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What Are the Highlighted Features of Prestashop 1.7

Posted on October 11, 2017 by probytesnextjs

Prestashop is undoubtedly one of the most reliable eCommerce solutions introduced for small to medium businesses so far. This open source software is rich with lot of advanced features and custom options. The Prestashop 1.6 version is a dependable platform to run a medium business successfully without much hassles. The major update to the software was introduced with Prestashop 1.7 that overcomes any limitations with the older version and adding in more advanced features. This novel version with a few notable changes in the general configuration has enhanced the overall performance. The version is now released in 7 languages and you can expect more on the go.

Everyone looking to have Prestashop 1.7 for their new store would be excited to know about the important changes that are brought in. Here you can have a glance at the highlighted features of the Prestashop upgrade.

Enhanced product configuration:
With the new version, the products can be added to your website catalogue in a much better way. In addition to an engaging interface, user can benefit from automatic management, various shortcuts and quick actions. Users can now quickly create a product, digital products or pack of products within a limited time and organize its features and values. The product navigation is improved with quick creation of categories & subcategories.
Refurbished modules page:
The modules can be managed better and a lot easier with the renovated modules page. A tab facility is freshly launched which allows easy viewing of installed modules and options to alter them or even discover novel modules.
Improved back office navigation:
The back office is revived with improved UI/UX and one can now effortlessly browse the website. The main menu is now categorized into 3 different sections which come under Sell, Improve and Configure. The availability of these new tabs let easy navigation between the 3 sections and the modules can be managed better.
Novel themes:
The designers need to spend only half of the usual time to create attractive themes with Prestashop 1.7. Just a basic awareness of CSS and HTML is all what needed for the designer to work with these themes easily. The visually light “Classic” theme gives a fresh appearance to your store. In addition, the enhanced product sheet and improvised checkout process makes selling a lot easier.
Parent/Child Interface:
A template can now be altered without unsettling the source file using the novel Parent/Child themes. The new version also provides a Starter theme which is free of any kind of mark-ups or custom style. This in fact allows execution of a new design in less time.
Introduction of Symfony:
The selected areas of the software can benefit from the introduction of Symphony. The design team can utilize the options of this robust framework to give emphasis to eCommerce specifics in addition to enhancing the Prestashop functionalities. The actions such as managing of orders, handling a cart, calculation of costs and taxes as well as generation of invoices all can be done with good efficiency.
Other features and options:
With Prestashop 1.7, the merchants can now sell customization goods. For this, the store has option to allow specific consumers to upload files related to it. Similarly, a minimal purchase quantity can be set for particular products. You can enable SSL on your store with just a click and configure the shipping methods. The taxes can be configured based on the specific locations. There is a facility to promote certain products by suggesting them to the customers. With the goal of improving customer engagement and minimizing abandonment cart rate, timely communication is assured through sending emails. In the checkout phase, the customers have options to authenticate their orders.

The Prestashop platform has a lot to offer to assure your business growth. To have a tough competition with your contenders, you can easily connect your store to social networks and get more traffic by running the SEO or by displaying your stores on a Google map. You can also advertise in your store through customers’ emails. You can build good reliability with your selling deals by letting customers to know about the evolution of their orders. Last but not the least; you can get the global exposure to your store by going international by just choosing the country from the list and a few more simple steps.

The major upgrade of the software to Prestashop 1.7 with impressive changes to the overall user experience has already created a wave in the industry. Just after a few months of this release, there comes another improvisation to the version with Prestashop 1.7.1. The key enhancements of this update are the introduction of a new ‘upgrade all modules’ button and optimized back-office navigation for mobiles.

The goal of the new ‘upgrade all modules’ button was making the transition to the new upgrade easily and less time consuming. When updates come for multiple modules, users can now update it altogether with a single-click. The back-office browsing experience has taken to a new level with enhanced responsiveness. It is optimized for mobiles and so users can browse it with ease from any of the mobile gadgets. Moreover, the shortcut keys are also revamped with an eye to make them more spontaneous.

16 Reasons Prestashop Is Better Than Magento

Posted on October 10, 2017 by probytesnextjs

The growth of an eCommerce business is directly proportional to a number of factors, timely assessments and decisions. The trickiest part of setting up an online business is finding an ideal eCommerce website that goes well with your business. There are a lot of business models available at present such as Prestashop, Magento, Shopify, Opencart and a lot more. Choosing the best platform from these market giants is not a small deal as each one comes with their own merits and demerits.

