At the Imagine 2014 global ecommerce event today, eBay Enterprise
released the newest versions of Magento Enterprise Edition (version
1.14) and Community Edition (version 1.9). Both editions include a new
Responsive Reference Design Theme, Bill Me Later as a payment option and
PayPal Express Checkout improvements. Magento Enterprise Edition will
also include faster search indexing. The upgrades make it easier and
less expensive for retailers to provide seamless mobile experiences and
provide new payment options for customers, improving conversion rates
and sales.
“We are very excited about these two releases, as they build on our
track record of advancing the out–of-box feature set of the core Magento
code, and extending the performance and scalability of the fastest
growing commerce platform in the Internet Retailer Top 500,” said Mark
Lavelle, head of product and strategy, eBay Enterprise. “The latest
Magento platform updates are a direct reflection of our commitment to
help brands and retailers quickly and cost-effectively deliver a better
shopping experience.”
Responsive Web Design Templates Accelerate Mobile Commerce for
Retailers
Using CSS3, HTML5 and natively available jQuery, the new responsive
design reference theme is built on modern technologies and incorporates
best practices for mobile sites. Retailers are now able to obtain a
tablet- and smartphone-friendly responsive site in approximately half
the time as previously required, accelerating time to market.
Implementing a single responsive site helps retailers control brand
consistency, make quick site changes to capitalize on immediate
opportunities and reduce ongoing maintenance costs.
“Mobile commerce is growing at a rapid pace and as an innovative
company, it is important for us to respond quickly with a solution that
enables better engagement with customers and a more consistent user
experience, regardless of the device used,” said Christopher Murray,
eCommerce Leader, Global eTransformation at 3M. “Magento’s new
responsive design reference theme helped us achieve that on our direct
commerce sites, while reducing our time to market by about 50 percent.”
Retailers Now Able to Provide Consumers Direct Order Financing
through Bill Me Later
The addition of Bill Me Later, a PayPal service and new option available
on Magento Enterprise Edition 1.14 and Community Edition 1.9, helps
retailers sell more inventory and capture up to 18 percent more sales**
by offering special financing options on qualified purchases. The
improved PayPal Express Checkout allows merchants to offer a streamlined
checkout experience which automatically tries alternative payment
options if the customer’s credit card is declined, both increasing
conversion rates and sales.
“Magento and PayPal are further extending their partnership to provide
innovative new solutions to Magento platform customers,” said Lavelle.
“The Bill Me Later integration provides great benefits for all
involved—customers can now spread out payments and retailers can sell
more merchandise and drive repeat purchases.”
Latest Magento Extensions Provide Best-In-Class Demand Generation
eBay Enterprise also announced the availability of new extensions for
Magento merchants through the Magento Connect marketplace: the eBay
Enterprise Affiliate Extension and eBay Enterprise Display Extension.
The eBay Enterprise Display Extension offers seamless integration with
all retailers’ existing Magento product feeds, enabling them to deliver
personalized product-specific ads to retarget lost customers. With the
eBay Enterprise Affiliate Extension, Magento merchants can now easily
integrate with eBay Enterprise’s network of more than 200,000 affiliates
and leverage best in class reporting tools to analyze, track, and launch
affiliate programs.
“eBay Enterprise Marketing Solutions’ extensions deliver best-in-class
affiliate and display demand generation capabilities to retailers of all
sizes,” said Steve Denton, vice president, eBay Enterprise Marketing
Solutions. “These marketing tools are specifically designed to be
customizable to fit the needs of individual retailers, while driving
industry-leading ROI.”
Magento Enterprise Edition (v 1.14) Builds on Indexing Improvements
The indexing improvements started in Magento Enterprise Edition 1.13
have been extended to Solr in Magento Enterprise Edition 1.14. Merchants
can save time and experience faster admin performance because Solr
indexing is now performed automatically in the background as the product
catalog changes – this can also improve customer experience and
conversion rates since shoppers see the most up to date search results.
The new version also includes native support for Solr 3.6.2.
To learn more about the merchant and developer capabilities please
visit the Magento
blog.
About eBay Enterprise
eBay Enterprise is a leading global provider of retail-optimized
commerce solutions, including the Magento platform, order management,
fulfillment, customer care, and marketing solutions. We enable brands
and retailers of all sizes to deliver consistent omnichannel experiences
across all retail touch points to attract and engage new customers,
convert browsers into loyal buyers, and deliver products with speed and
quality. With unrivaled flexibility and control, our clients are armed
to accelerate sales growth and win with today’s digitally connected
consumer. eBay Enterprise is headquartered in King of Prussia, Pa. and
has offices in Austin, Barcelona, London, Los Angeles and New York. eBay
Enterprise is an eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) company. More information can
be found at www.ebayenterprise.com and
www.magento.com.
**August 2013 commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on
behalf of PayPal entitled "The Total Economic Impact of PayPal's Bill Me
Later Financing Banners." Data reflects a composite organization's
online incremental sales and a 3-year, risk-adjusted return on
investment, based on the organizations interviewed for the study.
Copyright Business Wire 2014