Magento

The more things change, the more they stay the same—especially when it comes to the world of retail. Though the industry is shifting to accommodate a world of increasingly digital and mobile customers, attendees at Shop.org’s Annual Summit this ... [More] week were quick to note that above all, serving the customer is key. With that in mind, we’ve compiled the top 4 takeaways from the event to help you serve your customers better: 1. Connect with your audience. Followers are the new foot traffic, said Open Sky’s John Caplan. Use this to your advantage and connect with your audience. Rather than focusing solely on how the customer is shopping, determine what emotional connection the customer shares with your brand as apply those insights. As WebTrends pointed out, 41% of online shoppers buy more after receiving a personalized email offer. Give customers a 1:1 shopping experience as if they’re standing right in front of you. 2. Deliver seamless experiences. “Omni-channel” and “multi-channel” were big buzzwords at the conference, as HSN’s Bill Brand pointed out. While digital marketers touted the importance of creating unique content for all social media channels to reach engaged customers, direct marketing is still effective in getting customers to hit the “buy” button. Use an integrated approach to get the most reach. 3. Find your mobile fit. Unsurprisingly, mobile continues to be the fastest growing channel for many attendees and is still accelerating. Responsive design is still on everyone’s lips. Make sure the mobile strategy you pursue aligns to your business to better attract and retain customers. Are you really ready for a responsive site? Side note: A well thought out mobile strategy is an excellent way to connect with your audience, too (see point #1). 4. Chicago Public House makes a mean cocktail. Those drinks were seriously good – thanks to everyone who joined us for happy hour on Monday night (and double thanks to Guidance for providing the drinks all night long). We had a blast partying with you! Congratulations to Laura Arand of Cornerstone Brands, our grand prize #MagentoMania winner! Thanks for joining the festivities with us. Be sure to send us some photos from Magento Imagine. What did you take away from Shop.org? Tweet your learnings to @Magento and check out some of the best photo moments on Facebook. -The Magento Marketing Team Click images to enlarge. [Less]

Magento is at the Intersection of Commerce and Couture in NYC! On October 8-9, over 600 digital executives from prominent fashion brands will be in New York City for Fashion Digital New York (FDNY), and Magento is proud to be the lead sponsor. ... [More] Like Fashion Digital Los Angeles (FDLA), this is an exciting opportunity to network with eCommerce leaders in the fashion industry from major brands like Kate Spade, Rebecca Minkoff and Calvin Klein Inc. On day one, Magento will be holding a workshop, “Increasing Conversion through User Experiences,” led by Danny Essner, Senior Manager of Merchant Marketing. He’ll show merchants how to leverage incredible user experiences that actually increase website conversion, and highlight examples of merchants who have grown their online businesses through user experience. Danny will also interview Doug Glickman, Director of eCommerce for ShopBAZAAR.com, about creating incredible experiences by blending commerce and content. On day two, during the general sessions, Magento's Ben Pressley, Head of Enterprise Strategy and Business Development, will cover “The Future of Mobile and Commerce” by discussing Mobile’s impact on commerce. His presentation will draw on the experiences of thousands of Magento and eBay customers as well as eBay’s thought leadership and research. We’d like to extend a special invitation for you to join us at the conference, and, as a Magento guest, you can save 25% with Promo Code: SPK-MAGENTO Register Now For more information, visit fashiondigitalny.com. We hope to see you there! [Less]

