There are thousands of e-commerce platforms on the open source market that are vying for your attention. If you want to integrate an e-commerce platform into your online business you know that it can be an overwhelming search for the right one.
Features that are important include:
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community support
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mobile support
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search engine optimization
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great design
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secure payments
PrestaShop offers you as a business owner all of these necessary features and more. PrestaShop is an e-commerce shopping cart platform that places emphasis on customer satisfaction. With this shopping cart added to your business website you can expect one of the best plugins of this kind.
PrestaShop boasts over 250,000 unique clients that use their software. That alone speaks volumes to the success of this platform for businesses. There are businesses ranging in size from tiny single-owner boutiques to large brands.
What sets PrestaShop apart from others is that it is open-source. This means that you will not have to pay for the software since they give you the rights to use it. This type of business model also opens PrestaShop open to user additions, code tweaking and bug fixes all done by an active community of passionate users.
There are 5 things that you need to know before downloading PrestaShop. Below you can discover what those things are while learning if PrestaShop is the right platform to use with your online shop.
1. Open-Source Means Open Community
Open-source software means that the owner of the software can distribute the software to anyone that he or she chooses while providing access to the source code to promote public collaboration in development.
PrestaShop is open-source, and the community around it is a large one. Those who wish to edit every single file included in the source code can do so as they see fit. This makes PrestaShop a great platform to use if you want something that allows maximum freedom inside the software.
You can customize any file as you see fit and edit the files to your needs in a specific way. The developers of PrestaShop also encourage their users who make changes to the code to share it on the community so that all users may benefit. They even link to their page on GitHub so that you can see all the changes as they take place.
2. Responsive Design
Responsive design is something that is seeing more and more use as mobile devices are taking over the way that people surf the web. In fact more people are using their mobile devices to Google search than desktop users.
PrestaShop takes the importance of mobile responsiveness into consideration. This is a massive feature because it means that your customers can shop on your site no matter where they are. Your business can be explored on any platform which is great for you because your market will be that much bigger.
Visitors on your site can checkout in a quick and easy way. This will ensure returning customers because your site will be seen as one that cares about the user experience.
You can also manage your website's shopping platform from your own mobile device, a feature that pushes PrestaShop into the forefront of modern e-commerce platforms.
3. Marketing Matters
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is vital to growing an online business. With strong SEO you can make sure that your web shop will show up in search results across the web. The right SEO content can take your business to the next level and increase the number of unique visitors per month.
SEO is made easy with PrestaShop. It offers built-in SEO support that helps you make creative decisions to bring in more Internet traffic. You can edit the Meta title, Meta description and provide a unique product URL. All of this is done inside of your platform management.
Not only that but PrestaShop makes information such as price, reviews and availability seen in search results because of its integration of schema.org data. Search results for your site will be smart and efficient. This sets your business apart from the competitors and gives your potential customers what they need to know without wasting their time.
4. Custom Themes
Making your e-commerce plugin blend into your site is of high priority as a responsible Internet business owner. You will find over 2,000 unique themes to choose from in order to customize your shopping platform to fit into your website.
This is an excellent feature because it shows that the developers care about keeping your product consistent in its presentation to your clients. Your site will look more professional with the use of an interesting theme.
The option to purchase custom templates is also available. Prices range from low to high but each template that is offered is beautiful, functional and ready to go. You will spend less time tinkering and more time drawing in customers with the use of a professional template.
5. The Right Payment
With PrestaShop you will find integrating the payment platform of your choice is simple and secure. You have a large selection of available payment methods to choose from so that you can find the one that suits your business the best.
Options include:
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PayPal
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Amazon Payments
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Sky Bank
No matter which platform you need you will find it with this software. Pick the one that is right for your region and audience.
If you have any questions you can contact PrestaShop's reliable customer service. They are known for their quick support, friendly demeanor and genuine care for their customers.
Choose a platform for your business that will not only bring in more sales but also make you a leading face in your market. If you go with PrestaShop you can expect to see positive growth in your e-commerce activity while becoming a part of a great community that respects the importance of strong and reliable software.
What you don't have to be worried about is where you host PrestaShop when you choose Hosting.com! Your store will be hosted on our high performance SwiftServer platform that will give you a step up on your competition.
