The new releases provide a number of benefits for customers who will be able to order products more easily, as well as access Magento ecommerce websites conveniently, from their mobile phones. Other benefits include a multiple wish list function, which many customers will enjoying using to create lists of items that they would like to buy in the future.

As well as benefiting customers, both the Enterprise 1.12 and Community 1.6 will help businesses to boost customer engagement, increase conversion rates on their websites and help to maintain brand loyalty. They will benefit from improved customer segmentation, as the new programme features can identify both new and returning users, even if they are not logged in, enabling businesses to target special offers and allocate marketing resources more effectively. The new releases also provide improved ordering management systems, which will handle operations like payment authorisations, validations and shipping details.

With more and more people shopping ‘on-the-go’ using their mobile phones, the new Mobile HTML 5 really is a fantastic feature. Using it businesses will be able to quickly and simply create a store front that is compatible for viewing on a mobile phone that uses iPhone, Android or Opera web browsers.

Not only is the multiple wish list tool, useful for customers, it will also allow businesses to access knowledge about the kind of products specific customers are interested in. This again will help them to market and advertise to customers more effectively, as well as help them to provide a more relevant, online shopping experience.

Magento Enterprise 1.12 and Magento Community 1.7 also include a number of other useful key features including a coupon generator, EU VAT I-D validation, EU cookie restriction, and payment bridge updates, to name a few!

If you have a specific extension idea in mind, but can’t seem to find it out there on the market, get in contact with us here at Magento Developer – we specialise in creating bespoke extensions to meet your business’s needs.

We have developed a FREE app which you can download and plug into your Magento site.

The Cookie Compliance Law was introduced last year and companies have been given a year to become compliant. When visiting a site, such as a retail store, users will be informed that their data may be stored on their PCs by cookies from that particular site and are they happy to continue.

Those companies who are not compliant could be fined up to £500,000. Some may think this is a bit of a scare tactic, but other believe large companies may be made an example of then others will rush to get things in order.

On the flip side, a petition is being produced to stop such a process happening, as this will hamper the way we browse and shop online. You can sign the petition here.

Either way, this will happen so, to make sure your Magento site is compliant, download your free Cookie Compliance app here.

For any other questions about the Cookie Law or our free download, contact us.

Magento Developer.

Last year, on the 26th May, an EU directive was put in place enforcing companies who had any web presence, that they need to be compliant with the Cookie Law.

This Law has been put in place to inform users that when they browse online, certain sites such as shopping or any site that needs personal information, will use cookies to store that information on their PC. The Law states that users, from the 26th of May 2012, will need to be informed that their data will be stored and offer an agree or disagree option on the website.

Magento Developer has jumped up to the challenge, producing a Magento Module which will make your website Cookie Law Compliant.

It will simply install some Javascript which places a little popup on your site, so that users can see that their data will be stored on their PCs through the cookies.

This module has been specifically created for Magento users and the best news is, it is completely FREE!

From the 26th of May 2012, those companies not compliant with the Cookie Law could be fined up to £500,000. Although some believe this won't be enforced, others know that the EU directive has been heavily documented and Large companies could be made an example of. So, rather than leave it right to the last date, or cross your fingers and hope that no-one will notice, take advantage of the FREE Cookie Law Compliance Magento Module from Magento Developer.

The Module will be available to download in the next few days from the main Magento store, or if you would like it before, simply contact us.

Get Compliant- Contact Magento Developer.

There was a great element of competition as the developers were divided into 6 teams and given 2 days to develop their extension. Some worked all the way through the night to come up with some incredible results.

Here are the results of the 2 day hack-a-thon:

Extensions

Grid Control- Provides simple functionality to grids in Magento XML layouts

Discount for a Tweet- A fantastic tool to integrate social media. Customers are rewarded by merchants for tweeting about their stores and products.

Template Cleanup- This allows users to search and remove unwanted templates in their Magento setup.