Magento is at the Intersection of Commerce and Couture in NYC! On October 8-9, over 600 digital executives from prominent fashion brands will be in New York City for Fashion Digital New York (FDNY), and Magento is proud to be the lead sponsor. ... [More] Like Fashion Digital Los Angeles (FDLA), this is an exciting opportunity to network with eCommerce leaders in the fashion industry from major brands like Kate Spade, Rebecca Minkoff and Calvin Klein Inc. On day one, Magento will be holding a workshop, “Increasing Conversion through User Experiences,” led by Danny Essner, Senior Manager of Merchant Marketing. He’ll show merchants how to leverage incredible user experiences that actually increase website conversion, and highlight examples of merchants who have grown their online businesses through user experience. Danny will also interview Doug Glickman, Director of eCommerce for ShopBAZAAR.com, about creating incredible experiences by blending commerce and content. On day two, during the general sessions, Magento's Ben Pressley, Head of Enterprise Strategy and Business Development, will cover “The Future of Mobile and Commerce” by discussing Mobile’s impact on commerce. His presentation will draw on the experiences of thousands of Magento and eBay customers as well as eBay’s thought leadership and research. We’d like to extend a special invitation for you to join us at the conference, and, as a Magento guest, you can save 25% with Promo Code: SPK-MAGENTO Register Now For more information, visit fashiondigitalny.com. We hope to see you there! [Less]

Over 4,400 digital and omni-channel retail professionals and exhibitors, including our Magento team, descended on Chicago’s McCormick Place Monday evening to talk next generation retail at the annual Shop.org Summit. The opening night EXPO Hall ... [More] reception, where attendees could mingle, network and prepare for the coming discussions and deal-making, kicked off the two-and-a-half day event. Opening events included keynotes from Tory Burch executives and marketing professor Jonah Berger. In the first address, Miki Beradelli, Tory Burch CMO, and Matt Marcotte, SVP of Global Stores at Tory Burch, emphasized that, while technology is taking over retail, the essentials—focusing on the customer and the persistence of email marketing—still matter. Berger, meanwhile, spoke to the importance of word-of-mouth marketing, which he broke into action steps like defining social currency and identifying social triggers. Afternoon breakout sessions touched on topics like omni-channel initiatives and the convergence of digital marketing and eCommerce. Magento, in particular, started the summit with a festive bang, hosting an opening night party (with co-sponsor Guidance) at the gastro pub Public House. Invited guests could drink a Magento-themed beverage and chow down on sliders, pizza and other comfort foods. Some even modeled Magento gear in the provided photo booth. One topic of discussion at the shindig included Magento Mania, a conference-wide contest to help demonstrate the breadth of the Magento ecosystem. All Shop.org attendees have a chance to win a gift card to one of our partner sites, as well as to Magento’s annual Imagine Conference in 2014. Full details on how to play can be found here on the Magento Blog as well as at Magento booth #603 on the Shop.org conference floor. Check back here in the coming days for our key takeaways from the summit! [Less]

Over 4,400 digital and omni-channel retail professionals and exhibitors, including our Magento team, descended on Chicago’s McCormick Place Monday evening to talk next generation retail at the annual Shop.org Summit. The opening night EXPO Hall ... [More] reception, where attendees could mingle, network and prepare for the coming discussions and deal-making, kicked off the two-and-a-half day event. Opening events included keynotes from Tory Burch executives and marketing professor Jonah Berger. In the first address, Miki Beradelli, Tory Burch CMO, and Matt Marcotte, SVP of Global Stores at Tory Burch, emphasized that, while technology is taking over retail, the essentials—focusing on the customer and the persistence of email marketing—still matter. Berger, meanwhile, spoke to the importance of word-of-mouth marketing, which he broke into action steps like defining social currency and identifying social triggers. Afternoon breakout sessions touched on topics like omni-channel initiatives and the convergence of digital marketing and eCommerce. Magento, in particular, started the summit with a festive bang, hosting an opening night party (with co-sponsor Guidance) at the gastro pub Public House. Invited guests could drink a Magento-themed beverage and chow down on sliders, pizza and other comfort foods. Some even modeled Magento gear in the provided photo booth. One topic of discussion at the shindig included Magento Mania, a conference-wide contest to help demonstrate the breadth of the Magento ecosystem. All Shop.org attendees have a chance to win a gift card to one of our partner sites, as well as to Magento’s annual Imagine Conference in 2014. Full details on how to play can be found here on the Magento Blog as well as at Magento booth #603 on the Shop.org conference floor. Check back here in the coming days for our key takeaways from the summit! [Less]