And many of the business professionals keeps on short listing from the vast ecommerce solution options taking into account its general features. However, it is quite common for them to get confused between the last two options. Are you in a dilemma of whether to go for Prestashop or Magento? Do you want strong points to choose Prestashop over Magento?

Prestashop is one of the most reliable software published under Open Software License(OSL) with all-round support, free domain name, free shared SSL, affiliate programs, cross selling, and special promotional deals. Quality Prestashop website development services with an eye towards your business goal can help you to compete well in your market.

It is one of the market’s leading shopping carts and is referred to as a freemium business model with custom features and options. It comes with all the basics that most merchants need to start online business with almost 500+ features already built-in. It accounts for more than 250,000 stores worldwide and is designed to build stores through self-hosting or else via cloud.

Here we can have a look at the reasons Why Prestashop is better than Magento.

Easy installation
When compared to its counterpart, Prestashop comes with easy to installation facility. In fact, setting up a PrestaShop online store from scrape is a lot easier than you think. As with other platforms, no expert knowledge of the platform is a necessity to complete its installation on your device.
User-friendly interface
The primary advantage of this ecommerce platform is its user friendly interface with a wide range of options and a quicker processing technique. A good number of add-on modules of this intuitive and straightforward interface improve its internal functions too. On the other hand Magento’s design integration is comparatively complex and sometimes requires expert assistance to overcome UI issues.
Faster search options
The search modules are outstanding with a well built design. They are relatively much faster than Magento. It is built with a well configured and up to date dashboard. This allows rapid access to the necessary store data with ease. The swift speed of PrestaShop also counters that of Magento unless hosted on a well configured server. As it is not a heavy-duty CMS like Magento, it won’t slow down your website.
Easy to download
It is available for free on the internet and a user can easily download it on his/her device once they decide to go for it. A user can establish an up-to-date store in just a few minutes. One can do it with no need for license fees or revenue percentages unlike similar platforms. It can be downloaded from its official website and different modules can also be accessed online free of cost.
Easy customization
Not all users have the same requirement when choosing an ecommerce platform and that is why customization is important. A Prestashop user can be glad to customize the platform to suit the exact requirements without much trouble. The process is pretty easy when compared to Magento. Its efficient features make site management easy and users can benefit from timely users analytics and reporting.
Available devices
Magento works well with Windows, Mac, Android and can work web-based too. In addition to these options, Prestashop works well with iPhone/iPad devices too. The software runs on Smarty Template engine that is based on PHP.
Demographic support
This ecommerce website is used well successfully across USA, UK, Canada, China, Germany, India and Japan. Timefy, Eleven Paris and Gretel Home are among their popular customers. It supports multiple languages and currencies. This open-source eCommerce solution is available in 40 languages, but offers comprehensive supports for only English and French.
Lower system requirements
Not much system requirements are needed to use this solution for Web 2.0. To set up the basic operation, you need only PHP 5.2, MySQL 5 and a Linux, UNIX or Windows operation system.
Support types
Magento has limited support types that include only training and through phone but Prestashop has multiple types of support including training, phone, ‘Live’ support and through tickets.
Better community support
There is no official support team but several developers and users are ready to offer a hand of help through forums. The community comprises more than 700,000 members with active participation on different help forums. As it is highly-documented, users need not go further to handle any functionality issues. With regular enhancements and updates, they enable fast troubleshooting.
Business size
Magento is an ideal choice for large enterprises. The Prestashop is a great option for not only large enterprises but can be customized well with error free Prestashop website development services for small business, medium business as well as freelancers. Even though the social media backs Magento more, Prestashop would be good for your small business as its monthly maintenance fee is just about half comparing to that of Magento.
Budget friendly
Businesses with budget constraints can opt for Prestashop platform as it allows working with a shared hosting web service. This cheaper alternative with this free platform works well as long as the online store is not too large or complex. In fact, this platform with multi-vendor support is globally cheaper than Magento.
Payment processors
The payment through the website is a lot easier with efficient payment processors. They also come with built-in credit card processors. It features over 50 world-class payment solutions and gateways. It integrates with industry’s several top tools such as Google Analytics. Its efficient collaboration with payment modes such as PayPal has taken shopping transactions to another level. Its eBay integration allows exporting product listings straight to Google Shopping and several well-liked marketplaces such as Amazon.
No need for advanced technical skills
The complex architecture of Magento demands advanced technical skills and an adaptation period to master the tool rightly. A relatively easier design and interface of Prestashop makes it easy for even a beginner to handle it with ease.
SEO
The SEO features are not good enough to excel Magento but are far good for a small business. The website pages can be edited or you can include Meta tags with top ranks. The URLs with emphasis to SEO can be generated so that the search engines can easily identify your business products.
Additional features:
PrestaShop’s statistical facilities are really impressive with Intelligent Merchant KPI and Forecasting features. With the goal of increasing the customer conversions and growth of audience, the platform features eCommerce Analytics that efficiently evaluates the traffic and build insightful decisions. To give additional assistance for a better usage of the website, there are support email and help desk options. With the goal of promoting your business, Prestashop affiliate marketing program for your store.

