If you want to open an online store or improve and renew the one you already have, PrestaShop is the solution for these needs. It is a CMS, commonly known as content management system, used for the creation and administration of online stores and their contents. For this reason, PrestaShop has been recognized as one of the best CMS for ecommerce since it appeared in 2007, revolutionizing the ecommerce sector.
In addition, PrestaShop is a web application, which uses the PHP programming language. Therefore, it has a public part (the one that users and customers who visit your website will see) and a Back Office (the private part or administrator panel, to which only you have access to do the administration of your online store). Keep in mind that, in order to have your online store, you also need to register the domain name, by which it will be accessed on the Internet. In addition, it has 310 features that continue to expand daily.
PrestaShop is currently one of the most widely used CMSs in Spain and internationally for developing online stores. As of today, there are more than 250,000 stores created with PrestaShop.
One of the biggest advantages of PrestaShop is that it is an open source CMS and free download. This means that you can modify its source code without needing a license to do so. In addition, downloading it to get started is completely free.
With all this, the only thing you need to run your online store in PrestaShop is to connect it to a database to be accessible through a web browser, and be installed on a web server or hosting to function so that the store can be visited on the Internet. Another of the advantages of PrestaShop is that, when it comes to install it, you have two options to choose from: locally (on a private computer, being only accessible to you) or remotely, either on a hosting or web hosting.
By being able to install PrestaShop locally you will be able to test and install everything you need (modules, plugins...) so that your online store has all the requirements and features you want, as well as learn how to use it.
Templates are another advantage of PrestaShop. If you are looking for a simple design for your online store and you have no notions of design, you can choose the look of your store from an extensive catalog of PrestaShop templates or themes. These templates are a method of separating content from design. However, if you want to stand out from the rest of your competitors, we recommend you to count on web design services to get a 100% customized and unique store.
On the other hand, PrestaShop has a wide variety and diversity of modules with which to improve both the design and functionality of your online store. These modules are extensions with which to expand the functions of your store, in terms of administration of the same as level of complements that improve it for your customers, such as blog modules, alert bars, pop-ups suggestions, cookies warning ... Both modules and templates can be found in PrestaShop Addons, the official marketplace of PrestaShop. In addition, in our online store you can also find the best PrestaShop certified modules, very useful for your online store.
It is one of the most complete tools with which you can manage your product catalog, whatever size it is, make inventory of your products, updating it whenever you need it easily.
It has an intuitive design, both for administrators and customers. Any action such as customizing images, displaying best-selling products or creating contact forms, among others, is super simple in PrestaShop.
With PrestaShop, you can also optimize and position your online store for the major search engines.
While it is true that you can take the first steps with your online store yourself, there are many reasons to hire a PrestaShop agency to help and advise you in the improvement and administration of your online store.
One of them is to help you in the decision of the design and development of your online store. Relying on professionals with extensive experience and professional experience in the sector, you can get a much more competitive store than your competitors in all aspects, but especially in terms of usability and versatility.
Taking advantage from the experience of the best experts can give you the peace of mind of having your company in the best hands, with the support of professionals who will help you and provide support in the event of any incident.
The PrestaShop agencies are companies with which you can partner to accompany you in the management of your online business, and from which to have a set of professionals specialized in the creation, design, development and optimization of online stores in PrestaShop.
By hiring a PrestaShop agency, you ensure that you take the right steps so that your customers are safe when shopping in your online store. You will be guided at all times to avoid making mistakes that can damage your store during its management and administration. They will also help you maximize your store's conversion rate and improve your marketing actions to attract traffic. And, if you need it, you will be able to undertake more ambitious projects such as integrations with ERP, CRM... so that your business acquires greater scope and growth. But above all, you will save more time if you delegate certain tasks to the best experts.
There are several platforms that exist to create your online store. But some are more suitable than others. Therefore, we will help you make a decision and tell you which option is best to create your online store. When it comes to your ecommerce the most important thing is that you get good advice on the features, advantages and disadvantages of each of them so that the work and dedication you put into it will pay off.
PrestaShop is a great option to get started, as it is completely free (you only have to pay for hosting). With it you don't have to pay fees or percentages for sales. It has more than 500 initial functions with which to launch your online store. It is perfect for small and medium-sized businesses and it is also scalable. That is, you will be able to expand features as your business grows and your sales increase. Being open source, you can make any changes you need and you will not have limitations or registration fees. In addition, it is translated into 65 languages, being very easy to configure for SEO.
Shopify is an ecommerce tool with a good reputation and a large amout of followers, which has been in business since 2006. It has more than 600,000 online stores. It is very simple and intuitive, with it you can create an online store, organize the product catalog and customize its design in a few steps, so it is not necessary to have many development skills to have your own online store. It accepts different forms of payment, in addition to many other features. It has about 100 free templates to set up the web design and others that are paid. It also has a mobile app to manage your store from any device. In addition, Shopify handles all hosting, security and maintenance issues and problems, offering 24/7 support. However, for each card payment made in your online store you must pay a fee and a percentage (depending on the plan you have contracted, being 2% the minimum) for each payment made by your customers through Paypal or PayU. Finally, Shopify is not open source and cannot be modified, but uses a proprietary language called Liquid.
