How To Build Your Own Online Store Using Prestashop

PrestaShop is adopted by a huge number of entrepreneurs throughout the world. It is amongst the most prominent e-commerce platform starter solution, gloating of robust and broad features as well as integrations to enable users to assemble their online stores from level one. The framework is supported by a huge community with more than 800,000 members who are attempting to keep PrestaShop only committed to open source online business.


PrestaShop Features –

  • Vast selection of customizable e-commerce themes
  • PrestaShop Web Agencies
  • Mobile commerce
  • Intuitive Interface
  • Designer Pattern
  • Robust Store Builder
  • Instant Install Features
  • E-commerce SEO
  • Ecommerce Analytics
  • More than 50 world-class payment gateways and solutions
  • Shipping setups
  • User-friendly and Hassle-free customer checkout
  • Integrated customer service mechanisms
  • Configurable Tax Rules

PrestaShop – an open source platform for online business- can be downloaded from the PrestaShop site and hosted in the cloud.

So, in case you looking to create a website using PrestaShop, in this guide, we will show you the basics on how to build your e-commerce website using this comprehensive software.

Install PrestaShop Using Softaculous App Installer

Login to your cPanel account and in cPanel home, look down to discover Softaculous App Installer. Tap on PrestaShop in E-business menu on the sidebar.

Then, click on the Install Now button, you will notice the interface to give subtle elements of the installation.

In Software Setup, pick the version you need to install. Select the protocol you need your site to utilize on loading, you can select http://or http://www. Or on the other hand you can load your site safely by choosing https://www.. or https://. In case that you want to have the secured protocol then you should configure SSL/TLS for your site.

Next, pick the domain on which you need PrestaShop to be installed. In the event that you are intending to install PrestaShop not on any folder but on the principal site eliminate the content from the In Directory field. It ought to be empty since if there is any content in this field, Softaculous will make a directory and will introduce PrestaShop into it.

Now, you should give a name to your store in Store Name field. Then enter the path for your admin folder. It is vital that you utilize something difficult other than administrator with the goal that your site is secured from potential powerful attacks. So, what you write in this box turns into your pseudonym for the admin panel. For instance, when you have utilized robust admin, you will see that the admin login panel will be open on http://your-domain.com/robustadmin.

Lastly, in the Admin Account, give a desired username, password, and email for your Administrative account.

Now you just need to tap on the Install button and that’s it Prestashop in installed on your site.

Installing PrestaShop Theme

A Prestashop theme is the arrangement of design and functionalities that can be empowered for your online store. Prestashop is packaged with its own particular standard theme.

There is a quick, efficient yet proficient answer for changing the design of your website.You can simply visit the Prestashop Themes.For each template you can see the features, pictures and alsotry their online demo.

With just a couple of clicks, you can purchase the theme you liked and activate it on your website within a few moments.

When you download the theme, it would be a .zip file.This will take you to the page of the theme installation. Here you can install the theme in a couple of different methods – by importing from the web via URL, over FTP connection or by importing a file from the computer.

Then just head to your dashboard and at the preferences and themes option, you will see the “add new” theme button. After that you have to add a file, find your theme and click the save button.

Then go again to the Design option > Theme and Logo page and see the recently installed theme. As you hover it, a Use this theme button would pop, just click on it.

Finally, your new theme is now installed and activated!

Adding Products

Firstly, you have to add a new category of products. Login to your admin panel, go to Catalog > Categories and click Add new category button.

On the next page add information about your category. Afterwards, click Save button and it’s done.

Now, comes the real part- adding products.

Go to Catalog > Products and tap on the blue NEW PRODUCT in the top right corner.

On the next page, you must enter the product details like name, category, price, image, quantity, etc.

When done click on the Save button. On enabling it, the product will be available for your audience to buy. You may quickly enable a product by pressing the red cross beneath the Status option. The status would active on clicking it and now you would view a green tick rather than the cross.

Alternatively, to change the status of products in bulk – choose the preferred products and utilize the BULK ACTIONS drop-down menu.

