Magento Go migration: what are your options

If you are currently using Magento Go or Prostores for your ecommerce you will be aware that Magento is closing down these two platforms in 2015.

The company, which is owned by eBay Inc, will be switching off all Go and Prostores on February 1st 2015. Effectively closing down all stores built on these two platforms, this will leave an estimated 10,000 small to medium sized retailers the world over, in the dark.

"Why did they close?"

Whilst Magento or eBay has made no official statement as to the reasons why these two platforms are to be shut down, Kelly Henry at eBay said "We're consolidating our local offices to allow the business to focus more deeply on developing our core Magento products, Magento Enterprise Edition and Community Edition, which combined are enabling more than 200,000 merchants worldwide."

Magento was offering 4 different options to retailers, Magento Go and Prostores for the SME and, the Community and Enterprise editions for larger merchants. According to a number of industry observers, Go and Prostores had not found much success and failed to compete with the likes of Shopify and Bigcommerce.

"So what happens to my store when Go and Prostores are shut off?"

If you don't do anything your store will be shut down – we don't think that you want that. According to Magento they have chosen the closedown date so that "customers could plan for it before the holidays". Given that time frame, now is the time to choose which ecommerce platform you want to migrate your store too.

Migrating from Magento Go

The way we see it you have 2 options; stay or leave. 

Stay.

Whilst they are the ones shutting down the platforms, Magento hopes that a number of retailers will choose to upgrade to Magento Community or Enterprise. Although this might prove one of the easiest options, these two platforms are a lot more expensive than Go. A bespoke solution, you can expect to pay approximately £9,000 more per annum on Community and Enterprise.

If you choose to stay with Magento we can migrate your Go store across to Community or Enterprise and help design and develop a new ecommerce presence for your business. 

Leave.

Option one: Bigcommerce

Prior to the announcement, or so we have heard, Magento struck a deal with Bigcommerce in order to migrate any customers who did not wish to upgrade.

"We chose Bigcommerce to help with the transition because of their shared commitment to client success and their proven track record of migrating large groups of merchants onto their platform, throughout this transition period, we will fully support both ProStores and Go, and clients will receive the same level of customer service they've come to expect." said Mark Lavelle, senior vice president of product strategy at eBay Enterprise.

Publicly recommending the platform to their Go users; it's got to be good… right?

Offering free migration and an 'exclusive offer of up to $900 in free and discounted services, Bigcommerce really are pulling out the big guns in order to attract migrating Go users. Take a free trial of the platform for 15 days before you sign up to ensure that it works for you.

Option two: Shopify

Another premium ecommerce store builder, Shopify has also launched a special offer for Magento Go users who are looking to migrate.

Shopify are offering a free migration service much like Bigcommerce, but are more transparent about the costs and services they can provide.

• 10% discount on all plans (starting at $26/month)
• Free Magento Go product & customer transfer
• 1 hour call with a Shopify Ecommerce Guru
• 14-day free trial of Shopify

The free, one hour call with a Shopify Ecommerce Guru is a great selling point for anxious Go users who are unsure about the process. This is the perfect opportunity for you to ask questions about Shopify's tools and how they can be used to offer results similar to Magento. Shopify are also offering a 14 day free trial period for you to test of the platform.

Can't decide?

If Shopify and Bigcommerce aren't what you are looking for, there are lots of other options available to you, all of which offer a wealth of different benefits. From comprehensive conversion tools and great marketing options to better aesthetics and simple back-end functions, there is a solution out there to suit your needs.

Want to expand into multichannel retail? We can help you find the ideal ecommerce platform and integrate it with your chosen business management platform and/or service provider to help you maximise your turnover.

For help with your ecommerce needs call 0845 467 1221 or email team@netmatter.co.uk