PrestaShop: the modular system for e-commerce

From 2005 to 2007, five students from the French computer science university Epitech worked on a project called POS (PhpOpenStore). Their vision: to create an e-commerce platform that allows basic and free development of different online stores. Due to the strong potential of this project, the PrestaShop company was created in 2007 in Paris. The first version of the online store software appeared a year later under the same name. The Open Software License (OSL) was published the same year. PrestaShop today has more than 250,000 downloads, in more than 60 different languages, free Cloud hosting, which makes this program one of the most popular modular online store design systems in Europe. The company is financed through cooperations with notable e-commerce partners such as eBay and PayPal as well as through the sale of additional paid modules. As the original name of the project suggests, PrestaShop is based on the PHP scripting language (5.2 and above). Data storage is done via a MySQL database system. The web servers used are Nginx, Apache and Microsoft IIS. The user also has the option to use any operating system (Windows, Linux or Mac).

PrestaShop: characteristic functions

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Regarding the structure of the program, PrestaShop stands out for the separation of design and fundamental functions. The appearance of the site can therefore be modified very simply via PrestaShop Templates, without having to make changes to the programming core. We use the Smarty-Engine for what concerns the design of presentation templates, also based on PHP. PrestaShop is very suitable for completely different online store projects thanks to its modular structure. You can add functions to the basic skeleton of your online store very easily, even for the most complex projects. We present to you some of the most important functions with which you can design a PrestaShop online store:

• User-friendly online stores : PrestaShop offers various modules to make the user’s shopping experience as pleasant as possible. There are therefore, apart from the first-class navigation elements, special layouts for product pages contributing to conversion rate optimization for example. Search functions with filters can be added to the same title, allowing results to be sorted by price, color or manufacturer. Of the highlight offer banners can be used to highlight your campaigns and special offers.

• Payment and shipping : With a PrestaShop online store, you can offer all common payment and shipping methods to your customers, very easily. More than 50 modules, partly free, allow the integration of payment methods like bank transfer, card payment, etc.. PrestaShop cooperates with payment services like Amazon, PayPal And HiPay. Thanks to a Cloud-based service, Shipcloudyou simply link your PrestaShop online store with shipping services like DHL Or Chronopost For example. You can decide whether a member login is required for a purchase or not and have efficient customer service tools, through which you can process orders and returns directly.

• Mobile commerce: the standard PrestaShop template is optimized for all possible devices and has a mobile shopping cart. Regardless of the device used by your customers, the program provides optimal presentation and functionality. THE order process can also be mobile friendly and is made fast and comfortable, even on a small screen. You can administer PrestaShop yourself on the go thanks to the responsive Back office.

• SEO and user behavior analysis : the online store system is compatible with search engine optimization and other marketing tools. You can improve the SEO of your online store on search engines such as Google or Bing using meta information and URLs to define. You will find in the dashboard detailed information on sales, orders, the amount of shopping baskets or even the conversion rateand all this in real time. The information collected can be used to offer individualized prices to different groups of customers, discounts, coupons and vouchers to launch wide-reaching promotional email campaigns, for example. Finally, you can give your customers the opportunity toevaluate your online store or products isolated, which can have a positive impact on the SEO of your site.

• Location : the PrestaShop interface already exists in more than 65 languages, including French. Thanks to his compatibility with different national currenciesit is possible to create a store for the French space as well as for the Japanese one. Many modules are developed thanks to the Integration Fund and make it possible to optimize the implementation of specific regional conditions on such a system. Thanks to the geolocation functionyou will know where your customers come from and therefore offer them payment and shipping conditions specific to their region.

Back Office and PrestaShop Cloud

One of the biggest advantages of PrestaShop is its Back Office. The latter allows you to manage your online store, wherever you are and from a tablet or smartphone for example. It is characterized on the one hand by its attractive design, and on the other hand by its ease of use. You can enable features that were not enabled by default, as well as add features additional modules to download. You don’t even need to worry about hosting with PrestaShop. This is limited to the core of PrestaShop and offers only limited access to source filesthe software being free. This basic structure can only be supplemented by official modules. You don’t just save on finding the adapted accommodation and the investment that this represents, but you also have a good base with the Cloud, so that your online store can grow. You can therefore concentrate entirely on formal content-related tasks.

Additional functions thanks to Marketplace modules

The extensibility of PrestaShop via templates and other add-ons is on the one hand crucial for the versatility of the online store systembut also entails costs that should not be underestimated. If your budget is limited it is worth checking which modules you really need and how much they cost. A small disadvantage of PrestaShop is that the software is so far poorly developed internationally. The number of extensions available, and in particular Templates, is low in comparison with competing platforms. Extensions developed or verified by the manufacturer are available at PrestaShop Addons Marketplace. Besides this, there are also many other modules marketed by external developers.

Versatile online store creation software from Paris

With its typical open source, modular structure, adapted to SEO and mobile use as well as its order and shipping management tools, PrestaShop is one of the most efficient online store creation and design programs. The basic edition is freejust like the Cloud edition. Add designs and other functions to your platform with additional modules to be able to operate larger projects. PrestaShop is specially oriented towards the European area and is prepared accordingly with more than 65 different languages ​​as well as with its different compatible currencies and taking into account national specificities (tax rates, legal foundations, etc.). PrestaShop cares about data protection with its Cloud hostingwhile the latter is insufficient for its American competitor Magento. You can download PrestaShop at any time from the manufacturer’s official website. You will also find a trial versionin which the Back Office and editing of the layout is done on an example of an online store.