All of you know internet is growing real fast, but how fast exactly; ever wondered what might the exact number of websites on internet be? Make a guess. No? Don’t even feel like to Google it? You are in luck though; I would give you the exact number at this very moment, courtesy internet live stats.
It’s over a billion websites and counting. Isn’t it phenomenal? To me, it is in every possible way. And you know what’s more amazing? Almost half of all the internet users are expected to get into digital buying (or ecommerce, plainly) by 2018, according to stats shared by statista.
This means ecommerce holds great potential for revenue generation in times to come. Perhaps, that’s why so many people are turning to ecommerce nowadays. In fact, according to another report published on statista, retail ecommerce sales are projected to cross 3.5 trillion US dollars by 2019.
So, aren’t you curious as to what’s the most favorite platform for people to jump into ecommerce realm? Well, it’s none other than Magento, claiming 29.8% of the total ecommerce market share, according to this survey report by aheadWorks.
One of the reasons behind Magento’s success as a preferred ecommerce platform is none other than Magento extensions, which help you customize your e-store the way you want. However, with so many extensions out there, sometimes it becomes quite hard to gauge which might just work the best for you.
If you are new to Magento, not quite sure of which extensions to choose from, I am here with a list of 11 useful Magento extensions to get things going for you without getting inconvenient. So, here you go:
1. WordPress Integration
With a popularity score of 91,326 and 3.8/5 stars ranking, WordPress Integration is surely one of the best Magento extensions created by Fishpig. What is it good for? Well, it’s best if you want to integrate your ecommerce store with your blog seamlessly. Here’s a brief list of what it offers:
You can get it 100% free via Magento Connect
It’s easy to download and install
It helps you integrate your e-store with your WordPress blog without any core WordPress or Magento file modification
You can personalize your WordPress blog by using your Magento theme
You can integrate an existing WordPress blog with your Magento store keeping the same URL’s. This will not affect your SEO endeavors
You can add value to your Magento products by associating them with your WordPress posts
2. WebShopApps MatrixRate – #1 Multiple Table Rates Extension
WebShopApps MatrixRate is not referred as the number 1 Multiple Table Rates Extension without a reason. It boasts of a popularity score of 57,613 and 3.9/5 stars ranking. You can download it for free from Magento Connect. It enables your ecommerce store to offer your customers multiple shipping options based on their locations. You can offer them varied shipping rates depending upon their destination, preferred shipping method, price, weight or even the quantity of the item(s) they purchase. Some of its major features include:
You can offer multiple delivery methods (for example, Express or Ground) for different locations
You can customize your shipping rates according to delivery destinations, cart weight or quantity of the item(s) purchased
It enables you to use pattern-based zipcode filtering mechanism for determining shipping charges
You get superb documentation along with walkthrough examples
3. Delete Orders
If you have already used Magento, you must know that Magento doesn’t give you the liberty to delete orders; an order can be marked cancelled, but can’t be deleted. And if you didn’t know this, now you do. To cope with this, you better resort to Delete Orders by Rave Infosys, which can be downloaded for free on Magento Connect. Popularity score of 16,950 and 4.2/5 stars ranking means people really like it. Major features it offers you include:
Easy installation
It’s compatible with Magento Community Editions
Also helps in deleting orders in bulk
You can delete any of your orders directly from the order list page
You can delete any of your orders from the order list page
Bulk order can be deleted from order list page
4. Official Zopim Live Chat (Version 1)
Want to have a salesperson who could respond your visitors instantly on their queries? Official Zopim Live Chat (Version 1) can really become a virtual assistant for your Magento store. It is one of the best live chat extensions for Magento stores being offered for free. It has a popularity score of 13,495 and 4.7/5 stars ranking, which depicts how useful it has been for people who have used it. These are the major features you can avail with it:
Unbelievably quick installation – set up within 60 seconds
Helps you keep track of people visiting your site, enabling you to monitor site visitors live while they surf around. Also know about their current location & URL, their history and much more
You can proactively engage your visitors with a chat offer
You also get the liberty to customize the chat widget according to your branding
You are able to reply your site visitors on the go either from your Dashboard or your favorite IM client
5. AddShoppers: Onsite Commerce Marketing Platform
Want to truly master the marketing aspects of your Magento store? AddShoppers: Onsite Commerce Marketing Platform is the right extension for you with a popularity score of 6,316 and a ranking of 3.3/5 stars. Here’s what it features:
Get a combo of over 12 great onsite e-marketing solutions for your Magento store on a single platform
Keep track of all your marketing endeavors with the help of highly accurate social revenue attribution
Customize the look and feel of your website by matching it to your brand
Gather 30% more emails with the help of dynamically targeted Smart Offers