Magento-Responsive-Theme- The perfect extension for clients wanting their eCommerce Stores to automatically detect which device the store is being viewed on. This re-sizes the site according to the resolution of the screen of the device.

Logger- This tool allows users to find logs and inputs from emails, XAMPP and Graylog, all in one central point.

MongoDB Order Transactions- During a customers checkout process, this extension writes the data to a MongoDB Database.

Some great and practical extensions came from this event which are very relative to the current market, and provide solutions to some problems we may encounter on our journey with Magento.

Magento Developer create their own Magento Extensions which make using Magento as an eCommerce platform, simple and smooth.

If you already use the system and have come across any problems and need some UK support, or you have considered using Magento to create a powerful, functional eCommerce retail store, contact Magento Developer, a Silver Solutions Partner, based in Nottingham, East Midlands.

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What is responsive eCommerce web design?

This is a clever way of designing eCommerce sites that will automatically account for the device a site is being viewed on. So, take for instance a tablet or smart phone. There are hundreds of sites that have still not accounted for users visiting their sites through devices other than desk top PC's, and the result is a slow loading and complicated way of viewing a site.

Responsive design eliminates these problems and sizes itself accordingly, depending on the resolution of the screen that the user has to view the site.

It is a great way to ensure that your site looks great and drives traffic no matter which device it is viewed on.

As we know, M Commerce (Mobile Commerce) is growing at an incredible rate, people are on the move and still want to be able to order some shopping or pick up a take away whilst on their journey home or out and about.

Responsive eCommerce web design specifically ensures that online stores can be viewed and provide the same front face design for their customers, although it is scaled down to the specific device. It is also carefully created to have the most essential  points on the front end. Take for instance viewing on a smart phone, the screen is much smaller, but users still want to be able to search, look at prices and purchase with ease, as they would on a full PC screen.

Magento Developer offer a range of services around the Magento platform and we can also offer Responsive design.

If you are interested in our services, especially Responsive eCommerce web design, contact us today, we look forward to hearing from you.

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As you can imagine, there are so many areas to cover in eCommerce. From the website and the way people find and visit your online store, to the way that customers pay, then how their order is processed. What their order is packed in for shipping and how the products are shipped out to customers. There is so much to consider, but with all of these elements, working in harmony commands a smooth running operation.

As providers of Magento systems, templates and modules, we realise there is so much to think about as an eCommerce company. Some of our favourite stores at the expo included EME digital, a way of taking high quality photographs of stock, as well as 360 degree shots, so when customers visit your store, they can spin to product to see everything.

UKash provide a way of purchasing online without using debit or credit cards. They realise that in many European companies, customers tend not to use cards to purchase online and would rather purchase vouchers, such as the Ukash system, to enable them to buy goods. This eliminates any fraud or identity theft. Ukash has recently integrated with Magento.

As you can imagine there were plenty of designers, hosting companies and SEO companies, showing off their wares. It is a competitive market, but we believe at Magento Developer we can provide a level of service only found with a Magento Silver Solution Partnership. We are only 1 of 11 in the country that hold that title, and we're quite smug about that.

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Today we're taking a look at UKash, a payment solution that offers a very different way of shopping online.

After speaking to the UKash company, we have learnt that unlike the UK, most of Europe tend to keep away from using credit and debit cards for their online shopping purchases. What they tend to do is buy vouchers from outlets, the UK equivalent would be nipping to your local shop to top up your gas or electric through Pay-Point.

This means that users purchase vouchers, then use those vouchers to shop online. This makes buying online a global pastime and for those worried about security and fraud caused by using cards online, UKash vouchers eliminate this problem completely.

Ukash already feature in the PayFast payment Module for Magento, but the news on the street is that they will be fully integrated with Magento by the close of this week.

This opens up your online store to a global audience. Although payment systems such as Paypal and sage are common globally, UKash provide a way of purchasing for those in European, African and Indian countries that do not use cards to purchase online, purely from a security perspective.

Its exciting times as new ways of buying appear and new systems for purchasing. As ever we currently develop modules in house to co inside and integrate with Magento, which makes our offerings rather versatile.

