Today, platform upgrades are coming in full versions every 12 to 18 months. How do organizations of any type manage this constantly evolving web world? This is a question that often comes up for many people and it's hard to understand what the value of continually upgrading that can sometimes result in a rewrite of custom functionality is.

One of the most impressive facts that I heard this week was that the user base for Magento Enterprise has doubled since the last Imagine conference. That's explosive growth and one that has resulted in Magento representing a 20% share of the eCommerce market.

Today is the first day of the conference and there where several large announcements worth noting to people that engage the Magento platform at any level. As a quick summary those major announcements include:

• The Release of Magento Community Edition 1.7
• The Release of Magento Enterprise Edition 1.12
• The Expected Launch of Magento 2
• The Future of X.Commerce

Magento is providing two distinct tracks for the business of ecommerce and corresponding development during this years conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. I'll be focusing on the business track to help broaden the knowledge base of industry trends, new emerging best practices, and of course new value that can be offered back to our client base. During the conference I'll provide a daily summary of the tracks in our blog for you to follow along with interesting and perhaps also controversial topics. The tracks that I'm planning to attend include:

Magento's Imagine eCommerce conference starts Monday in Las Vegas! In addition to the opportunity to meet others who are actively working with and promoting Magento, I am most looking forward to getting a glimpse into Magento's vision for the future. I'll be attending sessions in the Business and Partner Powered tracks in order to learn more about how companies are leveraging Magento to drive revenue and understand where the market is going.

One aspect of an online store that really sets it apart from others is the user shopping experience. There are several elements that can be incorporated into a store that allows shoppers to interact closely with the available items and with fellow shoppers. A deeper shopping experience will keep users involved and eager to explore everything the site has to offer. User accounts, social sharing capabilities, image galleries, product reviews and commenting, and other interactive tools create a dynamic user experience that will keep conversions high and allow a store to grow.

When thinking of ways to improve conversions for an online storefront, there is one method that is both easy to implement and often overlooked by storeowners. This is the concept of cross-selling and up-selling. This is an excellent way to appeal to an impulse buyer in a subtle manner to encourage additional purchases. Cross-selling and up-selling can be utilized by online stores of all sizes and types.

With the growing number of retailer becoming available to online shoppers, it is difficult to argue the influence of design on a customer’s decision to make a purchase or shop elsewhere. There are many aspects of an online store that will make it succeed or fail when considering online conversions. A designer will have the major task of ensuring that the store has the perfect design that is on brand, works well with the products displayed, and is simplistic and streamlined. Below are some major issues to consider.