So have a close look at the features and evaluate its importance in your business. If you conclude that this budget friendly and efficient open source website can help your business grow, then there is no point to think further. A comprehensive Prestashop website development services from a team of experts can help your business to reach a remarkable height in a short time.

10 Reasons Why PrestaShop Is One of the Best Ecommerce Platform

Posted on October 5, 2017 by probytesnextjs

Why Prestashop?

Being the backbone of e-commerce sites, you can build a good content management system to design an e-commerce platform which can enhance your online sales. Online stores platform are a complex integration of various services and features allowing the users to navigate, search for products, select products, make payments, select delivery options and then complete transactions.

To retain customers and convert users to customers, you need to offer flawless, smooth, fast and easily navigable e-commerce software. The software also needs to be robust so that uptime of the site is not affected. The Fluidity of design and responsiveness to mobiles are the another criteria that help to enhance customer satisfaction, product reach and sales. If you too are looking for all these criteria for your online store then you can go for PrestaShop.

Here are 10 reasons why PrestaShop is one of the best e-commerce platforms:

Comprehensive product features

Businesses are meant to be grown, and the obvious route to growth is increasing in sales and to achieve this, you need to enhance your product portfolio. With PrestaShop, you can be rest assured that even as you grow from a couple of products to a range of products, your online store will handle the consequent increase in user activity.

The varied built-in features allow you to customize a wide range of modules and extensions. Proving a cherry on the cake, this helps to control the overall look and feel of your online store giving you the ease of working with the open source software. Nonetheless, PrestaShop certainly comes handy with a thousand of options in plug-ins and add-ons which enhances its functionality.

Smart administrative panel

Offering you a wide range of tools, PrestaShop helps you to run your store in a manner that proves beneficial for you. The cluttered administrative panel is an impressive feature known as a smooth and intuitive panel that helps you to master it in less time.

The dashboard comprises of tools which can manage and set up your catalogue and subsequently your store easily. Furthermore, the dashboard settings are well-laid out, stat driven, instinctive to use, graphs and counters centric and above all professional.

Search Engine Optimization.

The efforts you put in can prove futile when customers won’t find your shop through the search engines. Even if you are providing a huge variety of products at your store with low prices and 24/7 support, it’s not going to attract customers online if it’s not digitally optimized.

Being optimized for various search engines like Google and Yahoo, PrestaShop offers you features like keyword tags, Meta information for products and categories, customized URLs and more which allows your store to reach a wide audience across the globe.

Website builder

Even if you have no knowledge of building a website you can get a PrestaShop e-commerce site up and running for your store. The website builder offers plenty of options and opportunities with out-of-the-box themes so that you can invite customers as soon as you are launched.

It offers numerous options from themes to categories and extensions, including latest and premium responsive templates which can get you started with an eye-catching website.

Responsive to mobiles

When your site focuses on mobile devices or accessories, it makes sense that the site has to look as good on a mobile device as it does from a desktop. PrestaShop themes are responsive and ensure that your store looks fabulous despite the fact of how the site looks on a mobile or a desktop screen.

Users will be astonished with their chosen devices since the software offers you with the hamper of animation effects so that you could float into the shopping cart displaying every aspect your store has to offer as it progresses. There’s a huge collection of PrestaShop Store templates for your data and specifications, along with sliding panels and standees for distinctive products and offers. It is compatible and displays merchandise efficiently and smoothly across all devices.

Large community

There is a large community of developers for PrestaShop open source software. Owing to this the users get a good support system to troubleshoot problems that may arise.

Since a couple of years after its launch, the popularity of PrestaShop has gained about more than 100,000 community members and 5 million downloads, used in 100 plus countries and yes – currently powering 165,000 online stores the world over!!