SEO and URL Management

To activate this component, go at the dashboard, preferences, and then you will SEO and URLs. Here you flip at Yes for Friendly URL. Click save and at set shop URL you should let the default choices. Yet in case that you have not installed PrestaShop in your root directory, you ought to write the directory where PrestaShop is introduced.

Then when you go to the product, you can see that you have the name of the product in URL. You can change the arrangement of these URL when you go down at the route to products.

You can likewise modify the URL, Meta keywords, Meta descriptions, and page title from the page edit area.

The last segment is the Robots File Generation.

Tapping on the Generate a robots.txt file will automatically include a robots.txt file with exclusion mandates for directories and files that are not intended to be public and ought not be indexed.

This is just the procedure for a basic website. Extensive development is required to a full website and testing is required to ensure its stability. For this, an experienced web development company with skilled Prestashop experts can help you in the easiest way possible.

14 Reasons You Should Choose Prestashop for Your Online Store

Your search for a programming platform that promises a high rank to your online store based on a host of functionalities ends with Prestashop. This is an open-source platform which bestows a plethora of practical and aesthetic options to your e-commerce site. These benefits are the actual reasons that will prompt you to tread the Prestashop way so that you can take pride in presenting and managing a user-friendly online store.

1.A Multi-Faceted Platform

It will not be an exaggeration to quote that Prestashop is a one-stop-shop for all your e-commerce website development requirements. Prestashop promises effective performance coming from its modern features. Tag these benefits to the user-friendly interface that you can provide to your customer base. And you will have an e-commerce site driven by Prestashop that guarantees business growth.Using Prestashop, you can effortlessly manage a multi-product site which comes with unlimited categories.

2.Ease of Use

The next best thing that makes Prestashop an attractive choice revolves around the fact that is utterly simple to use. You do not have to master technical skills to set up the platform. It is as simple as downloading add-ons and installing them and you are all covered. A little effort to dig deep into the source code will go a long way in churning out a unique store for your online business. In this manner, you can integrate these add-ons of Prestashop into any of your online businesses, without any hassles.

3.A Cost-Free Solution

Prestashop is best suited to meet the website requirements of small and medium-sized online businesses since it does not demand any premium to create an account. You can access a number of high-quality add-ons which come with zero investment. Hence, Prestashop comes with the “freemium” tag that substantially reduces the financial burden of small online shopping businesses.

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4.A Highly Versatile Platform

With Prestashop, you can exercise a complete creative control over your e-commerce site. Out-of-the-box themes are the hallmark of Prestashop that will facilitate you to make any sort of a changes to your site. Not only is Prestashop compatible with a computer-based website, you can also employ its myriad features to churn out an M-Commerce site that can help online shoppers order your product lines through their smartphones.

5.Customization – A Promising Reason To Opt for Prestashop

You can refer to the Prestashop documentation that is available on the Cloud to customize your online store. Along with the advantage of installing several themes, you can make the most of the umpteen modules that can expand your online shop; based on usability preferences. In this way, you can guarantee a unique look to your website that will be appreciated by the global shopping populace.

6.An Effective Tool to Manage Your Online Products

With Prestashop, you can exercise better control over your online offerings. You are in a favorable position to engage in the daily management of your online merchandize. Prestashop allows you to categorize your products under various heads, thus permitting online customers to proceed with hassle-free shopping.

With Prestashop, you can declare your offerings tagged under the heads of “Discounted Products” and “Products without Shipping Cost”. This is made possible when you employ the Product Management module offered by Prestashop.

7.Stands in Good Stead With Latest Developments

Prestashop allows you to make the most of the latest versions of add-ons. You can simply download the new version that is launched and your website will eventually meet the growing expectations of online shoppers. In this manner, Prestashop will enable you to gain a competitive edge over your competitors who are spending loads of money to create e-commerce sites; that are not as versatile as yours.