Woocomerce is a WordPress plugin that allows you to create an online store. This is the option for some companies that already have a website or blog and want to expand its functionality to an online store. It is very easy to use and has a wide variety of templates to define the look of your store, products and services. In this case, it is not necessary to have a dedicated hosting to make it work. However, keep in mind that with it you will find certain limitations, since it is not a native e-commerce platform, but rather an add-on for WordPress. Therefore, every time you need to improve or complete functionalities of your online store, you will need to purchase a new plugin. In addition, in terms of catalog capacity, it has certain limitations. Finally, in terms of hacks, it is the one that offers the least security.
When it comes to deciding the design of your online store, the first thing you should know is that it is best to entrust this aspect to an experienced professional. This is the only way to get good results. The design of an online store is not only a beautiful appearance and layout with bright colors. It takes into account aspects such as:
- Usability. The simplicity of the purchasing process in your online store and the success of sales depend on it. To do this, you must put yourself in the customer's shoes. Simplify and focus on the information that is most relevant to the user, use the explanatory texts and additional information that are necessary, establish clearly and from the beginning which will be the shipping costs, and always keep in mind the mobile version since most online purchases are made from smarthpone.
- Brand identity and graphic design. These two aspects will be conditioned, to some extent, by the platform you have chosen for your online store. Also, if you have a physical store (to create a corporate identity that matches and identifies with the physical business), the type of products you sell and the type of customers you are targeting.
- Store elements and modules. Use only those elements of functionality that will be useful to your customers. To do this you must take into account, once again, your type of product. The most useful will be:
- The search engine, with advanced search for filtering.
- Featured, recommended or best-selling products.
- Related or related complementary products to enhance cross-selling.
- Product comparators, in case of very technical or similar products.
- Comments, opinions and recommendations from other customers. They are usually decisive for the purchase decision.
- Newsletter subscription discounts.
- Loyalty and discounts or coupons to encourage customers to return to your store.
- Contact form to solve any doubt.
- Share on Social Media to give repercussion to your products.
Our advice is to try to create a minimalist store where you focus on the essentials. Eliminate everything that is not indispensable, avoid cluttering the web and distracting customers from what is important, which are your products and the purchase.
Not all users come to your online store from the home page. It may be that they reach the product category via Google. Therefore, pay attention to all the details of each of the pages of your online store (product categories, product sheets, blog...).
Avoid large sliders, as they are heavy and hurt the loading speed (something very negative for Google). In addition, customers are interested in products, so if you are thinking of using more than one image for the slider, forget it. Before deciding on one design or another, study your competition and differentiate yourself from them based on your corporate identity.
If you already have the idea, the product and you are in the process of creating your online store, you should know that you will need to hire a series of services if you want your ecommerce to be successful, go far and function correctly.
- Hosting Services. In order for users to visit your online store, you need to upload it to a server. To do this, you need to hire the services of a good hosting provider. At the time of contracting it you will have to choose between:
- Shared hosting with other stores and websites. They are cheaper and easier to manage. Although the performance and space is lower and limited, since you are sharing resources with other websites. In addition, the behavior of the other websites will also influence yours in case of server downtime.
- VPS (Virtual Private Server). It is another method of server sharing, but in a separate and independent way. Each VPS has an operating system, which can be rebooted separately. Its capacity will depend on what you hire. In addition, you can find them self-managed (you manage it) or managed (which will be managed by the server company).
- Dedicated server. In it all the available space will be yours, with all the bandwidth and resources. Of course, the price of these is higher compared to the two previous cases. This is usually the option for large companies with a lot of web traffic.
- Web maintenance/development services. With them you can always keep your online store up to date and you will have professional technicians at your disposal to make the changes and modifications you need to improve your store. With these services you will delegate the technical, maintenance, configuration and emergency tasks of your online store. This way, you will be able to focus on what is really important: sales.
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SEO and SEM services. To get the highest sales you need customers to know you and be positioned in the first results of Google. This is achieved by working on SEO optimization to receive organic traffic. To do this, it is best to hire the services of SEO experts who are responsible for working on the optimization and improvement of your online store through the techniques and strategies determined and customized.
For these purposes, it is also necessary to carry out a correct SEM strategy in which to carry out the relevant advertising actions on Google and Facebook Ads.
- Logistics Services. For an online store, logistics is fundamental. The smooth running of your business also depends on it. Having a good logistics partner can lead you to success. The transport company that delivers your packages to your customers is actually an ambassador of your brand, it is the first physical contact with your company and the one your customer meets. That is why it is so essential for a completely successful buying process and to build customer loyalty.