Integration with most popular ecommerce sites

The products listed in your site will be automatically listed in the most popular websites if you use the relevant add-on software. Moreover, due to the inventory tracking feature, you will be able to track the inventory of each product. This is very helpful in preventing overselling.

Payment Integration

With a very interesting feature of enabling multiple gateway options for online stores, PrestaShop makes it possible to handle and work as many payment gateways as you require for the success of your online store.

For a smooth customer experience, the checkout part must be exhaustive and efficient. In PrestaShop sites, customers can get a summary of their transactions before proceeding to validate the cart. The platform is integrated with a vast range of payment solutions and gateways. This helps in increasing the spread of customers across various geographical areas and credit/debit cards.

Conclusion

In this competitive age of Information Technology, the e-commerce platform lags no behind. The best e-commerce platform is the one that suits your most important needs. So, to conclude, PrestaShop is a good choice if you are planning to build an online store. But certainly, you will need at least the basic knowledge of web development to keep it running.

Successful Websites Built On PrestaShop

Posted on October 4, 2017 by probytesnextjs

Successful Websites Built On PrestaShop

PrestaShop ecommerce software is an open source application with a thriving community of developers and users across the globe. PrestaShop packs an efficient, smooth and robust content management system that every online store desires to have. The efficiency, reliability, rich features, add-ons and ease of use has made it one of the most sought after ecommerce software. In fact, there are a number of both B2B and B2C ecommerce sites that have been built on PrestaShop. If you are still not sure about using PrestaShop for your online store then consider these successful and truly amazing websites.

Trendin.com

It is the official online store of branded garments like Louis Philippe, Allen Solly, Peter England etc. which are built on the PrestaShop platform. It deals with not only clothes, but also shoes, belts and accessories. Customers can also offer their reviews about the products they purchased from this site. With a wide variety of brands and apparels on this site, the Alexa traffic ranking has been marked and ranks 5,07,361 and gets approximately 1800 new visitors every day. The stats look impressive isn’t it? You can imagine since the shop only sells few brands of men’s apparel, what is would achieve if it sold a huge array of brands.

Maplatine.com

Welcome another PrestaShop online store, Maplatine, which is a French website that sells a variety of electronic items like cell phones, speakers, storage devices and cables etc.. It uses google font API, JavaScript, PHP and SVG on PrestaShop to enhance the look, efficiency, robustness and customer satisfaction of the website. Its website score by ophisaurus is 85% and SEO score is 81%. According to a Alexa traffic survey it is ranked at 3,76,630 and it receives an approximate 5,000 unique visitors per day. This is a very encouraging piece of statistics considering that it is operating in niche market of a particular language.

Hatshowroom.com

A unique rather fascinating online store that gives you a huge variety of hats to choose from. However, the products available here are better described as boutique headgear than simply hats. It ranks 46,93,924 in Alexa and receives about 35 unique visitors every day. The stats may not appear to be impressive, but considering the unique nature of products and the niche market it appeals to, they put quite a good performance.

Maptiteculotte.com/en/

Here you can get a good collection of lingerie, loungewear, and swimwear. It ranks 488,664 in Alexa and receives about 3800 new visitors every day. The stats really look quite impressive in view of the niche apparel and language that it operates in.

Delozey.com/boutique/en/

You can order your champagne here and sip it in the privacy of your home. You can get almost all the brands and ages of champagne here. In fact there is a separate page for vintage champagnes. According to Alexa, the site ranks 34,14,298 and gets around 51 unique visitors daily. These stats are very good considering that the shop deals in some very costly and niche product in a definite language.

Footshop.eu

This is an online shop for men, women and kids and it sells not only shoes, but also clothing and accessories of various brands. It has a very good market for its products. Its reputation is reflected in its latest Alexa ranking which is 1,36,489. It also gets around 14190 new visitors every day. The stats are good and commensurate with the products it deals in and the spread of the market it caters to.

Decathlon.in

It is a one stop online shop for sports goods in India. It is a B2C site that offers a vast range of sports items at an affordable price. Its Alexa rank is 22,225 and gets a daily unique visitor of around 145000. These are stupendous stats that showcase the appeal of the website, satisfaction of the customer, and the vastness of the range of products.

Final words:

PrestaShop certainly is your next shopping cart destination that uncovers technology used in the development world. It is fully loaded with a content management system, extensions, add-ons and analytics tools that makes choosing PrestaShop over other open source technologies a big YES!

