Introducing Klevu 4.x for Magento: Simplified Customizations and Improved Performance

We are excited to announce the release of Klevu Adobe Commerce (including Magento Open Source) Extension Version 4.x, a significant update designed to elevate ecommerce performance. This release goes beyond a standard upgrade, representing a comprehensive transformation that emphasizes code quality, developer flexibility, and alignment with Adobe Commerce’s best practices.

With Klevu Version 4.x, our team has enhanced every aspect of the Extension to make it faster, more customizable, and fully compatible with the latest Adobe Commerce and PHP technologies. This update establishes a solid foundation for future innovations, enabling merchants and developers to grow their businesses seamlessly.

Why This Update Matters

The Klevu 4.x Extension has been completely redesigned to offer greater flexibility and ensure compatibility with modern PHP and Adobe Commerce standards. Whether you aim to enhance performance, minimize technical challenges, or optimize search and merchandising, version 4.x provides the tools to achieve your goals.

This update addresses common challenges faced by developers and merchants, focusing on:

• Improved Performance: Leveraging modern PHP features, better indexing methods, and optimized JavaScript handling.
• Simplified Customizations: Decoupled modules allow for easier modifications while maintaining compatibility with future updates.
• Adobe Commerce Standards: The codebase adheres to even stricter standards than Adobe Commerce, ensuring durability and reliability.
  

Let us explore the key features and enhancements that make Klevu version 4.x a milestone for Adobe Commerce developers and merchants.

Frontend Enhancements for a Smooth User Experience

The latest release brings substantial upgrades to the front end, improving performance and providing greater control over the storefront experience.

• JavaScript Configuration via Admin: Configure your Klevu theme’s JavaScript settings directly in the Adobe Commerce Admin, eliminating the need for hardcoding and enabling faster implementation and adjustments.
• Streamlined Search URL: The search experience is now unified under a single URL, resolving duplicate content issues from earlier versions. By reusing Adobe Commerce’s native search URL (/catalogsearch/result), you can easily switch between Klevu and Adobe Commerce results, offering greater flexibility.
• Product Recommendations Widget: Adding product recommendations is now simpler with a new widget-based system compatible with dynamic blocks. Just enter the banner ID to display recommendations seamlessly.
• Optimized JavaScript Loading: Most JavaScript now loads at the end of the page or in a non-blocking manner, improving page load speeds, user experience, and SEO. Additionally, all Klevu-related code has been removed from the checkout process to enhance performance.
• Accurate Currency Formatting: Stores handling multiple currencies can now display currency symbols and formats as defined in Adobe Commerce consistently across all Klevu search and merchandising features.

These updates ensure a faster, more efficient, and customizable experience for merchants and their customers.

Indexing and Data Synchronization — Faster, Smarter, More Efficient

The indexing and data synchronization processes have been completely redesigned to ensure faster updates with minimal impact on server performance.

• Switch to JSON Indexing: Indexing now uses JSON instead of XML, improving speed and reducing resource usage. This change is particularly beneficial for larger stores.
• Pre-calculated Indexing Actions: Instead of calculating actions during indexing, required actions are now pre-calculated and stored in the database. This allows the synchronization process to execute efficiently without heavy computations during runtime.
• Customer Group Pricing and Catalog Price Rules: Full integration of customer group pricing and catalog price rules ensures that Klevu aligns with Adobe Commerce’s native functionality, enabling more dynamic pricing strategies.
• Improved Image Handling: Klevu now uses Adobe Commerce’s native image generation tools in the indexing process. This ensures that the correct images are served automatically, with no extra configuration required.

Performance Gains in Klevu Extension v4*

Klevu Extension v4 brings significant performance enhancements, especially for frequent, smaller data syncs essential for real-time updates at intervals like every 15 or 30 minutes.

Table Overview:

We highlight two scenarios:

• Single Product Sync: Vital for delta updates, version 4.x syncs one product up to 1035 times faster.
• 1,000 Product Sync: Demonstrates efficiency for moderate batches, with speeds up to 388 times faster than version 3.x.

Version 4.x delivers remarkable speed improvements for syncing single products and moderate batches, making real-time data updates swift and efficient.

* Sync times may vary for different datasets and depend on factors such as server capacity, network bandwidth, and database size.

Major Improvements for Developers

Version 4.x introduces major enhancements designed to simplify development, customization, and maintenance of the Klevu Extension.

• Modular Architecture: Klevu’s features are now separated into distinct modules, such as indexing, frontend, and analytics. This decoupling allows developers to remove or replace specific features via Composer without affecting the rest of the module. Each module is independently customizable, providing developers with full control.
• Strict Dependency Injection: Version 4.x eliminates instances of Object Manager abuse by strictly adhering to Adobe Commerce’s best practices. Dependencies are properly injected, and circular dependencies have been removed, enhancing both performance and maintainability.
• Upgrade-Safe Plugin-Based Customizations: All Klevu code can now be modified safely using Adobe Commerce’s plugin system, offering more granular and upgrade-friendly customizations. Issues like variables passed by reference have been resolved, making modifications straightforward.
• Support for Custom Product and Entity Types: Custom product and entity types are easier to implement in version 4.x. Developers can inject an entityProvider class for custom product types or an entityIndexerService class for custom entities through di.xml, maintaining compatibility with future updates.
• YAML Pipelines for Custom Indexing: Developers can now define which entity data is sent to Klevu during indexing using YAML pipelines. Custom YAML files can be injected or auto-generated for attributes, simplifying modifications and reducing the need for complex code changes.

Klevu Version 4.x for New Customers

If you are new to Klevu or are currently in the implementation phase, version 4.x is the perfect solution for your Adobe Commerce store, offering a future-proof and modular architecture designed for performance and ease of use.

For existing customers, migrating to Klevu version 4.x is also possible, but it may require some manual work. We recommend reviewing our detailed migration guide here: Read Before Migration to Version 4.x. For more comprehensive information on Klevu version 4.x and its features, please visit our detailed documentation here: Klevu Adobe Commerce v4 Documentation.