Apple Pay available for all merchants
>PayPal Pay Later option available for merchants in Italy and Spain
>Store admin can preview PayPal Credit card and Pay Later buttons in the backend
Magento has a long history of offering versatile payment methods, and this update continues to commit to that feature. The inclusion of Apple Pay is especially notable, as Apple Pay doesn’t require card details, which could be an important factor for customers and sellers alike. The PayPal updates make payment through this platform more universal, customisable and seamless.
>Support for Composer 2.2, TinyMCE 5.10.2, and jQuery 1.13.1
>DHL Integration schema updated to v6.2
>Updated JavaScript libraries
>Outdated dependencies removed
These improvements work together to give you more options to easily customise your e-commerce store’s capabilities. Composer 2.2, one of the most popular PHP dependency management tools, TinyMCE, a top-choice rich text editor, and jQuery, a lightweight JavaScript library, are now all compatible with Magento in their latest editions. Easy configuration with DHL provides trackable shipping, and updates to outdated JavaScript libraries and dependencies keep Magento’s pace with other platforms.
>Faster rebuilding of GraphQL schema for administrators/developers
>Increased page load speed
>Launch session cookies in GraphQL using class proxies only when required
GraphQL is a query language of choice for complete descriptions of the data in your API and a runtime for fulfilling those queries. It efficiently retrieves data without over-fetching, and this has a huge impact on visitors to your store: inefficient data fetching means longer load times. Magento advises using tokens as the primary form of authorisation, and launch session cookies can be customised.
Essentially, Magento 2.4.5 continues to do what Magento has always done: provide an extremely customisable, versatile, and secure platform for your e-commerce store. The blueprint remains the same, and the additions build on the priorities they’ve held since day one. These updates keep Magento apace with its alternatives, making expansion and innovation easier with updated tools.
