There are plenty of ecommerce platforms to choose from to create your ecommerce website. And we understand how difficult it is to select the best one from them. The ecommerce website building frameworks come with different features and different level of flexibility and ease of use. The ecommerce platform you choose for your website also plays a major role in the success of failure of your business. Therefore, this decision needs to be taken very carefully. There are many things that you should consider while selecting the ecommerce platform.
Choosing the platform is a one time decision. You cannot switch ecommerce platforms as and when required. It’s a complicated and expensive thing to do. So cautiously choose the ecommerce platform so that you don’t have to regret it later. Now if you are confused about choosing the right platform for your website, here is a detailed Prestashop review, to let you figure out if it works for you.
What is prestashop?
Prestashop is an ecommerce platform to create an online shop. Prestashop is completely free to download and it is open source. It comes with all the basic features included and then there are addons that you can include to enhance the features.
You can download prestashop and find the hosting for yourself. Or you can subscribe the cloud based hosting service for your prestashop website.
Basic requirements
All you need is to download a free Prestashop setup, a computer with working internet connection. Besides you will need to subscribe to a hosting provider. You can also opt for the cloud hosting service for Prestashop website. Prestashop is not for people with zero technical knowledge. Whereas, ecommerce platforms like shopify and BigCommerce are really easy to use.
Prestashop – The basic features
All the features you need to sell are included in the free download. And for more features you can rely on the addons. It comes with the
The features can be managed using a mobile device too. So, you need not open up your computer every time to manage your shop. You can do it right with your mobile phone, ipad or any such device.
Prestashop templates and addons
When you are creating a website with Prestashop, you have the option of choosing from some very elegant themes. There are free as well as paid templates to choose from.
Prestashop is free to use. It comes with all the required features inbuilt. But you have the flexibility to extend the features of your website using the addons.
Payment Processing with Prestashop
Prestashop is flexible and it offers a lot of flexibility when it comes to choosing the payment processor. The default is Prestashop payments by Hipay. However, the other payment gateways are available as extra add-ons.
Prestashop supports most of the popular payment gateways and so you can choose the convenient payment gateway for your shop. This makes it possible for you to allow your users to make payment with a reliable payment gateway based on their location.
Installing and using the payment modules is very simple. Download the addons from the app store and configure it to start accepting payments.
Community help and documentation
Prestashop community now has more than one million members. The members of this community are continuously working to improve the platform and they provide consistent updates with bug fixes and added features.
Who should use Prestashop?
Prestashop is not that hard to use. But it does needs you to have some technical knowledge. There are a lots of ecommerce platforms available in the market. Prestashop can be a right choice for you if your project is medium to large sized. As mentioned earlier, you will have to spend on hosting and the apps and features for a utility oriented website.
Prestashop pricing
Prestashop is free to download and use, it is opensource. However, the add-ons that you would want to use are not free. However the add-ons and integrations are optional. You can add apps based on your requirements. You will have to subscribe for hosting or you can choose their cloud based hosting for your ecommerce website.
Ultimately, the cost of your website depends on the addons you choose to include in your website and the hosting plan you choose.
Shops that use Prestashop
Get inspired! Here are a few example websites you should take a look at before you start with your own. They’ll help you estimate what you can do with prestashop.
Click here to view the websites made using Presta
Conclusion
Prestashop is without doubts a complete and efficient system for creating your ecommerce website. It is however, not for newbies and the people who’ve never tried coding and are not looking forward to learn it anyways. It is basically free but the advanced features will cost you.
Prestashop has a great community and is a developing platform. So you can expect it to improve with every new version. The themes and apps are great. Yes, you’ll have to pay for them, but they’re really good. Prestashop also has a positive reputation when it comes to SEO.
So I recommend Prestashop to the techno-enthusiasts who want to make the things work their way and for larger website. If you want to create small basic websites with limited products and features, you can opt for Shopify, or WordPress and WooCommerce.
Prestashop surely helps you create amazing ecommerce websites with beautiful features and great looks. Prestashop is free and therefore you can try it at your localhost first.