PrestaShop is a free storefront that can be integrated with Sage 100, with the option to add on components or purchase premium templates at any time, making it a fully scalable platform. As one of the most well known and widely used open source storefront solutions on the market, there is a global ecosystem of users and developers utilizing its unique benefits. Today we’ll take a look at some features and functions of the software, how to access addons and templates, and why we think PrestaShop is a great option.
PrestaShop is open source software, meaning that its source code is available to the public, allowing developers to easily create programs and solutions for PrestaShop. However, this doesn’t mean you need to know how to code to use PrestaShop. Developers work within a framework, building specific pieces or components that get turned into templates and addons in the PrestaShop marketplace. With thousands of templates and addons to choose from, giving your website a look and feel that matches your products or services couldn’t be easier. PrestaShop developers can be found all across the world, and PrestaShop itself is just as widely known.
Main features of PrestaShop include:
Scalability – Addons and Premium Templates eliminate the tier system of software pricing, giving you the power to choose what matters most to you and invest in those features.
Customizable cart and secure payment options – One of the most important parts of an open source, online storefront is providing your customers with a secure checkout option. With countless ways to configure and customize your secure checkout module, whether you use PrestaShop Checkout or a module from the addons marketplace, you’ll be in full control and your customers will feel safe doing business with you.
Open source code – This goes hand in hand with scalability, and plays a key role in PrestaShop’s ability to provide an alternative to tier pricing. Open source allows anyone the opportunity to improve and modify code for PrestaShop, essentially expanding the products development resources. Improvements and modifications in the software can eventually become part of a software update or enter the Addons Marketplace. These developers are a valued part of the PrestaShop community and are constantly working around the world to make PrestaShop even better.
Usability and intuitive controls – PrestaShop excels in its ability to maintain a sophisticated approach without becoming too technical. More simply put, it’s designed to minimize the user’s learning curve and fast track their knowledge of the system. This means you don’t have to spend your time learning, you can get right to making it work for you.
How to get started
Templates
Each PrestaShop storefront comes with a default template, which you can customize to fit your business needs. Default templates come with all the essentials to get started, like a fully customizable multi-page website, links for social media, and a shopping cart. This template is great for starting out. It’s easy to navigate and utilizes the drag and drop method and text field editing so you don’t have to write a single line of code.
However, if you feel limited by the default template and want something even more powerful, or need something with a specific theme, accessing the Addons Marketplace is the perfect next step. With over 3,200 Premium templates to choose from the possibilities are near endless. Here’s how:
Located inside of the menu bar on the PrestaShop Website, there’s a section titled “Addons Marketplace”. Clicking that button will take you to the Official PrestaShop Addons Marketplace. The website templates and addon modules you’ll find here are designed to help customize your online store, increase traffic, improve conversion rates and build customer loyalty.
Shopping carts
PrestaShop offers a wide range of customization options for shopping carts, making it easy to streamline your customers’ shopping experience and create customer specific pricing options. Promotional discounts or exclusive offers can also be given to qualifying customers, and you can see buying trends, manage and sync inventory, and view analytics, all within your PrestaShop dashboard. Take your shopping cart functionality even further by syncing your Sage 100 system with your storefront using Web-Stor. This allows you to pull pricing methods directly from Sage 100 into your storefront, so customers see their specific pricing while shopping.
Secure payment options
Within your PrestaShop dashboard, under the Payment tab in your left sidebar, you’ll find the PrestaShop checkout module. Installing PrestaShop checkout will allow your customers to utilize a 100% secure payment option. PrestaShop checkout supports credit cards, debit cards, and PayPal, and there is no cancellation fee if you’d like to stop using it as your checkout method. This module is specifically designed to centralize all your transactions, making it easy to see all your sales in one place. Other payment modules are available in the addons marketplace.
Why choose PrestaShop
PrestaShop is often thought of as a worthy competitor to Magento and other higher end solutions, and it’s usability and wide selection of addons make it much more versatile than other free/low cost storefronts. PrestaShop gives you flexibility and intuitive controls on a platform that you can scale to fit any business, and integrate with your Sage 100 system to fully automate your online sales channels.
Learn how to connect your Sage 100 system to your storefront