Hopefully next year, Magento Developer will be present at the Internet Retailing Expo along side a range of incredible brands.

Until its on with the work and providing incredible eCommerce sites for our clients.

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Some areas we will focus on are:

Cross promotion of products

Pricing

Shopping Cart promotions

Analytics

Starting with cross promotion, Magento allows you to relate items, which could be accessories to compliment the product customers want to purchase, this works well in fashion retail.  You can also offer up-sells, so the customer has the option of choosing the next model up, and at the checkout you can cross sell with similar items. All of these items can be cross related with one another in the Magento dashboard.

Pricing allows you to discount and promote certain products to offer a better deal to customers, who are more likely to purchase. It allows you to show the original price and the savings customers will make. You can target customers specifically using the dashboard. You can mark down by a fixed amount e.g. £10- everything in a certain category or by percentages. If you have a promotion, Magneto is such a simple system that allows you to place promotional banners on your site for a period of time, so you are not staying up all night to take down the banners after the promotion has finished.

In the Shopping Cart, you can tie in promotions such as: If you purchase a certain product and 3 accessories, you will receive £50 off and free shipping. There are so many rules that you can create, which will grab customers attention. These promotions have to work when items are placed in the Shopping cart.

Finally, connecting Google Analytics couldn't be simpler. In your Google Analytics account, you must turn on your ecommerce tracking, you then take your Google API and place it into the configuration area in your Magento Dashboard.

When E Commerce is on in your Google Account you can see sales and track where people have come from.

In short, the more you offer and the better the promotion and prices, you will gain more customer interest and the possibility of bigger orders is increased.

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What does this mean for the Magento Developer team?

Being a Magento Silver Solutions partner means that we have constant support from Magento HQ in Los Angeles. We get the share of bigger clients and we now have the ability to sell licenses for Magento Enterprise- a much more powerful system.

What does this mean for our clients?

Clients receive constant support and training in the use of Magento. Other benefits include the coding being checked and secured by a third party. This provides better search options and quicker smoother retail sites. Customers can opt into a rewards points scheme and the platforms still command better SEO.

You can find more benefits for both customers and Magento specialists here.

The team is very chuffed to be Silver Solution Partners, especially are there are so few in the UK and the partnership numbers are limited.

Magento is used by some of the biggest global brands, including The North Face, Samsung, Toms Shoes and Goodyear Tyres.

Not only do we build and integrate Magento platform for online retailers, we offer and build modules that can add onto your Magento system and improve the selling process.

The Magento Developer team are so proud of our Silver Solutions Partnership and we hope that reflects not only in our work and dedication, but in our client portfolio also.

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Magento is a system, a framework, which allows developers to create incredible e commerce stores for a range of retail clients. From fashion to floristry, some of the biggest brands in the UK have chosen to use Magento as their method to sell online.

Magento, is the most youthful of systems, compared to those companies who have sold online for years, but this doesn't meant it isn't the best, in fact its infancy allows the company to learn from every problem and mistake ever made when creating a system, to produce effective e commerce stores.

In the eyes of a retailer, the last thing they will think about is Magento. Retailers simply want an impressive site that looks incredible and users find easy to use. Behind the scenes Magento provides a complete range of benefits, such as being able to integrate with existing ERP and EPOS systems. What are they? ERP and EPOS are the systems which retailers may already use in store. For instance, most retailers use bar code scanners, which provides the information about the product and the price. It will also allow retailers to see how much stock they have and how many items they have sold. Magento slides in seamlessly with these systems, linking physical stores to online stores so retailers can see, as a whole, what they have sold, low stock and prices.

Another benefit is the framework in which developers build the site around and import the data into. It is ahead of its time and over the next 5 years will become the product of choice when it comes to choosing an e commerce platform.There is so much support across the globe in terms of this platform, that multiple companies can work on the same site.

For these reasons and many more, Magento Developer are experts in creating e commerce stores with Magento.

Magento Developer