Reasons for Migrating from Magento 1.x to Magento 2.x

Date Published

1. End of Support for Magento 1.x

Official support for Magento 1.x ended on June 30, 2020. This means that Magento 1.x no longer receives security updates, making websites vulnerable to attacks. Without security updates, Magento 1.x sites become targets for hackers.

In contrast, Magento 2.x regularly receives security updates, bug fixes, and new features, ensuring the stability and security of your website. Additionally, Magento 1.x is no longer being developed, and all new features are exclusive to Magento 2.x.

2. Enhanced Performance

Faster Page Load Times: Magento 2.x is optimized for performance, utilizing technologies like Varnish, Redis, and Elasticsearch to deliver faster page loads. 

Improved Checkout Process: Magento 2.x's optimized two-step checkout uses AJAX for faster processing and lower abandonment. It can also be upgraded to one-step checkout via extensions.

Better Scalability: Magento 2.x can handle more products, orders, and traffic, making it ideal for growing businesses.

3. Mobile Optimization

Magento 2.x is designed with a mobile-first approach, providing a responsive design out of the box. This makes it easier to create mobile-friendly stores that cater to the growing number of mobile shoppers. Unlike Magento 1.x which required custom solutions for mobile adaptation, Magento 2.x incorporates responsive design in its default themes. However, most e-commerce stores still opt for custom or premium themes to deliver superior mobile user experience.

4. New Admin Interface

Magento 2.x features a completely redesigned and user-friendly admin interface. It is faster, cleaner, and more intuitive than Magento 1.x's backend, making it easier for merchants and administrators to manage the store, track orders, manage products, and handle other tasks more efficiently.

5. Better Security

Magento 2.x delivers enhanced security features compared to Magento 1.x, including improved encryption using SHA-256 with salt (replacing the obsolete MD5 hashing), two-factor authentication, and better protection against vulnerabilities. This makes Magento 2.x a more secure choice for e-commerce stores, reducing the risk of data breaches or other security issues.

6. Improved SEO Capabilities

Magento 2.x comes with enhanced SEO features, such as better URL structure management, automatic generation of SEO-friendly meta tags, and easier integration with Google tools. These improvements help online stores achieve better visibility on search engines.

7. Advanced Reporting and Analytics

Magento 2.x provides more advanced reporting and analytics features, helping merchants make data-driven decisions. These insights into sales, customer behavior, and product performance can significantly improve business strategies and operations.

8. Multi-Source Inventory (MSI):

One of Magento 2.x significant advancements over Magento 1.x is the introduction of Multi-Source Inventory (MSI). This feature enables centralized management of inventory across multiple warehouses or sales channels—a critical capability for large-scale and omnichannel businesses.

Unlike Magento 1.x, which limited stock management to a single source (requiring third-party extensions for multi-warehouse support), Magento 2.x MSI allows businesses to:

  • Distribute inventory efficiently across locations
  • Automatically reserve stock for orders
  • Optimize shipping based on customer geography

Result: Improved logistics, reduced errors (e.g., overselling or shipping delays), and scalable growth — all natively integrated into the platform.

9. Better Extension Ecosystem

Magento 2.x has a growing library of extensions and third-party integrations, making it easier to add new features and functionalities to the store. The platform is designed to be more flexible in terms of customizations and integrations compared to Magento 1.x.

Migrating from Magento 1.x to Magento 2.x isn’t just a platform upgrade — it’s an investment in business stability, performance, and future growth. At Shellpea, we’ve successfully executed multiple Magento migrations, tailoring each project to our clients’ unique needs.

📌 Learn how we handle Magento 1.x to Magento 2.x migrations with minimal downtime and maximum efficiency.