8.A Path-Breaking Marketing Platform

You can make use of the Marketing module that Prestashop offers to not only promote your products but also to improve the user experience. This platform will spread a good word about your brand, ultimately bringing about brand awareness amidst online shopping circles.

With the growing dependence on social media platforms to make a purchasing decision, Prestashop helps you integrate your website with these platforms. This can work wonders to your online store, manifesting in the form of improved customer reach and retention.

9.An Interface that Makes Promotional Activities a Breeze

With Prestashop, you can effortlessly create successful online promotions, launch new products, run newsletter campaigns and engage in referral programs. You can initiate innovative practices to promote your online offerings which will show up in the form of increased website traffic.

10.A Potent Tool to Improve Your Bottom Line

An increased website traffic to your online store will eventually translate into increased sales. You as an online store owner can effectively manage your site through your Prestashop account and boost your conversion rates. You can also register increased product sales stemming from customer engagement.

You have the “One Page Super-checkout” plugin from Prestashop that is a dynamic tool which replaces the default checkout process. This plugin promises a compact, interactive and compelling checkout that can be carried out on a single page. Use this plugin to engage better with your customers and reap the fruits of your labor coming in the form of increased sales.

11.A Promising Platform for Efficient Store Management

The Store Management module offered by Prestashop helps you customize your store activities, while promising you an improved store performance. With Prestashop, you will be able to create customized invoices matching a particular product. Automation of store activities is another promising feature of Prestashop.

You can simplify the process of managing your products, categories and orders along with a dedicated attempt to attract your customers. All thanks to the intuitive interface of Prestashop, store management can be made extremely simple. To top it all, all these store activities can be performed through multiple Prestashop features; all in jiffy.

12.The Checkout Module Can Transcend Geographical Barriers

It is a well-known fact that online stores thrust a great deal of importance to customer comfort and user friendliness. In line with this basic premise of online shopping, Prestashop offers the Checkout module that helps customers proceed with the multi-currency option to pay for their online orders.

The platform allows customers to choose their currency through a secured payment gateway. Easing out the checkout process, this Prestashop module can help customers to proceed with a direct order which gets created in a short time. To sum it all, this module helps you increase your product sales while substantially bettering your conversion rate.

13.Numbers Are a Testimony To The Popularity of Prestashop

Tagged as the most commonly and widely employed programing platform that can churn out interesting e-commerce websites, a close look at the following numbers will strengthen your reason to pick Prestashop.

Launched in 2007, this platform has so far supported the e-commerce needs of more than 250,000 active stores which are spread across 190 countries. Offering more than 310 features, you will be surprised to know that Prestashop presents an array of over 3,500 modules and templates. Another reason that makes Prestashop the platform to develop a highly versatile online store is linked to the concept of localization. Choosing Prestashop will help you churn out an e-commerce portal in over 65 global languages.

14.The Latest Prestashop Version 1.7 Is Here!

A quick look at the promising features of the newest version of Prestashop 1.7 further supports your decision to choose it as your online store programming interface. Promising new architecture, the latest version further simplifies the checkout option through customization. Presenting a new starter theme, this version supports password security along with an easy website maintenance system. The list of benefits does not end here. Look up and install the latest version to enjoy an enhanced module integration with your current e-commerce website.

Closing Thoughts

All the above-mentioned reasons are in the actual sense the benefits of Prestashop. With so many advantages in place, you can make the most of the flexibility and scalability offered by this platform. An additional benefit comes through customization; a feature that is looked up to, by your brand loyalists. Thus, an in-depth explanation of all the reasons speaks volumes of the capabilities of Prestashop, bestowing you with umpteen bright spots that can illuminate your online store to your utmost surprise and satisfaction.

Reference Links:

https://medium.com/@saarahwilliams21/why-should-you-choose-prestashop-for-your-ecommerce-business-e7bfc19adff

https://www.quora.com/Why-should-you-choose-PrestaShop-for-your-eCommerce-business

https://issuu.com/www.knowband.com/docs/how_prestashop_one_page_superchecko

http://doc.prestashop.com/display/PS15/Customizing+your+shop