Annoucing a New Product Development Company

Posted on January 4, 2017 by probytesnextjs

ProBytes Software and Technoalliance, India is happy to announce a new Product Development Company that will be headed and managed by Intek J. The name of the new company is Spectra Solutions.

Intek says “We have been in outsourcing business for past 10+ years and have been constantly evolving to give better and better solutions to our clients. The new venture is all our learnings formulated and organised together in one to give our clients better output at much lower rates. We have built products for certain domains and will work only on these products based projects. We already have a team which has both very strong domain and technical knowledge of these products and eventually I are sure that our team will be best across the globe in these products based jobs. Our clients should not come to us bcoz we are offering competitive prices, it should be more because they want the best team. We are changing the concept of outsourcing to RIGHT-SOURCING”

Few of the products that we are already released in market are:-

Food Delivery System – eDeliveryApp – which already has got a huge userbase in short amount of time. eDeliveryApp is a turnkey online restaurant ordering system. It’s built for restaurant owners and local delivery businesses. eDeliveryApp can be fully customized and re-branded as your own online restaurant ordering system. You get benefit of a custom built software for your business that increases your sales many fold, at a fraction of the cost.
We have a complete food ordering system with Frontend website + Android App + iOs App + Facebook App and can be further extended for custom functionalities using modules and plugins. It works out of box with all major payment gateways and POS systems.
eDeliveryApp can be used for single restaurants or multi-restaurant aggregator businesses.

T Shirt Design Software – Our Tshirt design software is a web to print software module that allows shopping cart owners to give the functionality of custom design and buy feature for various customizable products like t-shirt, phone cases, signs, greeting, labeling, photo frame, lettering, sticker, apparels, mugs, poster, business cards, shoes, hats, badge pins etc.It allows your customer to add both Custom Text and Images andto drag, rotate, flip, resize and customize them in multiple ways. Your customers can upload images and clipart from their own folders, social sites like facebook or use from admin uploaded images and cliparts. The module is already available for Prestashop and Magento 2 module has just been released with other platfroms planned soon.

mCartApp – mCartapp is native eCommerce app that works out of box with WooCommerce, PrestaShop and magento stores. Our woocommerce android app is the most popular solution and has been garnering a good following.

We have other products also work in progress and will be released shortly.

Probytes Software will operate completely out of Trivandrum development center and continue providing IT services to our clients, all Pune team member will move to new company.

Wishing the new team best of luck and lot of success.

WooCommerce vs Magento Development Services: Which to Choose?

Posted on February 26, 2016 by probytesnextjs

E-commerce is one of the fastest growing sectors on the internet, irrespective of the companies managing physical or virtual entities. It is not an easy task to set up an e-commerce website and sell online. Web development is a complicated task which involves several important decisions. Among those decisions, deciding the right e-commerce platform is most important for an ecommerce. There are certain reasons that makes us choose one platform over the other.

Magento is a popular content management system which is used specifically for e-commerce. It has several unique features and functions that can help small online shops transform into huge ones. Some of the powerful features of Magento include up selling, cross selling, comparisons and discounts which make it an excellent choice for businesses which focuses on online sales. Multiple online stores can be pulled together into one dashboard with the help of Magento development services. Global brands like Nike, Samsung and Olympus have been using Magento as their e-commerce platform.

Read Also: 8 Reasons Magento is the Best Choice for eCommerce

Features of Magento

Specifically made for e-commerce
Most appropriate for large e-commerce websites
Able to manage multiple stores in an excellent manner
It has a steep learning curve
Includes complex management system
It is a very strong platform
Selling more than 2500 products
Multiple variations in products
Its business is done on the basis of e-commerce

WooCommerce is an open source e-commerce framework for WordPress. All the e-commerce fundamentals are done by WooCommerce. Unlimited number of products can be uploaded and categorized using this particular platform. With the help of this platform, users are able to feature best sellers, add reviews, filter by category, and search by product name.

Features of WooCommerce

It has strong basic functionality
Specifically designed for small and medium sized enterprises
Most appropriate for smaller websites
Easy to use
It has got limited functionality
Similar to the interface of WordPress
Its business has got additional focus
Products have few or no variations at all

There are certain reasons by which we prefer these two platforms over the other:

Cost Effective Development

One of the greatest benefits of using WooCommerce and Magento is that they are free e-commerce platform. There is no need of any hidden costs and subscription fees. Hence entrepreneurs can significantly reduce project cost and spend most of their time on development.

