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Choosing an eCommerce platform for your small business website isn’t a decision to take lightly. Much of your store’s success will rely on the service provider you choose to help you deliver the best user experience. Your entire business banks on the ability to deliver continuous service, security features, the right integrations, and a visually appealing buyer journey, all for a price that allows you to remain profitable.
When choosing an eCommerce platform for small business, Miva makes a strong case, especially when compared to mainstream giants like Magento. Take a look at what makes Miva the clear champion in the eCommerce battlefield:
#1 – Miva Offers More Customization
If you’re hoping for your eCommerce business to stand out, the last thing you want is for your website to look like hundreds of other websites. Miva is a favorable option for this very reason. It uses its own programming language to build out your website, but rest assured it will look and function exactly like you want it to.
Because of its unique language requirements, you’ll have to find a developer that’s familiar with the Miva platform. At first glance, it may seem like a downside since there aren’t as many developers fluent in Miva. But think of it as a good thing:
When you partner with someone who can optimize your Miva eCommerce website, you know you’re dealing with a true professional who can make your website the best it can be, rather than a jack-of-all-trades who knows just enough about Magento and can make it work, not necessarily make it work great.
#2 – Higher Long-Term Value
Miva has been shown to deliver a higher value in the long term versus Magento on both the front-end and back-end development.
On the front end, Miva offers a powerful templating system to save developers countless hours of coding to get you closer to deployment. With thousands of pre-built functions at their fingertips, front-end development time can be sliced in half compared to Magento Enterprise.
On the back-end development side, the integration tools for Miva’s Enterprise Connect are also pre-built for enterprise functionality to save man-hours. These include things like automation, file export/import, and web services. Not only do these functions help save up to 30% on initial development costs upfront, they also require less maintenance over time to continue the cost savings.
#3 – Miva Offers Superior Licensing and Hosting Options for Enterprise Editions
When you’re comparing Magento and Miva Enterprise license costs, the first thing you’ll notice is that both companies provide custom quotes. However, Magento’s licensing cost doesn’t reflect the bottom line cost of your eCommerce platform. It’s just a part of it.
One of the bigger things you must consider is hosting options.
Miva maintains its own hosting environment that was engineered for high-level eCommerce stores. Their servers meet all compliance requirements to keep your data safe and legal. Hosting is part of the licensing fee, so you can better anticipate your total final cost.
Magento does not include hosting in the licensing fee for most of its Enterprise editions. The exception is the Enterprise Cloud Edition that bundles hosting and the license for $40K-$120K annually.
If you don’t go with the ECE, you’re tasked with finding your own third-party hosting. Third parties can vary widely as far as equipment, hardware, and customer service. They may or may not specialize in eCommerce needs. You could be paying up to $60K per year in hosting alone, making Magento Enterprise significantly more expensive than what you’d pay for Miva.
#4 – The Upgrade (and Downgrade) Path is More Efficient with Miva
Miva and Magento continually update their platforms to offer better features, security, and usability, but upgrading or downgrading your service on either look and function completely differently.
Let’s say you’re a Magento Community website and want to upgrade to the Enterprise edition. Surprise! There is no upgrade path – you must re-platform your website.
Likewise, if you’re paying for the Magento Enterprise platform and decide to downgrade to save costs, you’ll be faced with lots of manual deleting.
Even Magento’s upgrade process within its free Community edition isn’t so fluid. If you want the latest features and updates, you have to manually do it yourself. It’s a time-consuming, complicated process that requires you to move extensions, media such as images, encryption key, and other elements before you’re able to go live.
When Miva updates its platform, your website doesn’t miss a beat. The upgrade processes ticks off a series of steps, with each step being completed before it affects your store to ensure there’s no interruption.
#5 – Ongoing US-Based Support 24/7
Being in business for yourself shouldn’t always mean being in business by yourself. Miva is like a silent business partner that offers full support whenever you ask for it. Their US-based support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, every day of the year so you can keep business going no matter what digital curve balls come your way.
For comparison, not all of Magento’s services offer this type of support. For example, Magento’s freemium eCommerce platform, called Magento Open Source, does not offer any type of support. Rather, users are tasked with finding certified Magento developers to build out the website or fix issues, or you can try to find your answer online and fix issues yourself.
But busy business owners don’t have time to be technical experts, too. Miva’s high level of ongoing support makes them a choice you can feel good about making.
How Will Miva Transform Your Small Business?
Miva has been around for over two decades, and they’re not going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, the same leaders that were guiding Miva back in 1997 are still at the helm today, helping to steer Miva into the hands of business owners who want a powerful online store that works like it’s supposed to.
Glendale Designs are the Miva experts. We’ve been working on the platform since its inception and can help businesses the most from their investment. Tens of thousands of businesses trust Miva for their eCommerce stores and transactions for all the right reasons: it’s a customizable, impactful, cost-effective solution.
Whether you’re looking at expanding your business internationally or hoping to grow your business at scale, Miva is the clear champion in the battle of the best eCommerce platforms. Talk to us today to see how Miva can help you sell better and sell more.