If you’re looking to launch your online store, you’ve probably heard of Shopify. However, there’s a solid alternative: Prestashop. This CMS open source e-commerce system has been used to create thousands of online stores worldwide. In this article, we’ll take a look at the features, benefits and drawbacks of Prestashop to help you make an informed decision for your online store.
Introduction to Prestashop
Prestashop is an open source CMS (content management system) dedicated to e-commerce. Launched in 2007 in France, it quickly became one of Shopify’s main competitors. With more than 300,000 online stores using the platform, Prestashop has established itself as a popular choice for businesses of all sizes.
Prestashop is a complete solution for creating and managing online stores, offering features such as catalog management, online payments, order tracking, discounts, analysis reports and much more. The platform is also customizable thanks to a wide selection of available themes and modules. Plus, as it’s an open source solution, developers can customize the platform to meet their company’s specific needs.
Features offered by Prestashop CMS
Prestashop offers a wide range of features for creating and managing online stores, including:
- Catalog management: creation of products, categories, detailed product sheets, characteristics, variants, etc.
- Order management: tracking orders, invoices, shipments, returns and refunds.
- Online payments: integration of various payment methods, such as PayPal, Stripe, Amazon Pay, etc.
- Customer management: creation of customer accounts, tracking of their purchase history, communication via newsletters, etc.
- Discounts and promotions management:creation of discount codes, coupons, flash sales, etc.
- Tax and delivery management: integration of different carriers, automatic calculation of taxes based on delivery location, etc.
- Analysis and reporting: track sales, inventory, conversion rates, traffic sources, etc.
- Customization: choose from a wide variety of themes and modules to customize the look and functionality of the online store.
In addition to these basic features, Prestashop also offers numerous third-party extensions to add additional functionality according to the company’s needs.
Advantages of Prestashop over Shopify
Prestashop offers several advantages over Shopify, including:
Gratuity
First of all, Prestashop is an open source and free solution, which can be an advantage for small businesses or entrepreneurs wishing to minimize the costs of their online store.
Customization
Furthermore, it offers greater customization flexibility than Shopify, with the ability to customize the platform’s source code. This allows developers to tailor the platform to the specific needs of their business.
Multi-language and multi-currency
In addition, this CMS supports multiple languages and currencies, which can be useful for companies wishing to sell in several countries.
Product management
In fact, Prestashop offers more comprehensive and advanced product management than Shopify, with the ability to create custom product features and variants.
Reports and analysis
In addition, it offers more detailed and advanced reporting and analysis features than Shopify, with reports on sales, customers, products, inventory and much more.
Community support
Finally, Prestashop has a large community of active developers and users who provide technical support and advice to users.
Disadvantages of Prestashop
Here are a few potential drawbacks of Prestashop:
- Level of difficulty for beginners
- Technical skills required to customize the platform
- Less theme and module options than Shopify
- Hosting at user expense
- Installation and configuration more complex than Shopify
The costs associated with using Prestashop
In terms of costs, Prestashop has the advantage of being a free open source solution, which means you won’t have to pay any licensing fees to use the platform.
However, there are other costs associated with using Prestashop, such as:
Hosting
You’ll need to pay for web hosting for your online store. The cost will depend on the size of your store and the resources required.
Themes and modules
Although Prestashop offers many free themes and modules, you may also need to purchase paid themes and modules to meet your specific needs.
Custom development
If you need custom features for your online store, you may need to hire developers to create them, which can incur additional costs.
Maintenance and technical support
You may also have to pay for maintenance and technical support for your online store, especially if you don’t have the technical skills to do it yourself.
Which CMS to choose : Prestashop or Shopify ?
The choice between Prestashop and Shopify depends on the needs and priorities of each business. Here are a few key points to consider to help you decide:
Technical skills
If you have advanced technical skills or can hire developers to customize your online store, Prestashop may be the best option. If you don’t have technical skills and are looking for an easy-to-use solution, Shopify may be more suitable.
Costs
If you have a limited budget and are looking for a free solution, Prestashop is a good option as the platform is open source and free. However, if you’re willing to pay a monthly fee for a turnkey solution, Shopify may be more suitable.
Features
The functionality offered by both platforms is similar, but Prestashop offers greater customization flexibility and more advanced product management features, while Shopify is more focused on marketing and sales.
Support and maintenance
If you don’t have the technical skills to manage and maintain your online store, Shopify may be more suitable as it offers technical support and maintenance for its users. With Prestashop, you usually have to take care of maintenance yourself or hire a developer to do it.
