Large or complex catalogues
Thousands of SKUs, deep attribute structures, configurable products with many variations. This is where Magento's data model genuinely outperforms simpler platforms.
Delhi NCR
Magento development in Delhi when the complexity is justified.
Magento is powerful and expensive to run. For most Indian D2C brands it is more platform than the business needs.
Overview
When Magento earns its cost
Magento, now Adobe Commerce, suits large catalogues, complex B2B pricing, multi-store operations and businesses with a development team. For a growing D2C brand with a few hundred products it is usually more platform than needed, and Shopify does the job at a fraction of the running cost.
B2B pricing rules
Customer-group pricing, tiered quantities, negotiated rates, quote workflows. Magento handles these natively where other platforms need apps that half work.
Multi-store and multi-currency
Several storefronts, brands or regions from one back end. Genuinely difficult elsewhere and a core Magento strength.
You have development capacity
Magento needs real engineering to run: hosting, upgrades, security patches, extension conflicts. Without a developer or an agency retainer it degrades faster than any other platform.
The running cost is the real cost
Hosting alone is substantially more than a Shopify plan, before development. Budget for the year, not the build, because Magento's total cost is dominated by what comes after launch.
And when it is the wrong answer
A few hundred products, standard pricing, one storefront, no development team. That is a Shopify store, and choosing Magento means paying several times more for capability you will not use.
What to avoid
Where Magento projects go wrong
| Problem | What it costs |
|---|---|
| Chosen for prestige rather than need | Several times the running cost for no benefit |
| Underpowered hosting | Slow admin and checkout at exactly the wrong moment |
| Extensions layered without review | Conflicts and upgrade paralysis |
| Security patches not applied | Magento is actively targeted |
| No staging environment | Upgrades tested on a live store |
| No one owning it after launch | Version drift until upgrading is a rebuild |
Detail
What to ask any agency you shortlist
| Ask them | Good answer | Walk away if |
|---|---|---|
| Built for this sector before? | Named clients you can look up | We work across all industries |
| Who writes the content? | A named person, and what you must supply | We will use what you have |
| Who is actually doing the work? | Named people, and what is subcontracted | The team you meet is the sales team |
| What is explicitly not included? | A written list with change pricing | Everything is included |
Ask what happens if you leave. The answer tells you how the relationship is really structured.
FAQ
Common questions
Is Magento better than Shopify?
For large catalogues, complex B2B pricing and multi-store operations, yes. For a typical D2C brand with a few hundred products, no. Magento's advantages come with running costs that only make sense when you are using them.
What does it cost to run Magento?
Substantially more than a hosted platform, mostly in hosting and development. The build price is the smaller part; budget for the year including upgrades, patches and someone accountable for them.
Do we need a developer for Magento?
Effectively yes, either in-house or on retainer. Magento needs regular security patches and version upgrades, and it degrades faster than any other platform when nobody is applying them.
Can you migrate us from Magento to Shopify?
Yes, and it is a common request from brands who found Magento heavier than they needed. The care is in product URL redirects so rankings survive, plus order and customer history.
Is Magento 1 still safe to run?
No. It has been unsupported for years and is actively targeted. If you are still on it, migrating is urgent rather than optional, and the choice is Magento 2 or a different platform entirely.
Who owns the store?
You do: code, database, hosting account and all customer and order data on final payment, unconditionally.
Next step
Chosen for prestige rather than need?
Tell us where it is falling down and we will put a number and a timeline against it. You get that in writing, whether or not you hire us.