PREPARE FOR THE MAGENTO GO SHUT DOWN
eBay has announced it will shut down Magento Go and ProStores on February 1st, 2015. Craig Peasley, Magento’s head of marketing, said the shut down will allow the company to focus on the software products that are more successful: the Magento Community and Enterprise Editions of the popular platform. One Magento executive estimates more than 10,000 small-business customers will be affected by the Magento Go shut down.
What exactly is Magento Go? According to the Magento website, “Magento Go is an online service for entrepreneurs and small businesses that lets you build your own online store to sell your products and services online. Magento Go makes it easy for you to start selling quickly. You don't need to worry about servers and software. Magento Go handles everything for you.”
Typically, Magento Go users have a need for an online store but don’t have the knowledge or resources to host their own site. Magento Go allows them to quickly and easily set their store up and start doing business. What does that mean for them with the news of the impending Magento Go shut down? It’s time to start figuring that out.
OPTIONS FOR MIGRATING OFF OF MAGENTO GO
Bigcommerce
The Magento Go shut down will make you to consider your business goals, plans for scaling your business, and what you want your business to look like in the future. Magento is partnering with former Magento go competitor, Bigcommerce, offering a free transition to current Magento Go and ProStores clients. However, just because this solution exists, it doesn't mean it will work for everyone transitioning off of the Magneto Go platform.
Magento Community Edition
For many Magento Go merchants, it may be time to upgrade to the free, open-source Magento Community Edition platform. Magento Community Edition is the core of the Magento platform product line, and comes with all the features necessary to operate and scale an online store. The code of Magento can be customized and modified by developers; features and functionality can be added using extensions that exist in the Magento marketplace.
Shopify
Shopify is another solution that may be better suited to your needs. In fact, Shopify is offering a free 14-day trial, a 10% discount on the monthly plan (if you sign up by July 31st), and a free tool to migrate Magento Go products and customers. Either way, this is the most important decision. Once you’ve figured out which platform is right for you, you can start looking for who is going to build your new site.
Style Commerce
EYEMAGINE's own solution for merchants getting off of Magento Go and looking to scale their online business is Style Commerce. Style Commerce is a hosted, responsive ecommerce solution that offers merchants an easy monthly payment to take their online store to the big leagues. Style Commerce includes features and functionality that extend the core ecommerce platform and inbound marketing to attract, convert, and retain online shoppers.
Important Dates to Remember
Today
The Magento Go shut down is exactly 195 days from today. That may sound like a long time, but it will be here before you know it. Start getting ready now so you’re not scrambling during the holiday season. By now you should be looking at your options.
September 4th
At this point you have 150 days until Magento Go is no more, it's time to make the second-most important decision in this process; choose your new partner. Getting a head start on this will only make it easier. With an estimated 10,000 people put in the exact same position, the demand for quality work is going to be extremely high. Don’t procrastinate and end up being forced to use a second-rate company because none of the high-quality ones have the resources available to help you.
October 4th
100 days away from the shut down is when you should have your new design finalized. Again, putting this off will only make the transition more hectic. This gives you enough time to figure out what you want, how you want it to look, and it will give the company you've chosen to work with ample time to implement everything.
December 13th
At the 50-day mark your migration needs to be underway. This step is critical for success. It will give you enough time to evaluate how things look before going live and enable you to make any necessary changes to your design. Waiting too long to begin your migration makes quality assurance much more difficult. The more time you have to make sure everything is exactly the way you want it the better off you’re going to be.
January 5th
With only 25 days until the Magento Go shut down, your new site should be ready to roll. This is the first Monday of 2015, the holidays will be over with and your focus needs to be on making sure everything is perfect. In reality, your new site should be ready to go live on this date. If something is missing or incorrect, you have a very limited amount of time to fix it. Make the transition as smooth as possible for yourself and your customers by finalizing everything before it absolutely needs to be.
Start Now
Don't let the Magento Go shut down negatively impact your business. The holiday season is right around the corner, you don’t want to be trying to manage your business while figuring out what platform it’s going to be on. As Benjamin Franklin said, “by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Don’t set yourself up for failure. Click the button below to get started on the right path with a free eCommerce consultation.
If you'd like to learn more about how Bigcommerce, Magento Community Edition, Shopify or Style Commerce can help you move off of Magento Go and into your new ecommerce future, let's have a conversation.