Open Source Success

Since WooCommerce and Magento are free e-commerce platforms, users will have access to everything associated with the platform. Once the website is created, the creator will be the owner and can enjoy every right related with it. Code completely belongs to them and they can do whatever they want with it.

You May also Like: How to Choose Between Magento and PrestaShop Platforms?

Flexible, Secure and Robust

Some of the qualities of WooCommerce and Magento development services include excellent support, outstanding security and a series of powerful e-commerce features. These specific features help these two platforms hold 40% of all e-commerce websites. Magento is a complex platform with advanced structural and functional platform which is specially made to e-commerce websites whereas WooCommerce is specially devoted for shopping platform and can be easily installed in any content management system. It takes more time to set up and customize Magento when compared to WooCommerce. While comparing with Magento development services, WooCommerce is the best choice for beginners and it is also very easy to use.

Before deciding which platform to use, one should think about the size and complexity of their shopping platform, number of products, capital investment and expectation of their business growth. Based on the above mentioned features, one can carefully choose among the two platforms to achieve greater results.

How to Choose Between Magento and PrestaShop Platforms?

Posted on September 21, 2015 by probytesnextjs

If you are looking to choose the right eCommerce platform, it’s essential to look at the best choices in the market.

Conducting a good market survey would always help you get closer to the right choice. A study on Magento vs. PrestaShop will help you make a wise decision. After comparing the two, you will have a better understanding of which one meets your needs the best.

Recommended Read:WordPress or Magento Development Services: Which is better for Ecommerce?

A Quick Research on Magento and PrestaShop

Both are open-source programs, and can be customized in many different ways. While PrestaShop makes site management easy, gives you tons of features, provides SEO benefits, gives users analytics and reporting and so much more, Magento is known as the leader in eCommerce shopping cart solutions and provides a huge variety of features, tools and customization.

What is PrestaShop?

A secure open source eCommerce solution for Web 2.0.that uses the smarty template engine for PHP. It can be downloaded for free, however, additional elements like: templates, modules, and themes are to be purchased from the PrestaShop store. The features include reliable web hosting services, support in 38 languages, free shared SSL, free domain name, special deals and promotions, cross-selling, and affiliate programs.

What is Magento?

Launched in March 2008, this feature-rich Open Source eCommerce software solution offers merchants the flexibility of having complete control over content planning of their online store. It offers responsive shopping cart.
Making the decision between PrestaShop vs Magento

Deciding between the two great eCommerce solutions is not a simple task. While PrestaShop targets the small to medium sized business, Magento serves the medium to large businesses. No matter whether you’re taking your business online for the first time or simply migrating from another eCommerce solution; in both the cases these programs provide admirable solutions. If you’re technologically challenged and want to do the work yourself, PrestaShop is definitely a better choice. Conversely, if you’re well-informed of technology and web design, you will find Magento a better option.

Furthermore, there are a number of Magento development service providers to create an online store for you, But the same cannot be said for PrestaShop

Read Also: Why Migrate From Oscommerce to Magento

Comparing Magento vs. PrestaShop

1. PrestaShop is easy to install and has a wide range of attractive features and a very user-friendly interface. Its search and advanced search modules are outstanding, and relatively faster than Magento’s.
2. PrestaShop can be downloaded easily for free from the internet while Magento that comes in two versions, a free Open Source, and an Enterprise version.
3. As far as design integration is concerned, Magento can be somewhat complicated as compared to PrestaShop and at times may necessitate expert assistance to handle UI issues.
4. For SEO compatibility; Magento has better support for SEO compared to PrestaShop.
5. Magento has an outsized community and better support than PrestaShop.

When selecting the right CMS platform for an ecommerce store, there is an array of options available. The two most popular are Magento and PrestaShop. Have a clear understanding of how to choose between Magento and PrestaShop platforms; read, know, and pick the best option.

E-Commerce Website Development with Different Platforms

Posted on September 28, 2014 by probytesnextjs

It is fairly easy and affordable to setup an online store these days. Once you have decided on starting a website, you have to pocket a good domain name. The major work that remains now is website development. For that, you need to choose a really good platform. Let us take a look at the major available options.

OPEN SOURCE & FREE E-COMMERCE SOFTWARE

Magento

The most popular e-commerce software out there right now, Magento is powerful and has huge support available. It can support multi-store and multi-language retailing. There is a huge range of add-ons available too. If your business has huge traffic, Magento is the way to go. One major shortcoming is that Magento needs knowledgeable resources for the best results.

