From Z for Zend Framework to A for Adobe: The History of the Open Source Store System Magento and Adobe Commerce
In 2007, Los Angeles County-based Varien Inc. took its first steps on a path that was to be filled with much success: Varien created the design for the first Magento commerce store based on the Zend Framework. The Zend Framework is a programming framework that can be used to develop open components for the PHP programming language – in other words, an open source system. In this article you will learn many backgrounds and facts about the world famous Magento store system and its version history as well as the further development of Adobe Commerce. You will also learn about the advantages of Adobe Commerce – including the possibility of multi-channel sales, with the magnalister plugin – and whether the store system could be the right solution for you and your company.
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Table of Contents
A walk through Magento version history – from the first Magento version to the Magento movement to the top of e-commerce
The winding road to success with a momentous fork
The next chapter: Adobe
Magento, eBay, Adobe: Where is the journey heading?
A few facts and figures about Magento / Adobe Commerce
Is Adobe Commerce the right solution for you?
Conclusion
A walk through Magento version history – from the first Magento version to the Magento movement to the top of e-commerce
The first version of Magento (Community Version) that was released in 2008 was the brainchild of developers Roy Rubin, then CEO of Varien, and Yoav Kutner. Magento 1 was one of the first open source store systems. This means that the system had an “open source code”. Applications written by other developers and providers in the PHP programming language could therefore be easily linked to it. The two developers had thus set in motion an avalanche of success.
After all, the associated flexibility and wealth of possibilities was one of the reasons for the enthusiasm that Magento generated among developers and merchants alike. With the appropriate programming skills and thanks to a steadily growing number of extensions, it became easier and easier to meet a wide variety of requirements for store systems. The pool of developers who contributed became larger and larger. In addition, many Magento agencies emerged that specialized only in developing, designing and operating Magento stores.
Today, there is still a large community of developers who exchange ideas on various topics related to Magento store development. The official Magento forum alone has almost half a million members today, plus many active developers on GitHub and countless independent programmers.
The winding road to success with a momentous fork
In 2011, eBay took over the management of the company until it went to a private equity firm called Permira in 2015. During these years, a version of Magento was developed that was more profoundly different from the original: Magento 2. Here, there was an Enterprise Edition (Magento Commerce), where maintenance, hosting and support for the store were taken over by the Magento team.
Since the “fork” of the two systems – that is, the spin-off into an entirely new project – further developments of Magento 1 slowly decreased until support was completely discontinued in 2020. So only companies that really did everything themselves – from development, to maintenance, to hosting – could continue to work with Magento 1. At the time of the end of support, there were still around 55,000 of these stores. But more and more online merchants have switched to the newly developed Magento 2 system – either the open source or the Magento Commerce version. However, the switch does not mean an upgrade, but an actual migration, because the systems are very different.
The next chapter: Adobe
Already during this time, in 2018, Adobe Inc. acquired the Magento Commerce version. The system was subsequently called Adobe Commerce, powered by Magento. Magento and Adobe Commerce are among the most widely used online store systems today. Adobe Commerce is also open to outside input: developers can program extensions or themes for Adobe Commerce and offer them to merchants via the commerce platform. This only happens after review by the Adobe team. As usual, vendors pay a 15% commission to Adobe when they sell their extensions or themes, with 85% going to the developers themselves.
Magento, eBay, Adobe: Where is the journey heading?
After this excursion into the history of Magento/Adobe, we would like to turn to the future for a moment. Of course, we don’t have a crystal ball in the office – at least not one that reliably turns our predictions into fortune-telling. Of course, it’s hard to predict exactly how Adobe will handle Magento in the future. But there is much to suggest that Adobe Commerce will stick to its open source and cloud-based strategy overall. The company has continuously taken this approach in the years since the acquisition and has often communicated this to the outside world.
There was whatsoever interim unrest in the Magento community in 2021. Some members reported that Adobe was no longer incorporating all developer contributions to improvements into the system and that opportunities to help shape the open source and commerce versions were being limited. Initially, this resulted in an open letter from part of the community expressing the intention to develop a “fork” from the open source version. But Adobe then reiterated several times that they cared a lot about collaboration, cohesion with the community and the future of Magento open source. The part of the community that had put a possible split of Adobe in the room hence refrained from their plans. Many contributions and opinions on this are nicely summarized by Magento expert Matthias Zeis.
Currently (as of April 2022), Magento 2 open source is not only available for download but can be flexibly developed further. Adobe Commerce is also open-source in that extensions, themes and other content can be customized in many ways. Adobe knows that openness is a central feature of the product, which pays off in terms of success: for every problem faced by online store operators, there is already a solution somewhere in the huge Magento-Adobe ecosystem. Adobe very likely does not want to shake the advantages of such an open community.
So – according to its own statements – Adobe’s goal is not to neglect or limit open source components. And it can also be assumed that the company will not part with Adobe Commerce as quickly as eBay did. But what does Adobe want to achieve with the commerce solution? Most likely, the company wants to maintain one of the most flexible platforms for the central management of ecommerce stores, develop it further and use it in its interests. The store system complements Adobe’s product portfolio very well. In this way, Adobe naturally wants to secure large market shares – after all, thanks to Adobe Commerce, the company is now playing in a league with Salesforce, IBM and SAP, each of which also offers a store system solution.
