If you’re still on Magento Community Edition version 1.5 (or version 1.4 even!) it’s time to get your Magento developers to install Magento CE version 1.6. The new version comes with a plethora of new features, improvements, and fixes. Below are just a few reasons why you should make the move to improve your order lifecycle, draw in more customers, and motivate customers to come back.
Persistent Shopping Cart
This new feature will greatly enhance the user experience by providing cookies to be persistently stored across browsers and multiple devices once the customer logs in. Information such as the customer’s wish list and shopping cart are stored during a customer session until the customer logs out. This provides not only an element of convenience for the user, but also encourages the purchaser to follow through in the order cycle.
Shipping Integration with Label printing support
You can now generate your own shipping labels via Magento Community Edition version 1.6. This convenience will reduce your time and improve your order flow dramatically. The shipping integration works with USPS, FedEx, UPS, and DHL.
Minimum Advertised Price (MAP)
Now you can show both the manufacturer’s advised pricing and your sale pricing either in the product page or shopping cart page. This feature is more for those retailers who are not allowed to price their products below a particular price that is mandated by the manufacturer.
Added two-step password reset flow
This is not a unique feature by any means, but more of a must-have. For a user who forgets his or her password, he or she can go to forget password, and an email with a random password will be sent to him or her. He or she can then change his or her email during initial log in.
Added PayPal Express Features
For your customers who prefer to use PayPal Express, this new feature will allow them to register for PayPal Express during checkout enhancing the all around online shopping experience for these members. The administrator benefits too, because orders can now be automatically canceled via the Order Valid Period field. Therefore you can input the amount of time allowed to complete the order in the checkout before the order expires. This is a great security feature.
Prototype JavaScript Library updated to version 1.7
If most of your customers are using Internet Explorer to browse your e-commerce website, then this will dramatically improve your customers’ user experience. This update will improve the performance and functionality of your website, because of all the fixes Magento made to the back end and its interaction with this particular browser.
This is just a short list of a myriad of greatness that Magento has made to CE version 1.6 that will aide your Magento developers in creating an optimal e-commerce website for your customers. Upgrade today and you’ll see instantly what you’ve been missing out on! If you need help with your upgrade, you know where to find us.
