When we are looking for a respected and reputable ecommerce solution for our online web stores, most of us turn to Magento. They provide you with three different versions of their shopping cart, community, enterprise, and Magento Go editions.

Out of the three editions we provided above, Magento Go is their only hosted shopping cart that does not require you to purchase your own web hosting. It is the quickest way to build your online store and does not require any store building experience.

Numerous of our clients have asked us to review the Magento Go shopping cart. We listened and have just completed our fully unbiased Magento Go review. Continue reading our extensive review to learn more about one of the most talked about hosted shopping carts.

Primary Features Overview

When it comes to shopping cart features, Magento Go is truly one of those platforms that does not miss a thing. All of their plans give you the same features, the cheapest plan has the same features as their more expensive monthly plans.

• Designing Your Store – There are a variety of way to change the look and feel of your online store. One of the easiest and quickest way to build your store is to choose one of their free and professional store templates. Use their drag and drop editor to change the structure and layout of your store. You can even design your own store using CSS and JavaScript coding.
• Store Management – All of the store management is done directly from your account dashboard. From there, you can add, edit, and delete products. The main account pages gives you an overview of all of your orders and you fulfill them there as well. You are allowed to translate your store using several different languages including English, German, French, Spanish, and Dutch (look at your plan to see how many languages you can translate your store into).
• Checkout Process – Allow customers to checkout as guests or by registering an account. One page checkout is the layout of the actual checkout page. The checkout is fully integrated with real-time shipping rates from UPS, FedEx, and USPS. You even have control over credit card charging using authorize only or authorize and capture.
• Product Options – Each Magento Go plan comes with unlimited product options including color, size, style or simply create your own product option.
• Search Engine Optimization Tools – One of the best built-in SEO tools available on the market. You have full access and control over your URLs, meta keywords, titles, and descriptions. You even get a generated site map and dynamic landing pages.
• Marketing Tools – Each plan has a newsletter subscription tool to manage your contacts. Keep customers coming back by offering coupons, gift cards, and promotional banners. Get your customers more engaged in your products by enabling product reviews, product comparisons, and wish lists. Other marketing tools include social sharing buttons, polls, and surveys.
• Reporting and Analytics Tools – You have a full range of reporting tools that track your store sales and activity. Some reporting tools include top sellers, best-selling category, and a full abandoned shopping cart report. Your store is fully integrated with Google Analytics and other tracking services.
• Accepting Payments on Your Store – Customers can pay you for their orders using several different payment methods such as credit cards, checks, money orders, gift cards, or store credits. Magento Go is integrated with over 15 payment gateways including PayPal, Google Checkout, and Authorize.net.
• Third Party Extension – If your store needs additional features, you have full access to their Magento Connect platform that includes hundreds of free and premium extensions and templates.
• Hosting and Security – Since Magento Go is a hosted shopping cart platform, you do not need to purchase a separate web hosting account, web hosting is included with every Magento Go plan. Their hosting is PCI compliant and comes with total data security. To accept credit cards on your store, you will need to purchase a SSL certificate.

Template Selection: Magento Go allows you to choose a store design from one of their free or premium themes (there are over 25 free templates). Each template can be tweaked to your liking or completely changed using CSS and JavaScript coding. Many of their themes are professional and can fit the feel of most businesses. You can even purchase a template on their extension page.

Magento Go Plans and Pricing – What Does This Cost Me?

Magento Go gives you a decent plan availability by allowing you to choose any one of their four monthly plans that range from $15 to $125 per month. All of their plans allow you to test our their service by signing up for their 30 day free trail that does not require a credit card. If you decide that the service is not for you, simply cancel your free trail and you will not be charged a thing.

• Get Going Plan – This plan is their cheapest plan starting at $15 per month and entitles you to list 100 products, 4 GB of bandwidth, 200 MB of storage, and 3 admin logins. You also get 24/7 help and support via live chat and email. With this plan, your store can be translated using one language from their selection and there are no transaction fees.
• Going Places Plan – This plan costs $25 per month and entitles you to list 500 products, 8 GB of bandwidth, 500 MB of storage, and 10 admin logins. Help and support is available 24/7 via live chat and email. Your store can be translated using one language from their selection and there are no transaction fees.
• Go Beyond Plan – This is their recommended plan that costs $65 per month and entitles you to list 1,000 products, 16 GB of bandwidth, 800 MB of storage, and 20 admin logins. Help and support is available 24/7 via phone, live chat, and email. You are able to translate your store using three different languages from and there are no transaction fees.
• Go Anywhere Plan – This plan costs $125 per month and is suited for medium companies that have decent traffic and a larger inventory size. The plan entitles you to list 10,000 products, 32 GB of bandwidth, 5 GB of storage, and 30 admin logins. Help and support is available 24/7 via phone, live chat, and email. As with the Go Beyond Plan, you are able to translate your store into three languages of your choice and there are no transaction fees.

Search Engine Optimization Tools

In all honesty, Magento Go has one of the best built-in SEO tools available on a hosted shopping cart platform. You have full control over meta keywords, titles, and descriptions. They even automatically generate a site map for you and allow you to use dynamic pages. Their site map is perfect for submitting to Google.

Marketing and Promotion Tools

When we ran a store using Magento Go, I was amazed by the amount of marketing tools you have. From coupons to wish list, there are a bunch of tools that will get your customers coming back. Build customer confidence by enabling product reviews and ratings. Bring in new customers by allowing your current customers to buy gift cards for their friends and family. Let your customers like and share your products and pages. The only down side to their marketing tools is the fact that there is no affiliate program. You might be able to purchase an affiliate program through their third-party extension page.

Ease of Use

Whether you are new or experienced online store owner, Magento Go will be an easy ecommerce platform to work with. Their drag and drop editor allows you to easily change the structure of your store without the need of any coding experience. The Magento Go account dashboard makes it easy to manage your online store.

Help and Support

Help and support is available 24/7 via phone, email, and live chat, contact methods will depend on the plan you choose. Their two lower priced plans allow you to contact support via email and live chat. The other two higher priced plans allow you to contact support using all three methods. Magento Go has a huge knowledge page consisting of webinars, guides, video tutorials, and discussion forums.

Pros and Cons

✓You do not pay any transaction fees, no matter what plan you choose
✓Magento Go gives you a full range of marketing tools that promote your store
✓Their plans start as low as $15 per month for up to 100 products
✗All four of their plans have a bandwidth limit, therefore, there are overage fees if you go over your monthly bandwidth limit
✗There is no affiliate program, you can might have to pay to get one

Summary

Magento Go is a versatile shopping cart platform that is suited for both beginners and expert business owners. If you have products or services to sell, they are a cost-effective way of getting your products on the web.

No matter what category your store falls under, Magento Go gives you the tools you need to run a successful online business. Of course, all ecommerce platforms have their pros and cons and Magento is not any different. However, with Magento Go, your store will be up and running within minutes. With plans starting as low as $15 per month, what more can we ask for?

Tell us about your experience with Magento Go by leaving us a comment below