Magneto has done as much as possible to offer a platform that creates everything one would need for their online store. While it’s a great platform for most of what you need, it can’t meet your every whim straight out of the box. If it was that simple, every ho-hum Joe with an idea for a business would open up shop and start selling. It takes guts to run wild in the ecommerce world, and those who are tenacious enough to constantly adapt their attack will survive. This is why apps and extensions for Magneto not only exist, but allows both the business owner and the customer to make the most of the platform. With a slew of options available to improve the image features on your shop, automate manual processes, and market better to the people looking at your site, we’ll look at the best of these extensions that any ecommerce website owner should be using. The Magneto box alone is not how you should run your business, you’re better than that. Here’s how you’ll prove it:
OH NO I DIDN’T WANT TO DELETE THAT
The Yireo Trashcan for Magneto allows users to easily restore items that have been deleted. We’ve all been there; it’s late and you accidentally get rid of an item that you mistook for a discontinued good. Now you need to stay up for another hour to recreate that item to make it available on your shop. Not with the Yireo Trashcan. Anything that is deleted is placed into the trashcan, where it can be restored with just a few clicks. If something needs to be fully deleted, that is just as easily performed via the trashcan. Either way, you now have a buffer to prevent a loss of valuable time by performing redundant work because something was deleted accidentally.
WHO CAN I TALK TO AROUND HERE?
The Livechat extension offered by Magneto allows you to set up a virtual help desk for your customers. In the age where most people prefer non-verbal communication, having a livechat assistance option is crucial. This allows users to receive assistance instantly at any time of day. This straight-forward app lets you connect with users when they need you most. Remaining available to help your customers will make them feel more secure and confident with purchasing from your site.
BEEP BEEP BOOP I’M NOT A ROBOT
Spambots are everywhere.They’re in your review sections, giving false reviews for your products. They’re trying to take over your site with negative reviews. With Google’s reCaptcha, these bots can be kept at bay with the captcha system. Google’s system doesn’t just use the classic “type these arbitrary words into this box” either, they use very simple questions with clickable options that current bots struggle greatly to pass through. This easy extension is a big win for your site to keep harmful spam away from both you and your customers.
I WISH I COULD ZOOM IN ON THIS
Pictures as a standard draw more customers. Would you ever buy something online that didn’t have a picture? Of course not. It’s ecommerce-101 stuff. What isn’t as common however, is to have easy capabilities to get a larger view of the picture without either being redirected to a new site or having a picturebox overlay the site. The Mouse Over Zoom extension zooms in on the image when the user puts their mouse over the image. No new webpage, no picturebox, just an immediate zoomed in version of the picture. If the user can get a better look at your product, they are more likely to feel confident about it and more likely to purchase. You want your customer to feel safe with your product and if they can see a better view of it they are more likely to purchase.
IT’S SHIPPING WHERE?
Logistics is often times the most crucial part of the supply chain that gets overlooked most often. Reliable logistics operations are integral to running a proper business. Managing all of the shipments can often times be difficult. WebShopApps MatrixRate offers very simple and efficient tables to show the cost breakdown of shipments based on weight and location. It shows the prices for different delivery methods, such as expedited vs standard shipping. The usefulness of this extension is that it is a point of reference that allows you to be an instant expert on the logistics cost of your product. You won’t have to look up the conditions of each shipment individually any longer, this tools keeps everything for you.
WHERE CAN I FIND…
Search refinement is the best way to allow the user to find exactly what they are looking for with great ease. Aitoc’s Layered Navigation is an app that adds in breadcrumb navigation, and filters for your user. Keeping your user in the know about where they are on your site keeps them feeling confident and in control. If they feel like they have lost control, they will not feel safe purchasing from you. Don’t let them lose control. Give them the power to manage their content with refined searches. Remind them where they are in the process with breadcrumb navigation. Keep them feeling good about being on your site and they’ll stay on it longer. The longer they are on, the more they will spend.
Magneto’s platform is without a doubt one of the best standalone platforms to use for current ecommerce. Part of why it’s so useful however, is because it is easy to adapt in a large variety of ways. With both free and premium apps to Magneto, business owners can make themselves more efficient at selling, and their customers more efficient at buying. There’s no shortage of available extensions that all do many different things, exploring as many of them as possible allows you to adapt Magneto to your liking. Some of the apps that have been outlined are among the top-rated and top-used apps, but use your discretion based on what you want your site to do.