Applications and modules for improvements

These are the modules and external services that are most frequently requested by our support clients and which also have the maximum impact on performance.

Looking at the list below and in our experience on support, we’ve rank them as follows:

1 Webp
WEBP is a next-generation file format, it automatically converts uploaded images to a WEBP format while keeping the JPEG as a fallback for older browsers. It is supported by 93% of browsers as of today. This can be used if you do not have Cloudflare and utilise the image compression feature that comes with that.

2 Cloudflare
Cloudflare is used to provide security by protecting internet properties from malicious activity like DDoS attacks, malicious bots, and other nefarious intrusions.They don’t only provide security to sites but they also provide performance improvements such as image compression,CDN and much more. Their packages start at a free tier, but to get the most out of Cloudflare we recommend the Pro Plan to get the most of the service they offer. You can read more here on what Cloudflare can offer your business: https://www.cloudflare.com/en-...

3 Xtento Import/Export Module: Facebook/Google Feeds, Review Feeds and more...
Importing stock level, price and custom product attribute updates from CSV and XML files into Magento has never been easier. Using the Magento Stock Import Module by XTENTO, importing stock and product information from third party systems into Magento is a breeze - and fully automated. More information can be found here: https://www.xtento.com/magento...

4 Amasty Merchandiser Module
This is perfect for clients who are wanting to visually merchandise categories in their store. With this module you can easily create catalog pages with any sort order you need, with the automated options that come with the module or by adding custom ones in to meet your requirements. This is also great as it's really easy to use by drag and drop. You can find out more here along with a demo: https://amasty.com/visual-merc...

5 Fetchify/Loqate
Fetchify or Loqate both offer multiple options to make your customers user journey easier and also help you as a business get the correct information from the customer. They provide address autocomplete, postcode validation, email validation, phone validation and more. You can find more information on pricing and what they offer here: https://fetchify.com/pricing/

6 Apple Pay/Google Pay/Klarna/PayPal
Depending on the payment provider you are using, you can add in Apple Pay and Google Pay to your website. This allows mobile users to pay at ease directly from their phones. Klarna allows your customers to pay now, pay later or spread their costs over a period of time. This gives the customer the flexibility and increased purchasing power. Klarna is already a core bundled payment method within Magento and is easier to connect into your store. You can read more about Klarna here: https://www.klarna.com/uk/business/platforms-and-plugins/magento/ PayPal is another great payment method to have on your site, many customers like to use PayPal as a option when shopping online as it provides additional security to their transaction. They also offer an express checkout, this therefore providing the customer a quicker checkout process as it will pull in the information for shipping and billing directly from their PayPal account.

7 Hotjar

This is a great tool to have on your site as it allows you to understand how users really experience your site. You can visualise users behaviour with heatmaps, you can see where users click, move and scroll. This is great to see if users are getting stuck on areas of the website which may need addressing in the future. Adding this onto the site is relatively straightforward and is fully compliant with GDPR. You can find more about Hotjar here: https://www.hotjar.com/tour/

8 Mailing Platforms
Mailchimp - This mailing platform is used by many of our clients, it allows you to build and create your own campaigns with the ability to schedule them to send out when suited. You have the option to enable abandoned cart, signup/popup forms and much more. You can find more about the services Mailchimp offers here: https://mailchimp.com/marketing-platform/ Klaviyo: https://www.klaviyo.com/email-marketing Dot Digital: https://dotdigital.com/platform/

9 Social Logins
Adding social login methods enables customers to register and login via one of their social media accounts. This can be a big draw for some customers as it significantly lowers time to checkout/register, and removes the need for the customer to come up with yet another password.

10 Advanced Reporting
Magento is a great ecommerce platform, but the reporting tools it provides as standard won’t meet many merchant’s needs. For merchant's without dedicated external reporting and analysis tools, it’s worth looking into an advanced reporting module or Magento Business Intelligence.

Whether you are an existing M2 user that wants to improve site performance via our support service, or you want to launch a new ecommerce site to take advantage of the shift of consumer buying behaviour, please get in touch with us today and we can start the conversation about how Absolute can help improve your ecommerce offering.