Now is the perfect time to make sure your website is ready for the Holiday rush, and the following courses can help. First up are courses from the Checkout Series (including two new courses), which cover that crucial piece of the shopping ... [More] experience. Also new is the Magento Design Insights class, which focuses on helping developers customize their Magento Enterprise Edition store theme. Checkout IV – Payments October 1, 3, 7, 9 & 11 (8:00 am - 12:00 pm PST) This class provides a deeper understanding of the architecture of payment methods, including native methods, the PayPal methods family, credit card related operations and partial payment operations. Learn More This course covers: Creating new payment methods Customizing, extending and debugging existing payment methods NEW Checkout V – Order Placement October 17, 23, 25 & 29 (8:00 am - 12:00 pm PST) This course focuses on a deeper understanding of the architecture of order placement, the final step of the checkout process. Learn More The course covers: Customizing the Order Review page and customizing and debug-ing the order placement process and the order success page Identifying and using the order placement API—which is important for when faced with the following scenarios: Customizing the way order review step of checkout looks Creating integration with a remote system which collects data for each new order Customizing a process of order placement to add custom validations, restrictions and logging, just to name a few NEW Checkout VI – Taxes & Discounts December 12, 17 & 19 (8:00 am - 12:00 pm PST) This is a dive deep into the architecture of taxes and promotions (shopping cart price rules). Learn More The course covers: The existing taxation system in Magento, its flexibility and power, and how avoid unnecessary customization Troubleshooting and debugging tax-related issues How taxes are calculated on checkout and which classes are involved Extending shopping cart price rules and how those rules are stored in the database How taxes and discounts work together to better estimate its performance impact NEW Magento Design Insights November 13 & 14 (7:30 am - 10:30 am PST) This class enables the full-service web designer to better understand the features available to create a customized Magento Enterprise Edition store theme! Learn More The course covers: Identifying which elements a skin controls, which elements a theme controls, and which elements are affected by the CSS file Accessing included themes Changing the theme in Magento [Less]

Now is the perfect time to make sure your website is ready for the Holiday rush, and the following courses can help. First up are courses from the Checkout Series (including two new courses), which cover that crucial piece of the shopping ... [More] experience. Also new is the Magento Design Insights class, which focuses on helping developers customize their Magento Enterprise Edition store theme. Checkout IV – Payments October 1, 3, 7, 9 & 11 (8:00 am - 12:00 pm PST) This class provides a deeper understanding of the architecture of payment methods, including native methods, the PayPal methods family, credit card related operations and partial payment operations. Learn More This course covers: Creating new payment methods Customizing, extending and debugging existing payment methods NEW Checkout V – Order Placement October 17, 23, 25 & 29 (8:00 am - 12:00 pm PST) This course focuses on a deeper understanding of the architecture of order placement, the final step of the checkout process. Learn More The course covers: Customizing the Order Review page and customizing and debug-ing the order placement process and the order success page Identifying and using the order placement API—which is important for when faced with the following scenarios: Customizing the way order review step of checkout looks Creating integration with a remote system which collects data for each new order Customizing a process of order placement to add custom validations, restrictions and logging, just to name a few NEW Checkout VI – Taxes & Discounts December 12, 17 & 19 (8:00 am - 12:00 pm PST) This is a dive deep into the architecture of taxes and promotions (shopping cart price rules). Learn More The course covers: The existing taxation system in Magento, its flexibility and power, and how avoid unnecessary customization Troubleshooting and debugging tax-related issues How taxes are calculated on checkout and which classes are involved Extending shopping cart price rules and how those rules are stored in the database How taxes and discounts work together to better estimate its performance impact NEW Magento Design Insights November 13 & 14 (7:30 am - 10:30 am PST) This class enables the full-service web designer to better understand the features available to create a customized Magento Enterprise Edition store theme! Learn More The course covers: Identifying which elements a skin controls, which elements a theme controls, and which elements are affected by the CSS file Accessing included themes Changing the theme in Magento [Less]

