<h2>The Future of eCommerce with Magento 2.4</h2>
Hats off once more to Adobe and their Magento team with the release of Magento 2.4, the latest security conscious, forward-thinking version of Magento Commerce and Magento Open Source designed for a post-pandemic world. But what does this actually mean for you and your eCommerce shop?
<h3>Magento 2.4 Highlights</h3>
With the release of Magento 2.4, Adobe has stated that you can 'Accelerate Your Business in the Current Commerce Landscape' and with over 100 new fixes to core code, 30 security enhancements, resolution of 226 GitHub issues and a plethora of new features they may be right! Magento 2.4 also brings you:
<ul>
 	<li>2FA (2 Factor Authentication) for Admin Accounts</li>
 	<li>Purchase Approval Workflows</li>
 	<li>Seller-Assisted Shopping</li>
 	<li>In-Store Pickup</li>
 	<li>A New Media Gallery</li>
 	<li>PWA (Progressive Web App) Dvelopment</li>
 	<li>Headless Commerce</li>
 	<li>Faster Cart &amp; Checkout Performance</li>
</ul>
<h3>Magento 2.4 Security</h3>
Probably the primary concern for many businesses when it comes to eCommerce is security, and with over 30 security enhancements, Magento 2.4 has you covered. The security principle of GDPR states that you must consider the technical measures in place to secure the data of your users and with the UK Police reporting an increase in cybercrime during lockdown, it's essential to fight back with additional security measures for your business.
<h4>2FA for Admin Accounts</h4>
2FA or 2 Factor Authentication is a security method which only allows access to a system once two means of identification are presented and verified. This added layer of security significantly reduces the possibility of unauthorised access to your Magento admin panel.
<h4>New Escaper Class for Templates</h4>
Better HTML sanitisation is now available in the form of a new Magento 2.4 escaper class. Once your website templates have been configured to use this class, user-generated
content will be less vulnerable to exploits and attack.
<h4>Support for Security.txt Protocol</h4>
Support is now available for the security.txt protocol, which allows security researches to identify the right contact within your organisation to which potential security issues can be reported.
<h3>Magento 2.4 Platform Upgrades</h3>
As well as the enhanced security methods listed above, Magento 2.4 also introduces many platform upgrades to enhance website security and also improve performance.
<h4>PHP 7.4 Support</h4>
Released in November 2019, PHP 7.4 implemented many bug fixes over previous versions which lead to increased security, speed and performance. With Magento 2.4 utilising the latest version of PHP, it's safe to assume security and performance were top of Magento's list with this release.
<h4>MySQL 8.0 Support</h4>
Much like the supporting of PHP 7.4, Magento 2.4 supports MySQL 8.0, which helps to increase security and enhance performance.
<h4>Elasticsearch</h4>
With Magento 2.4, Elasticsearch is now the default search engine powering users search requests. Elasticsearch is a powerful and quick search tool for Magento with advanced features such as stop words, analytical data, support for multiple languages, synonyms and more.
<h3>New Magento 2.4 Features</h3>
Security enhancements and platform upgrades are all well and good, but many Magento users want to know what new features are available before committing to upgrading to the latest version. We've pulled together some of the best new features in Magento 2.4 below for you to admire.
<h4>Purchase Approval Workflows</h4>
Does your company have procedures in place to approve individual orders? Perhaps any order over £1,000 needs approval from a senior account manager, then Magento 2.4 is for you. With purchase approval workflows, Magento allows you to define approval rules based on the value of an order, the number of SKU's or even the shipping cost, great for the B2B market.
<h4>Seller-Assisted Shopping</h4>
It can be the thing of nightmares for customer service staff; an angry customer has called to say that something isn't working for them on your website, you login to your account only to find everything appears normal, what do you do? This scenario happens all too often, but with Magento 2.4 you can quickly get to the bottom of issues like these with the introduction of seller-assisted shopping. Now your support staff can login as the customer through the Magento admin panel, allowing them to diagnose problems and issue relevant guidance.
<h4>In-Store Pickup</h4>
With the world opting to shop online either for delivery or in-store collection, Magento 2.4 has answered the call with its new in-store pickup feature. Magento now allows you to specify which inventory locations are eligible for in-store pickup. During the checkout, customers can easily opt to find a nearby location where they can collect their order as well as relevant information such as opening times etc. Customers are quickly notified with the click of a button when their order is available for pickup and customisations can be put in place for further refinements such as curbside pickup.
<h4>New Media Gallery</h4>
Magento 2.4 includes a brand new media gallery which is over 30 times faster than its previous incarnation. The new media gallery lets you easily see where images are in use on your website as well as search via new fields. Finally, Magento 2.4 integrates tightly with Adobe Stock, meaning you can license royalty-free images for use across your site all through your Magento admin panel.
<h3>Magento 2.4 Summary</h3>
When it comes to the future of eCommerce in a post-pandemic world, Magento 2.4 is leading the pack. The security implications of remote working coupled with increased cybercrime such as phishing make some of the features included in this Magento update an absolute must-have for any business. New features also impress, and if you're on the fence, we'd advise you pick up the phone now and give Actuate a call on 01244 911360 and let one of our team give you a demo of the powerful features it contains.