Magento 2.3.1 Release: New Updates for eCommerce Merchants & Developers

Mark this date of the year: March 26, 2019, as the day when we have already witnessed the major Magento 2.3.1 release that is going to have a drastic effect on the eCommerce merchants and developers. This major update has come after the last update in November 2018 i.e.; Magento 2.3.0 release. The great news is that Magento fanatics are going to love the things that they will come across in the new update. It has some of the most amazing surprises that will make Magento platform users fall in love with this technology once again.

The latest update has also fixed major bugs which were present in the earlier version. It has overall proven to be a blessing in disguise by providing exceptional advancements to the Magento core.

It has incorporated an exceptionally large number of functional fixes i.e.; more than 200 to the core Magento product. In addition to this, it has also taken into consideration, more than 500 requests bestowed by the Magento community at large with more than 30 security enhancements.

The amazing part is that this new release has taken into account the major contributions from the Magento community members. Some of these contributions account for negligible clean-up of core code to the development of critical features, including GraphQL and Inventory Management.

In the forthcoming sections of this write-up, we are going to focus on the different updates that have given a new meaning to the eCommerce platform for merchants and developers.

We promise after reading this blog you will have a piece of comprehensive information pertaining to the new Magento 2.3.1 release and you might even contemplate on using this latest Magento version for your website.

#MagentoCommerce 2.3.1 is now available! New features like Page Builder and @PayPal smart buttons and more enhancements empower merchants and help them scale for growth. Learn more: https://t.co/DKwsGqX5ZK pic.twitter.com/VLYPRXFQFw

— Magento (@magento) March 26, 2019

Note: For more comprehensive information pertaining to the updates that we have provided below please visit the official Magento Open Source 2.3.1 Release Notes and Magento Commerce 2.3.1 Release Notes.

So, without much ado, let’s get started.

Here’s a quick run around to the new updates that were added to the Magento 2.3.1 release.

Enhanced the Experience of eCommerce Merchants

Thanks to the latest release of Magento 2.3.1, you can easily create orders on back-end without waiting for shipping and address edits. The great news is that in the latest release, Magento has resolved one of the biggest concerns of uploading large PHP images without compression and downsizing. This is a great advantage for eCommerce merchants. It is now possible to integrate additional features to the already existing ones to Inventory management, including optimized inventory transfers in mass, enabled in-store pickup fulfillment, supported Elasticsearch, and enabled distance preference source selection algorithm.

Enhanced the Experience of eCommerce Developers

It is now possible for the eCommerce developers to upgrade dependencies naturally with the aid of a new composer. There is an opportunity for them to enhance Progressive Web Apps Studio which was never before. A chance that they would not like to miss, would they? Due to the latest release, developers can add more features to GraphQL, including shipping address setup, customer account creation, and cart creation.

Bundle Full of Updates i.e.; 30 in All Related to Security Enhancements

The release has included lots of security enhancements to the Magento platform. These relate to arbitrary code implementation, sensitive data revelation, and cross-site scripting.

Uplifts the Site Performance to the Next Level

Magento 2.3.1 release gives an opportunity for developers to rewrite the customer addresses with UI components which in turn assists in the effective management of a large number of customers’ addresses in a uniform manner. It is now possible to depict multiple customer addresses in the customer address book (a front-end feature) in the form of a grid. This makes the task of the eCommerce merchants easier.

The other important update in the Magento 2.3.1 release is the fact that now even when the customers delay the checkout process in order to continue shopping, the entered shipping address and billing during the initial checkout does not go away. Is there any other better way to serve the customers on your eCommerce store?

Gives wings to the eCommerce Infrastructure by Simplifying the Website Functions

The great thing about Magento 2.3.1 release is the fact that it tries to make things easier for everyone. Whether it is eCommerce Merchants or developers, everyone has something to gain from it. The very first thing that this release does is to replace the Authorize.Net Direct Post module by an improved Authorize.Net extension. Next, it applies the Accept.js library for Authorize.NET payments. Magento now supports Redis 5.0, PHP 7.2.x (certified on PHP 7.2.11), and Elasticsearch 6.0. It has now updated from PayPal Express Checkout to checkout.js v4.

It is now possible for eCommerce developers to extract MySQL views from regular database tables without compromising on the backup or restoring of data. The Magento 2.3.1 release enables developers to now employ DHL XML 6.0 for the DHL shipping method. It has now upgraded itself to Magento Functional Test Framework 2.3.13.

Amplified Extensions That will Make Your Day Special

With the newly Magento 2.3.1 release, Amazon Pay is now supported for multiple currencies across UK and EU stores. It is now possible to rebrand dotmailer to dotdigital Engagement Cloud which gives the option to add new features connected with altering customer consent text to general subscription text, retry function for pending contracts, and opting for marketing preferences from customer account dashboard.

Magento shipping has also undergone various changes, including an opportunity to cancel the shipment, access shipping portal through Magento, extend accessible collection points, integrate carrier related packaging to FedEx, add error messages & field validation to batch processing workflow, apply cart price rules, restructure qualification experiences, among others. The last thing is that the vertex now supports B2C VAT and configurable logging.

Is It the Right Time to Upgrade to Magento 2.3.1?

There are a wide array of changes that accompany with Magento 2.3.1 release. Some of these changes might make some pre-installed extensions on your website to not work properly. So, it is time for you to wait and watch for the module providers to scrutinize the compatibility and update their products before going for the upgrade.

But, before you finally decide to take the plunge, ensure that your website fulfills all the mandatory requirements. This includes the operating systems, composer, web server, memory, mail server, SSL, PHP, etc.

Magento 2.3.1 release has brought about a revolutionary change in the way eCommerce websites will function in the future. It is just a matter of time before we see this new update making a huge rave in the eCommerce domain. For more such updates, keep reading our latest blogs featuring technological and IT industry updates.

Click here to download the latest Magento 2.3.1 version.