Loading the latest writing…
Hyvä's John Hughes shares what to expect at Mage Camp, the content challenge holding merchants back, and why he thinks open source is well placed for the next two years.
Mage Camp is almost here, and we're introducing the people who make it possible. We caught up with John Hughes, VP of Product at Hyvä, one of our Marketplace Plus sponsors and a speaker at this year's event on 14 October.
Click on the video above to watch our interview.
John shares what Hyvä is bringing to the day, the biggest content challenge he sees merchants facing, and why he thinks open source is well placed for the next couple of years. Watch the full interview below or read the text version underneath.
John Hughes, VP of Product at Hyvä, joins us ahead of Mage Camp on 14 October to talk about what Hyvä is bringing to the day. He explains how Hyvä has moved from storefront replacement to solving merchant problems in the admin, including the new Hyvä CMS. He also shares the biggest challenge he sees merchants facing, legacy HTML content, and a practical tip for tackling it. Looking ahead, he explains why he believes open source platforms like Magento are well placed for the next year or two, particularly with AI.
"Even if it's just one merchant who goes away with a new idea they can implement, that would be a success." - John Hughes, VP of Product, Hyvä
Could you introduce yourself, your role, and what Hyvä does?
John: I'm John, VP of Product at Hyvä. I look after product development across most of our products, though not quite all of them. Hyvä is a product suite that sits on top of Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce. It started out as a storefront replacement for Magento and Adobe Commerce, and it now includes a checkout too.
How has Hyvä changed or grown over the last year?
John: Over the last year or two, our focus has shifted towards solving merchant problems. We've been building features into the admin panel, tackling things like content management and other areas of the admin that can be painful to work with.
How long have you been part of the Magento/Adobe Commerce community, and what does being part of it mean to you?
John: It's nearly 15 years now. It's almost my entire career, so it means quite a lot. It's a place where I've been able to grow and find many great connections, and I owe a lot to the community for getting me to where I am today.
Why did Hyvä decide to sponsor Mage Camp?
John: It's a heavily merchant-focused event, providing real insights and solutions to merchants, which is a different angle from some of the other events out there. There are a lot of great events in our community, but a lot of the time it's the same people in the same bubble. Getting merchants in and more focused is important.
What can attendees expect from Hyvä on the day?
John: I'm lucky enough to be speaking, and I'll be talking about content management systems. We've spent the last year or two building Hyvä CMS. I'm not there to give a sales pitch. I'll be sharing our insights and learnings from building a CMS, and what merchants should expect and demand from a CMS in 2026. We'll also be on our stand, where we can demo any of the features we've been working on, and we may have a limited amount of swag to give away.
If a merchant stops by, what's the one thing you'd like them to leave with?
John: The ownership and control you get with open source platforms. You can take control and not be tied into a SaaS product.
What's the biggest challenge you see merchants facing right now, and what's one practical tip they could act on today?
John: A lot of merchants are struggling with legacy content. They have chunks of HTML-managed content that they can't easily do much with. The practical tip is to use AI or other tools to make that content more maintainable. I think we'll see more of that going forward.
What advice would you give a merchant attending Mage Camp for the first time?
John: The advice I used to give myself when I first started attending events like this: be a sponge. Take in as much as you can and ask as many questions as you can. It's so much better to ask in person and talk to other merchants. I appreciate there may be some competition, but find out what challenges other people are having. Sometimes it's good to hear that someone has a similar challenge to you, because you can bounce ideas off each other. That in person is far more valuable than it can ever be remotely.
What are you most looking forward to on 14 October?
John: Other than speaking, connecting with merchants: finding out what their pain points are and what excites them, and getting feedback we can take back to build better solutions. Also catching up with lots of people and meeting new faces.
What would make the event a success for you?
John: Even if it's just one merchant who goes away with a new idea they can implement, that would be a success.
Where do you see the Magento/Adobe Commerce ecosystem heading over the next year or two?
John: I think we're in a good space right now, and it's going to improve. There have been difficulties in previous years, with people going for the convenience of SaaS. I think we'll start to see people who have hit limitations with that. With all the advancements in AI, open source has major advantages, and Magento is such a well-structured framework and code base that it's well suited to building on with AI. I think we'll see lots of innovation, and I'd like to think some growth, over the next year or two.
Where else can people find you or Hyvä?
John: We're active on LinkedIn, where we run Hyvä Hotcakes almost every week, with the latest news from across the Magento ecosystem. It's a great read. There's our website, and we have an open Slack with many people on it who want to learn more on the technical side. We also have our own online town hall in a couple of weeks, sharing the latest things we've been working on. It's actually the day before Mage Camp.
Hyvä is a product suite for Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce, built around merchants' real-world needs. It started as a storefront replacement and has grown well beyond the frontend. The suite now includes a checkout, Hyvä CMS and features for the admin panel, aimed at areas that are painful to work with. It is also backed by a toolset, an extension ecosystem and an active community.
John is speaking in Track B on Wednesday 14 October at 13:40 in the Upper Auditorium, with the Track Talk "Good Stores Begin With Great Content (And the Right CMS)".
You can also meet John and the Hyvä team on their stand, where they'll be giving demos and may have some swag to give away.
Hyvä provides a fully reimagined frontend suite for the Magento/Adobe Commerce ecosystem, including its flagship theme, Hyvä Checkout, Hyvä Enterprise, and Hyvä UI. Trusted by thousands of merchants and agencies worldwide, Hyvä delivers fast, simple theming, checkout, and UI solutions built to replace the complexity of traditional themes and headless setups.
Visit sponsor