What is Magento? Adobe Commerce and Open-Source Options for 2023

Magento, an ecommerce platform that helps large companies manage online sales and build online shops, is a powerful tool for building online stores. Adobe bought its parent company in 2018, also known as Magento. It is now part the Adobe Commerce suite. Today, the software-as-a-service version of Magneto is known as Adobe Commerce, and the open-source version is known as Magento.

The tools that are most suitable for medium-sized ecommerce companies, particularly those who sell to other businesses. Adobe Commerce pricing is based on a quote, so while Magento is available for free, you will need to contact Adobe for a price estimate.

Magento is an open-source, free e-commerce software platform. This means that its source code can be viewed online. Magento allows you to create digital content, maintain inventory, and add hundreds of extensions which can be used for customer service, payment processing, and shipping.

Open-source software for e-commerce is generally best suited to experienced web developers. Magento installation and choosing small-business hosting require technical skills that many business owners lack.

These businesses might want to use a paid website builder, such as Adobe Commerce. Adobe Commerce has many built-in features, such as web hosting and analytics for business, while Magento users might have to use code or extensions to achieve the same results.

The rest of the review will be devoted to Adobe Commerce.

Adobe Commerce provides powerful tools to manage a large and complex online shop.

Adobe Commerce allows users to create several online stores, accept different payment options, and provide customers with the option of picking up their purchases in store.

Orders are live behind the scenes in an unified dashboard. This dashboard also offers analytics that will help you better understand how your business is performing.

Adobe Commerce, because of its many features that users can provide to customers, is one of the top B2B platforms. The buyer creates their account and then can add users who have their own permissions. The buyers can place orders, request quotes, create shopping lists, and set up their own rules for purchase approval.

You can create a catalog for each client, with their own price. Orders can be placed on behalf of customers.

Headless commerce allows you to completely decouple your order management and storefront. Adobe Commerce allows you to create storefronts of any type — apps, internet-of things devices or augmented reality — and still manage your orders using a single dashboard.

Large companies that have in-house teams of web developers will find headless commerce most useful. Look for an e-commerce platform that supports omnichannel shopping if you are a small company. You can use omnichannel to sell your products across multiple social media platforms and third-party online marketplaces from a single dashboard.

Adobe Commerce allows you to manage multiple brands including international ones. Adobe Commerce allows each brand to have their own unique pricing and products. They can also offer custom checkouts and fulfillment options. You can still manage your orders and customers centrally, just like you could with headless commerce.

Adobe Commerce helps your employees in the store to support fulfillment of e-commerce. Apps allow customers to buy online and receive pick-up instructions via email. They can then go to the store or warehouse to collect their order. Employees have access to tools that help them fulfill orders and maintain accurate inventory data.

Walmart Commerce Technology has developed an Adobe extension that supports these tools. Additional fees may apply to apps and extensions.

Adobe Commerce allows you to personalize the user experience for business customers and individuals. Artificial intelligence can be used to provide personalized recommendations to both business and individual customers. Also, you can sell subscriptions or create marketing campaigns that target specific segments of customers.

You can create multiple storefronts if you wish to provide different branding or websites to both B2B and C2C customers.

Adobe Commerce can be used by businesses who sell online and in-store. Its tools allow you to fill orders across all of your warehouses and retail stores. This allows you to offer more options for delivery and pick-up.

Adobe Commerce doesn’t limit users to only credit or debit cards. You can also accept money orders, cash or bank transfers. You can also sell on credit by allowing customers to place orders that are up to the credit limit, and accepting payment in future.

Adobe Commerce is priced on a quote basis, which means you will need to speak to an Adobe representative in order to determine the cost for your company.

Adobe Commerce can be used to sell products, but you will need to use a third party extension in order to accept bookings for appointments or to sell tickets. Look for services that have built-in reservations tools. This will help you eliminate any friction.

Adobe Commerce may not be a great fit for some small and medium businesses. You’ll need an entire team of developers, e-commerce specialists and other staff to fully utilize its features. You may find that a simple online storebuilder is easier to use if you are selling small quantities or already using your team’s bandwidth.

Shopify offers sophisticated features for managing inventory and orders at an affordable price. Plans start at just $29 per monthly payment when paid annually. This is comparable to other website builders that offer similar features.

It is easy to use, so even a single person or small group can take care of its many features. For example, selling through third-party platforms and managing inventory are just a few. Shopify also offers B2B options, but they are more expensive. Plans based on quotes start at $2,000 NerdWallet reviews Shopify.

Adobe Commerce is not free. Shift4Shop is a good alternative for B2B companies who are looking to save money.

This platform allows for customer-specific and wholesale pricing as well as the acceptance of a wide range of payment options, such corporate accounts and purchase orders. It’s also free to users that process $500 or more per month through Shift4, the payment processor created by the same firm. Shift4 also charges a quote for payment processing. To find out how much it will cost, you must contact another team. NerdWallet has a review on Shift4Shop.

WooCommerce is an open source shopping cart plugin that you can use if your site already runs on WordPress. WooCommerce allows you to create customized checkout pages, accept payments, provide coupons, customer rewards, and get discounted shipping rates.

Squarespace’s own appointment-scheduling tool, Squarespace Scheduler, can be used to help schedule appointments, including by asking clients to complete intake forms and sending reminders, as well as collecting payment. Squarespace’s tools can be used to create members-only websites for subscribers who pay. Read NerdWallet’s Squarespace review.