Many e-commerce websites in the world today are based on Magento -- about 9 percent, to be precise. Also, Magento announced in July last year that it was officially ending support for all 1.x iterations of the eCommerce platform in November 2018. What this means for all those businesses that are still using these Magento versions is that unless they switch to Magento 2, they are unguarded from myriad security risks.

Considering that the upgrade process for even the simplest e-commerce websites will take roughly three to six months, the company will continue to provide supplementary support for a few more months. However, there's so long one can put off the decision. So, we return to the question: should you indeed migrate to Magento 2? Well, before we answer that, let's quickly go through some basics about it. The latest iteration of the e-commerce platform, Magento 2 is already being used by 1 in every four businesses. While some companies are still deliberating the switch, the fact remains that Magento 2 has already garnered significant popularity, primarily owing to its redesigned and user-friendly interface.

Here are some other benefits offered by Magento 2 over Magento 1:

1. Mobile-friendliness: Today, nearly 62 percent of consumers make purchases through their smartphones. Unfortunately, Magento 1 based websites don’t get optimized for mobile devices. However, seeing the increased reliance on mobile devices for shopping, the company made the Magento 2 platform considerably more mobile responsive.

2. Performance: Magento 2 runs about 20 percent faster than Magento 1. Moreover, it is a well-known fact that website speeds are an exceptional way to not only them rank better on search engines but also boost sales.

3. Admin Interface: Magento 1's admin interface was probably among its most prominent issues, especially for users that lacked a technical background -- they especially had a tough time maneuvering across the platform. Thankfully, Magento 2 offers a user-friendly interface that helps users find tools as well as add new product listings at a significantly faster pace.

However, to make a truly informed decision, it is also essential to be aware of the risks associated with Magento 2 migration. Some of them are listed below:

• The website can't be migrated to Magento 2 without proper assistance from developers and make necessary adjustments, like building extensions, that are not offered with Magento 2. Long story short, you are looking at additional development costs.

• Since Magento 1 themes can't be port straight into Magento 2, you will need to create new ideas from the ground up.

• Though the company offers Magento 2's Community Edition for free, the license fee for Enterprise Edition has gone up from $18,000/year to $22,000/year.

There is entirely no doubt that Magento 2 offers a ton of benefits, including a user-friendly admin interface and a better shopping experience for end-customers. Also, while it has much to offer, the switch to Magento 2 will require much effort. However, you can tackle these challenges rather easily with assistance from an expert Magento eCommerce web development. Remember, while the decision to switch is yours, you will still need professional help to make sure everything goes smoothly.