With more than 4,000 attendees, 200 exhibitors, and 100 speakers headed to Chicago next week for Shop.org’s 2 ½ day Summit, there are a lot of events to keep track of. We want you to spend less time with your nose in the schedule and more time ... [More] learning how to rock retail, so we created our own Shop.org Guide. Monday, September 30 Check-in, throw on your favorite outfit, and then run over to Public House at 7:00 pm. Drinks and food are on us – including the secret signature cocktail from our partners at Guidance. (Tip: RSVP here to guarantee your spot!) Tuesday, October 1 This is a big day. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. 7:45 am: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so be sure to fill up now. (Lakeside Ballroom E354) 8:15 am: Kick off the Summit with the opening keynotes from NRF and Tory Burch. (Lakeside Ballroom E354) 10:15am: Word of mouth is crucial. So crucial, that we’re spreading the word about Jonah Berger’s presentation on “Why Things Catch On”. (Lakeside Ballroom E354) 1:00 pm: Swing by the Expo Hall to get some one-on-one help on your website fro, the pros at Precision Dialogue and e-Tailing Group. 1:30: You’ve got 15 minutes to get to the next session, but stop by Magento’s booth (#603) on the way for a chance to play #MagentoMania. (Unless you don’t want $500, in which case, nevermind?) 1:45: Find out what 15 things you can do to make more money next week in this breakout session with Razorfish, Mass Relevance, and more. (Room E353) 3:30: One more breakout session before the reception. You can do this! We recommend this one. It’s all about the experience. (Room E450 A) 6:00 pm: You did it! Now go celebrate your hard day’s work. Head over to the Field Museum for the reception. There are even free shuttles from Lakeside Center. Wednesday, October 2 7:45: You’re two days into this event. Breakfast is crucial. (Lakeside Ballroom E354) 8:15: Soak up some words of wisdom from the woman herself, Shop.org’s Vicki Cantrell. Then enjoy the comfort of your seat a little longer and stay until 9:30 to learn more about the importance of your Digital DNA. (Lakeside Ballroom E354) 10:15: Where do you go from here? Good question. Find out in this panel with OpenSky, Long Future Media, Wanelo, and Trunk Club. Bonus: You can still stay in your seat! (Lakeside Ballroom E354) 12 pm: Have you played #MagentoMania yet? Swing by while everyone else is off at lunch for your chance at $500 (booth 603). 1:15: We think Nike’s done a pretty good job at… well, everything. American Express, Saks, and HSN aren’t too shabby either. Learn how to connect customers to what they love from this expert panel. (Room E450 A) 2:15: Time for an afternoon pick-me-up. Productivity: Brought to you by coffee. 3:00 pm: Last breakout session of the event! We recommend checking out this promising session with Threadless, Sephora, and more. (Room E451 AB) Whew, that’s a lot of great sessions. See you Monday night at Public House! [Less]