Pros

Search engine friendly
Optimized for mobile devices as well
Can manage multiple store fronts
Wide community of users across the world
Extensive customization
Ability to scale up to small and large businesses

Cons

Lack of suitable developers
Complex, not so easy to use unless you are a developer
Requires very good hosting environment

Prestashop

An easy to use software with a backend that is user-friendly. Prestashop customization options are numerous. There is also an active community that develops new add-ons. However, it is not as powerful or resource intensive as Magento. There are really good Prestashop multi-vendor features, making it an ideal choice for marketplaces.

Pros

Easy to install
Prestashop customization is well-known for its flexibility
Prestashop latest version has responsive backend, making it possible for store owners, managers, and marketers to access store information and effectively run the business from just about any Internet-enabled device, including tablets and smartphones.
Very easy to use its intuitive and simple interface
Marketing and SEO friendly
Supports multiple languages and currencies
Prestashop multi-vendor support

Cons
Not suitable for larger businesses
Difficult settings for shipping and taxes, multi stores, attributes, etc.

Virtuemart (joomla)

Virtuemart is the most widely used shopping cart software for Joomla. This software is suitable for most basic online store applications. Its best selling point is its ability to control the store, products, settings and user lists from directly within Joomla. Once installed, Virtuemart becomes a part of Joomla. Also, this software supports a large number of shipping, payment and checkout options.

Pros

Easy to use, good modules
Ability to update store from any computer with internet access
Support for many merchant accounts and shipping options
Basic organizational features

Cons

Installation and Maintenance can be difficult for beginners
Lacks detailed configuration options
Often requires 3rd party development or additional software

Woocommerce

This is a plugin for the world’s most popular CMS – Word press. Hence, it is easy to manage for even non-technical users. It is very easy to use and has really good reporting features.

Pros

Very lightweight and easy to install
Doesn’t require a high learning curve
It has all the necessary tools to create a unique storefront look
Unlimited options for design customization

Cons

Woocommerce lacks some functionality like product variants, multiple languages and currencies, multi-store, etc.
Implementing a middle or big scale shop may become a serious issue
Lacks good quality extensions

PAID E-COMMERCE SOFTWARE

Shopify

Shopify is widely regarded as the most easy to use platform to get a site up and running within minimum time. You don’t need to know much about coding to operate Shopify. However, being easy to use means sacrificing on the customisation front. Shopify has four plans – Starter, Basic, Professional and Unlimited with charges of Rs.818, Rs.1635. Rs.4388 andRs.9939 per month respectively.

Pros

Extremely easy to use
100% web-based online shopping cart software
Shopify comes with integrated, unlimited hosting
Free, customizable store templates
Google Analytics and social media integration is supported

Cons

Organizing so many items into clear, easy-to-use groups is not easy
Transaction fees involved for every plan, except for the most expensive plan
They have their own programming language, Liquid, for customizing templates

Big Commerce

This is another easy to use ecommerce platform. It is extremely easy to set up, and doesn’t require you to know codes really well. In most respects, it is similar to Shopify. However, Big Commerce doesn’t require you to learn any special programming languages. But customization is more difficult than it is with Shopify. It has 5 different plans, and is relatively expensive.

Pros

Easy to setup
Edit themes using HTML/CSS
Support for International Shipping

Cons

Built-in Templates are not particularly appealing
Comparatively complex customization features
Limited support for third party application

Volusion

Volusion is reasonably priced with hidden charges for extra bandwidth used. But, there is no transaction fee. The software has over 120 free templates, which are generally basic and would require editing. Customer support is not a strong point for Volusion either.

Pros

No transaction fees
Low price
Free templates

Cons

Unintuitive user interface
Hidden bandwidth fees
Horrible customer support

These are the best options available in the market right now, with Magento and Prestashop leading the way.

In February 2013, Tom Robertshaw’s quarterly eCommerce survey reported Magento as the leading ecommerce platform among Alexa’s top one million sites with 26% of the market share. Magento is leading for the third time in a row. VirtueMart and PrestaShop come in second and third respectively.

As a business owner, it is important for you to maintain an online presence for growth. You have to look at major aspects such as Magento feature set Prestashop customization, Magento product management and Prestashop multi-vendor capability and decide on the software that suits you best.