About Joshua Hughes

eCommerce, circa 2004

As a small business owner, I started learning first-hand, the hard way.

In 2004, eCommerce was hard. The necessary tools were not readily available and the ones which were, had extreme limitations and cost prohibitions.

At the time our only option was to manually feed product data into Amazon Seller Central. Only after gaining approval from an Amazon buyer. Over time, we added our products to other small eCommerce sites after adjusting our data to meet their unique requirements.

Getting our products listed on lowes.com was a huge deal for us. As a small business owner at the time, there was really not much more you could feasibly do to sell online but wait for one of the eCommerce sites to invite you to list your products on their site.

At the time, we had a basic, static informational HTML site, limited to collecting leads.

Back then, eCommerce hosted from your own site was a fantasy SMBs just couldn’t realize, as the necessary components didn’t exist. For instance, PayPal was acquired by eBay in late 2002, and WordPress and Magento were released in 2003 and 2008 respectively.

A classic web dev book from those days, sitting in my library, Building a Web Site for Dummies, 2nd Edition, 2004, lists Ten Fabulous Tools for E-Commerce. Listed are:

  • WorldPay
  • osCommerce
  • HumanClick
  • CafePress.com
  • ECommerce Guide
  • MapQuest
  • S&H Greenpoints
  • SYSTRAN Translation SOftware
  • TRUSTe
  • DMA Privacy Policy Generator

Of these 10 tools, I think only one or two, osCommerce & TRUSTe, I believe are still running strong. Just looking at this list alone, I can definitively say that, in 2004, for the small business, eCommerce was not easy, if even possible.

eCommerce growing up

That was 2004, that was 20 years ago.

A whole lot has changed since then; from the way we connect to the internet, to the speed at which we browse. A whole Open Source community sprang up in the early 2000s, developing free-to-use website platforms with quick improvements and rapid enhancements to product offerings.

Back in 2007, I started building my first websites on open source software, such as e107 forums, and WordPress. These open source applications allowed me to setup and self-teach both the administration and front end development of these sites. Because of this early learning pathway, I started picking up some freelance web development focusing early on WordPress builds.

These early open source blog & forum applications began to inspire some of the first eCommerce open source software platforms. The goal behind these initiatives was to open up the eCommerce space so any size business could run their own fully functional, independent, and successful eCommerce site.

This new reality began to open up new opportunities for small businesses to compete with the internet big boys. Real eCommerce was beginning to be within reach. Sensing this change, my career path started shifting more and more towards eCommerce.

By 2012, my first client asked if I could build an eCommerce site and I said, “Yes, give me 6 weeks”.

I had heard of this fully-functional open source eCommerce software called Magento. I knew that it was a PHP-based application like WordPress. This was the time. In less than 6 weeks, I single-handedly learned, setup, populated, customized and readied for launch my first eCommerce store. I was hooked!

This was the moment in time when eCommerce had finally arrived to the masses of businesses, small and large, who looked to compete online.

Magento for eCommerce

As the market leading, open source eCommerce software; Magento has always been my eCommerce platform of choice.

Quite a few Magento projects got started and finished, beginning in 2012. I cut my teeth on Magento CE 1.7 working through CE 1.9 with its RWD front end theme. At Magento Imagine 2015, after over 3 years as a M1 developer, I acquired dual certification as a Magento Front End Developer & Magento Solution Specialist.

Since 2016, my focus shifted quite drastically over to migrating sites from Magento 1 to Magento 2.

In September 2018, Adobe announced it would end support for the 12-year-old Magento 1.x release line for both Magento Commerce and Magento Open Source on June 30, 2020. From then, most of my projects have been 2.x, enterprise sites and many included migrations from 1.x versions of Magento.

As of April 2021, Adobe changed the name of Magento Commerce Cloud to Adobe Commerce. The enterprise version has undergone some significant name changes over the years: Magento Enterprise → Magento Commerce Cloud → Adobe Commerce.

In 2021, I acquired my Adobe Certified Expert – Adobe Commerce Front-End Developer certification.

Current career status

With over 10 years of experience in Magento development, I can build your site correctly from the outset.

Over the years, I had the privilege of assisting several highly successful companies with their Magento websites. Some of these clients include Tiki Torches, Char-Broil Grills, Zebco Fishing, Delallo, Christopher Elbow Chocolates, ECBC, The Indiana Pacers, Alcatel Mobile, Cognito Motorsports, European Auto Source, Noul, Oak & Fort, Performance Designed Products, Purina, Barcodes Inc. and more.

As a long-time advocate of open-source technology, I appreciate Magento for being open-source and enterprise-grade.

Magento does not compromise on security, even for CE / Open Source versions, offering full PCI compliance, and the opportunity to scale your eCommerce growth without ever having to worry about replatforming to stay secure. Start in Magento Open Source and scale to Adobe Commerce and beyond. After 20 years, I know this, running your eCommerce site on Magento software, gives you access to all of the tools you need to successfully bring your products and services to market online.

Contact me for assistance with your project here.


Next steps…

  1. Check out my Wingfinder Strength Assessment here.
  2. Check out my LinkedIn profile here.
  3. Download my latest resume here.