Get access to multiple currencies and languages
6. Magic Zoom™
It’s right; present-day customers want to know as much as possible about the product they might buy. That’s why Magic Zoom™ has become one of the most favorite extensions for Magento stores with a popularity score of 5,155 and an incredible 5/5 stars rating. It’s so good at what it does that people don’t even mind paying $45.00 fee for downloading it. Below is just a glimpse of what you would get with this extension:
Get the zoom functionality for your site with a magnifying glass
Enjoy swipe gestures
You can vary the zoom level with your mouse wheel
Preview mode helps your visitors get instant enlargements
Enjoy Retina image support
You also get custom settings for your mobile devices
Compatible with all major platforms and browsers including iPhone and iPad
7. Custom Stock Status by Amasty
When you are selling online, stock statuses become really significant. Instead of plain boring stock statuses, why not grab attention of your customers with engaging stock statuses featuring icons and quantity? This is what Custom Stock Status by Amasty is best for, boasting of a 5/5 stars rating with popularity score as high as 4,047. It costs a mere $99.00 for all its amazing features, some of which are:
You can convey precise meaningful messages to your visitors instead of conventional dull “out-of-stock” messages; for example, ‘Available Tomorrow’
You can add dates automatically with custom stock statuses available in this extension by using the given variables
You can even add dates with your statuses; for example, ‘Arrives on February 12’
You are allowed to create unlimited custom stock statuses
You can also edit stock statuses for multiple products all at once in no more than a few clicks
8. Lotusbreath – One Step Checkout
All online shoppers hate one thing, i.e. complicated checkouts. That’s why you need to offer them simple, easy to understand and convenient checkout solutions like Lotusbreath – One Step Checkout. You can download it for free and it has a popularity score of 2,874 along with a 4.2/5 stars rating. Its major features include:
It reduces a 6-step checkout process only to one step. Instead of redirecting your customers on different pages and forms, offer them a checkout with all steps appearing simultaneously, so that they can complete their transaction by clicking “Place order” only once.
Allows customers edit their cart items on checkout page
Offers responsive support to customers
Accommodates applying coupon/discount code
Allows you to send giftcard
Terms and conditions are presented to users in a popup
Allows you to edit content on checkout page conveniently
Detects location automatically (city, country, region)
9. Daily Deal/Multiple Deals
If you want to boost sales of your ecommerce store, launch promotions with the help of this amazing Daily Deal Countdown extension. It entices your customers to buy more from your site by integrating it with a ‘Limited Time Deal’ feature. It has an incredible 5/5 stars rating with popularity score of 2,440. It costs only $99.00 for all its cool features, some of which include:
It is entirely Responsive, helping you cater customers from all mediums including PCs, laptops, smartpones as well as tablets
Whether you want to create a deal for simple products or configurable, this extension enables you to do it for all (including Grouped, Bundle, Virtual as well as Downloadable products)
Monitor any ongoing deal in different manners
You can display a deal on any page of your store with this extension
You can even display deals in sidebars
You can also run multiple deals at once
10. Flexible Prices v.2.0
Want to treat your customers in a special manner? What about offering them flexible prices? Yeah, you heard it right; Flexible Prices v.2.0 helps you do that almost effortlessly. You can download this extension for $79.00. It has a popularity score of 1930 with a 5/5 stars rating. Some major features it offers include:
It enables you to set varied price levels for your customers
You can offer flexible prices to individuals as well as groups
Set out special prices for grouped and bundle products as well
You can even set out prices with respect to dates
11. Extended Product Grid
Does adding attributes and editing them for your ecommerce store tires and scares you out? No need to worry anymore, as Amasty brings you this superb Extend Product Grid with Editor Extension, making attribute addition to product grid a fun thing rather than a dreadful chore. In fact, you can edit most of the data right then and there on the grid. It costs $119.0 and boasts of a 4.5/5 stars rating with 1,574 popularity score. Some of its major features are given below:
Each admin user gets individual attributes’ display
In Magento admin grid, you can add product thumbnails on category pages
Changing order of columns on product grid becomes as easy as drag-and-drop
You can find products that have no images
You can also display product categories right on the grid
Products having no images can be identified
It enables you to create custom grid templates having different column sets
Final Word
Client base of Magento is not getting bigger and bigger by the day without a reason. Magento extensions can help you enhance your ecommerce endeavors to a whole new level. Hopefully, you can find the best Magento extensions from this list to help you out in bettering your ecommerce experience.
Also, don’t hesitate in sharing your experiences, opinions and concerns with us in the comment section below.
P.S. Email Marketing Automation by TriggMine is also avaliable for FREE download at Magento Extensions.
By Khawar Zama, Co-founder at Technorian.com