With more than 4,000 attendees, 200 exhibitors, and 100 speakers headed to Chicago next week for Shop.org’s 2 ½ day Summit, there are a lot of events to keep track of. We want you to spend less time with your nose in the schedule and more time ... [More] learning how to rock retail, so we created our own Shop.org Guide. Monday, September 30 Check-in, throw on your favorite outfit, and then run over to Public House at 7:00 pm. Drinks and food are on us – including the secret signature cocktail from our partners at Guidance. (Tip: RSVP here to guarantee your spot!) Tuesday, October 1 This is a big day. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. 7:45 am: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so be sure to fill up now. (Lakeside Ballroom E354) 8:15 am: Kick off the Summit with the opening keynotes from NRF and Tory Burch. (Lakeside Ballroom E354) 10:15am: Word of mouth is crucial. So crucial, that we’re spreading the word about Jonah Berger’s presentation on “Why Things Catch On”. (Lakeside Ballroom E354) 1:00 pm: Swing by the Expo Hall to get some one-on-one help on your website fro, the pros at Precision Dialogue and e-Tailing Group. 1:30: You’ve got 15 minutes to get to the next session, but stop by Magento’s booth (#603) on the way for a chance to play #MagentoMania. (Unless you don’t want $500, in which case, nevermind?) 1:45: Find out what 15 things you can do to make more money next week in this breakout session with Razorfish, Mass Relevance, and more. (Room E353) 3:30: One more breakout session before the reception. You can do this! We recommend this one. It’s all about the experience. (Room E450 A) 6:00 pm: You did it! Now go celebrate your hard day’s work. Head over to the Field Museum for the reception. There are even free shuttles from Lakeside Center. Wednesday, October 2 7:45: You’re two days into this event. Breakfast is crucial. (Lakeside Ballroom E354) 8:15: Soak up some words of wisdom from the woman herself, Shop.org’s Vicki Cantrell. Then enjoy the comfort of your seat a little longer and stay until 9:30 to learn more about the importance of your Digital DNA. (Lakeside Ballroom E354) 10:15: Where do you go from here? Good question. Find out in this panel with OpenSky, Long Future Media, Wanelo, and Trunk Club. Bonus: You can still stay in your seat! (Lakeside Ballroom E354) 12 pm: Have you played #MagentoMania yet? Swing by while everyone else is off at lunch for your chance at $500 (booth 603). 1:15: We think Nike’s done a pretty good job at… well, everything. American Express, Saks, and HSN aren’t too shabby either. Learn how to connect customers to what they love from this expert panel. (Room E450 A) 2:15: Time for an afternoon pick-me-up. Productivity: Brought to you by coffee. 3:00 pm: Last breakout session of the event! We recommend checking out this promising session with Threadless, Sephora, and more. (Room E451 AB) Whew, that’s a lot of great sessions. See you Monday night at Public House! [Less]

Let’s give a big welcome to Magento Community Edition 1.8! This new edition improves tax calculations, boosts product quality and stability, enhances performance, and advances security for the rapidly growing Magento community. Key highlights ... [More] include: Enhanced Tax Calculations Magento Community Edition 1.8 improves tax calculation accuracy for VAT merchants and eliminates potential rounding errors that can be confusing to buyers. Knowledge Base updates also provide more guidance on tax configurations and Canadian tax requirements, enabling you to more fully benefit from the native Magento tax engine. Functional Improvements We made approximately 350 functional improvements that boost product quality in key areas, including the web store, shopping cart, admin order creation, import and export functionality, web API components, and payment methods. Performance Improvements Magento Community Edition 1.8 enables a better shopping experience through faster page-loading in the checkout process and optimized cache adapters for single server systems, which minimize the number of cached pages that must be refreshed when product updates are made. The performance of the 1.8 administrator panel is also improved for those of you with large product or order databases. Security Enhancements Through a number of enhancements, we also strengthened the security of Magento Community Edition. A full list of enhancements is available in our release notes. Updates to the Alpha Release A few new updates were made to the alpha version of Magento Community Edition 1.8. We removed the requirement to have globally unique category and product URL keys, giving you greater flexibility in your URL structures. We also incorporated the recent USPS API patch, DHL code updates, and the latest Redis backend cache code, now called Cm_Cache_Backend_Redis. We have also included Cm_RedisSession, a Redis session storage module. More to Come We are fully committed to advancing the Magento Community Edition platform, which has been the driving force behind our growth to over 2,000 Magento Certified Developers and over 200,000 Magento merchants across the globe. Work is already underway on the next Magento Community Edition version, so stay tuned for more enhancements to come! Download Click here to start using Magento Community Edition 1.8 and check out the full release notes posted in our Knowledge Base to learn more. [Less]