Many builders’ merchants are sleep walking into an e-commerce time bomb, warns digital expert and MD of eCommonSense Andy Scothern.
Magento, the eCommerce platform adopted by many merchants, has officially announced that it will stop supporting its Magento 1.version platform after June 2020.
This creates a significant risk for merchants who are still on Magento 1. after June since security patches will no longer be released and their sites will remain vulnerable to hackers. If those websites are integrated into the merchant's back-office or email system, then the website provides an open door for criminals into the business.
Numerous builders’ merchants have already reviewed their web strategy since the announcement in 2018. Some of them have adopted our eCommonSense solution which uses the latest version of Magento.
But there are some who remain blissfully unaware of the looming threat, and they need to act now if they are not to put their whole online operation and even their offline business and brand at risk.
Magento is an eCommerce platform built on open source technology that provides online merchants with a flexible shopping cart system, as well as control over the look, content and functionality of their online store.
The solution also offers powerful marketing, search engine optimisation and catalogue management tools.
The eCommonSense solution, which was used by South-West builders’ merchant Interline to win website of the year in the 2019 Builders’ Merchant Awards, is built on the latest version of Magento 2.3.
The security of websites is paramount for builders’ merchants to keep their own and their customers’ data safe. Getting hacked can be disastrous for a business, not least because customers will lose confidence in it and go elsewhere.