Combined with the other Adobe Experience Cloud tools such as Photoshop, Lightroom, the marketing and management tools and analytics, the company is now a true full-service ecommerce provider. This is underlined by the famous slogan “Adobe is now Magento Commerce”. By integrating with Adobe Experience Cloud, users have access to all the tools while being able to follow their users online from start to finish of their customer journey. This, of course, yields important data and insights – for both Adobe and Adobe Commerce users.
The parity with other major vendors, the success of the product, and the improved ability to reach users on the customer journey: All of this suggests that Magento – and online retailers who use the system – won’t be facing another change anytime soon.
A few facts and figures about Magento / Adobe Commerce
In January 2022, around 739,000 websites created with Magento were counted. In Germany, Magento was the most-used store software in 2020 with a good 19%, ahead of Shopware with almost 15% and Salesforce with 12%. In B2B ecommerce, the figures were almost identical in 2018, with Magento leading the way at around 20%. In a global comparison, Magento’s lead is even greater: almost 29% of shop owners are using Magento. Shopware and Shopify follow in 2nd and 3rd place with less than 10% market share. Major companies using Magento include Ford, Coca-Cola and Omega Watches. According to Magento itself, their stores grew about three times faster than other stores in 2018.
Adobe commerce vs Magento – differences between today’s Magento open source and the Adobe Commerce enterprise solution
Magento Commerce was developed from the open source version, while Magento Commerce was then in turn developed into Adobe Commerce. But why would it be worth paying for Adobe’s system?
Robust cloud and support
Adobe Commerce runs in an optimized cloud environment that is robust and enables very fast load times. It can also handle periods of very high traffic. Importantly, for companies with an Adobe Commerce account, there is always a single point of contact at Adobe – so support for the store is (at least partially) managed by Adobe itself.
B2B features and customization
The store system has also been equipped with features that are very well suited for online B2B commerce. For example, corporate customers can open special corporate accounts in the front end that fulfill many requirements for them. These include, for example, volume discounts as well as target group-specific content and offers.
Security
Cyber security has also been improved in versions 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4 respectively and has reached a very high level today. For example, two-factor authentication has been introduced for administrators of the system. This means that authorization must come from two different sources. The system is also PCI certified.
Tools and Artificial Intelligence
In addition, the Commerce version integrates various marketing and SEO tools that can be used to better market products. These include artificially intelligent algorithms that suggest products to customers based on their online behavior.
Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)
A major focus in the community and at Adobe is the topic of Progressive Web Applications (PWAs). This is a particularly good way to improve the performance of stores for mobile devices. The technology can be used to create websites that look more like apps on smartphones. This is usually accompanied by an increase in sales as more and more people shop online using their smartphones.
Multi-channel sales
With Adobe Commerce, it is possible to sell seamlessly on Amazon thanks to an integrated Amazon channel. Furthermore, with our new store system interface plugin, you can greatly expand your online business on multiple sales channels. These include eBay, Etsy, Kaufland.de, OTTO.de, METRO.de and many more. You list and manage products conveniently in your Adobe Commerce backend.
Is Adobe Commerce the right solution for you?
Even though Adobe Commerce pricing is not publicly communicated, it is known that the platform is certainly not one of the cheapest store systems around. Instead, it is one of the most flexible store systems with the most possibilities. So if you are just starting to sell products and have little financial leeway, it may not be the right solution for you.
However, if you already generate more than a million dollars in sales per year, it might be worth your while. Especially if you don’t employ any developers in your company or don’t have the capacity for the complex support of the open source solution and the operation of your own cloud. If you expect your company to grow rapidly, the Adobe Commerce Cloud is certainly a good fit for you.
Conclusion
Adobe Commerce has come a long way. A lot has happened since Yoav Kutner and Roy Rubin launched the store system in 2007 and then brought it to market: Magento was initially acquired by eBay. At that time, the open source version evolved into a paid enterprise solution. This movement has continued. For the former open-source community version, Magento 1, support ended in 2020, after the acquisition by Adobe. The completely revised and optimized “fork” system Magento 2 emerged.
The Adobe Commerce (Cloud) system is based on the aforementioned “fork”. Because of the fast loading times, the scalability, and the wide range of B2B features, the cloud solution as well as the great flexibility of the open source system, a lot of companies now rely on this store system. A lot has also been invested in the system’s security architecture, which is therefore at the highest possible level.
If you are one of those online merchants who are also looking for a possibility to engage in multichannel sales, you can rejoice. With the magnalister plugin for product listing and management you can very easily open up a wide variety of online marketplaces, such as eBay, Amazon, Etsy, Kaufland.de, OTTO.de, METRO.de and many more. Adobe Commerce in combination with magnalister increases your reach tremendously and at the same time offers your customers an optimal personalized online shopping experience. Thanks to the mix of your own online store and the presence of your products on various platforms on the web, you achieve the highest possible visibility. With magnalister, this is done very conveniently thanks to the centralized management.
The core features of magnalister at a glance:
- Product upload: Upload products directly from your online store to marketplaces and price portals
- Price synchronization: Prices are matched fully automatically or individually (per marketplace)
- Inventory synchronization: Always up-to-date stock levels between store and marketplaces
- Automatic order import: Import and manage marketplace orders
- Attribute matching: Match product variations and features with marketplace attributes
- Order status matching: Automatically match order status (e.g. “shipped” or “canceled”) with marketplaces
- Interface customization: Customize the plugin via so-called hook points as you desire
- Invoice upload: Create invoices and upload them flexibly
