Today’s business owners know they need to have an effective, easy to use and scalable store online to thrive in the age of digital transformation. Part of preparing for a successful launch on the web, is making sure you have the right software available to build and manage your digital store. PrestaShop is just one of the popular options available for companies in search of a flexible, scalable online store environment. The open-source and feature rich solution for ecommerce originally launched in 2007 and has become one of the top choices for countries across 65 countries throughout the globe. The question is, should PrestaShop be your top pick when you’re building your ecommerce website? We’ll look at some of the best features of this environment here, to help you make the right choice for your company. Here’s what we like most about this platform.
1. It’s Budget Friendly
PrestaShop is a free to use open-source software. If you’ve ever considered using an open-source solution before, you’ll know that just because it’s free to download the software, doesn’t mean that building your store is entirely free. You will need to pay for a solution to host your online store with PrestaShop, and there are other expenses to consider too, such as security features, premium add-ons, developer support, and domain name purchases. The great thing about a solution like this is you can keep your budgetary requirements in the front of your mind when shopping for the components you need. You’re not tied into a specific hosting provider or service with this open-source software.
2. PrestaShop is User Friendly
Although open-source software solutions can be a little trickier to get used to than all in one ecommerce website builders, PrestaShop is one of the simplest products out there. All you need to do is download the file for the software from the official website. Once you’ve done this, creating a functioning online store that’s full responsive for your business is quick and simple. This environment also benefits from a relatively simple back-end environment. You won’t need a great deal of background knowledge in technology to design and maintain your website. You can even start building with minimal developer knowledge.
3. Modules and Add-Ons
Since there is a wide range of features already built-in to help you manage and build your store, you can implement a range of payment gateways, access SSL protection to secure transactions, and even offer customers things like gift cards and vouchers to increase your chance of a sale. However, one of the biggest benefits of PrestaShop is that you can also add extra features too. For instance, if you click here to follow this guide on PrestaShop SEO for 2024, and decide you need access to more keyword tracking tools and features for SEO enhancement, you can access a range of modules and extensions to help with your search strategy. There’s also various add-ons and modules available to help with things like automated email follow-ups, and order tracking for excellent customer service.
4. Various Secure Payment Options for Customers
A major attraction of PrestaShop for a lot of store owners, is the ability to offer customers a range of reliable and convenient payment gateways. Options range all the way from popular choices like PayPal, to Google Checkout and more. You get an SSL certificate for security included with your site software, so you can protect your customers during their transactions. To enable more efficient sales for your customers, this solution also comes with extra features like one page checkout processes and easy tools to add voucher codes in seconds. You can even access extra features to enable cross selling and upselling. For instance, one of the out of the box features is a recently viewed product widget, which reminds customers of items they might not have added to their basket.
5. Plenty of Customization Options
One of the main selling points of any open-source software, is that it’s usually a much more flexible and customizable way to build the perfect store. The PrestaShop environment makes it easy to customize your website to suit the specific needs of both your business, and your target audience. You can add and delete features as much as you want, and seek help from the community to find additional modules and add-ons. From a global sales perspective, PrestaShop can even help you to strengthen your connection with customers across a range of environments, like the USA, UK, Canada, China, India, and Japan. If you need a specific tool or feature to take your creation to the next level, you can find experts to help you manage and enhance your build online.
6. Reporting and Analytics
Finally, one of the biggest benefits of PrestaShop is the tools it has available to help you track your sales, and pave the way for bigger profits in the future. You can manage products, orders and customer relationships in one environment, tracking things like customer churn and inventory with ease. There are also a host of tools to help with reporting, so you can check things like which of your products are most valuable, and how quickly your audience is growing. Extensive reporting options are how over 300,000 merchants currently working with PrestaShop ensure they can keep their business growing over time.
Should You Use this Platform?
Like all store building solutions, PrestaShop has various pros and cons to consider. The solution is a free, easy to use, and effective tool for beginners looking to develop an online store as quickly and conveniently as possible. However, this system may not appeal to companies who want a lot of hand holding during the initial set up and website management journey. With no official support team, you’re mostly left to solve problems on your own if you have any issues with building your store. However, you can look for assistance among the community, which has hundreds of thousands of active members. There’s also plenty of professional website designers and developers who know how to offer assistance with this open-source software too.
