More than 270,000 merchants picked Magento for their eCommerce needs, which translates to more than $100 billion in sales every year. Even with more than 200,000 Magento developers, Magento sites only power a little over 1% of internet sites around the world.
While Magento has long been a favorite platform for developers, Magento 1 went to end-of-life for all software support in July 2020. Now, it’s more important than ever to upgrade your Magento eCommerce store to ensure continued support and better performance.
What Happens When Software Support For Magento Ends?
When software support ended for Magento 1 in June of 2020, four key things happened:
- Magento/Adobe stopped developing the product, including all changes, quality checks, security patches, and PCI compliance updates.
- Magento stopped accepting community pull requests for that version of the software.
- They removed compatible extensions and integrations compatible with unsupported software from the Magento Marketplace.
- They removed documentation for unsupported software from Magento’s Dev Docs.
While you could continue to use Magento 1 software, the lack of support and other factors involved in using a deprecated platform make it a risk you simply can’t afford. While regular maintenance, upgrades, and even migration scenarios will cost money, you’ll also end up with a safer, more secure store, which is the better solution for your company’s reputation and long-term growth.
What Are The Risks If You Don’t Upgrade Or Migrate?
When software support ends, your eCommerce store doesn’t immediately stop working. You can continue using the software until you’re able to upgrade to a newer version. The security issues alone are enough to make this practice dangerous, so you should not wait.
As a merchant, you’re already taking responsibility for your stores and products. Here are just a few of the risks you’ll experience if you don’t upgrade or migrate your store.
Lack Of PCI DSS Compliance
PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliance is an essential aspect of running an online business. When support ends for software, it’s your responsibility to re-certify compliance. If your store falls short of these standards, you may face hefty fines or lose your credit card processing capabilities.
Security Concerns
The longer you use unsupported software, the more vulnerable your store becomes. Without security patches or updates, hackers will breach your site’s outdated security features with greater ease.
Erosion Of Customer Trust
If a security breach impacts your shoppers, your brand reputation may never recover. Once your site is viewed as insecure or risky, even your most loyal customers might bounce instead of risking their online safety and security.
Greater Costs
When you stay on a deprecated platform, you’ll face higher costs as you monitor and deal with security threats and PCI compliance. It’s likely you’ll need to find qualified developers who are familiar with an unsupported version of the software, and it may be more complicated to keep your unsupported version functional.
Top Benefits — Why Should You Upgrade Magento?
With all the focus on security, it’s now more important than ever to focus on upgrading your Magento carts to avoid cyberattacks and breaches. Magento 1 stores were targeted, and some 374 attacks used the same malware approach on a single day – more than 2,000 stores were hacked over a single weekend.
While upgrading doesn’t prevent all cyberattacks, you will improve the speed, security, and ease of navigation for your Magento site when you upgrade to the latest version. It’s now more critical than ever to apply those security patches, install updates, and upgrade to the new version on the platform. So, why upgrade?
Tap Into Advanced Innovation
Upgrades usually offer improvements, and this upgrade is no different. The new Magento upgrade features powerful benefits:
- 50% faster when loading
- 66% faster when adding products to the cart
- Advanced caching system
- Ajax cart
- Faster PHP 7 framework
- Full PWA support
- More Magento extensions
- Third-party integrations
Support Your Clients
You’re better able to support the needs of your clients while offering a faster and more reliable eCommerce experience. You’re also able to offer more cost-effective solutions to your clients, while better protecting their privacy and security.
Upgrading your Magento store means that you’ll have access to 24/7 professional support, the latest eCommerce features and capabilities, greater customization, and dozens of tools that are designed to help your business grow.
Learn more about options for migration. Contact us to learn more.