In our review about the most used CMS in e-commerce, we could not miss PrestaShop, the open source content management system used by one out of five online stores in Spain. So, we are going to tell you the main advantages and features of PrestaShop, templates, modules and options of the platform born from a university project by Bruno Leveque.
Installation and start-up
The latest version published by PrestaShop is version 1.7 and brings some changes compared to 1.6, in performance, design and internal structure. It incorporates the Megamenu to facilitate the creation of product categories. It bets on security and design, with the native module for page layout and design: Ap Page Builder.
Like other CMS, its basic installation is available in most hosting services that we can hire, from there, we will have to go through the cashier and choose one of the hundreds of templates available.
In case you have programming knowledge, you can opt for the base template and go tweaking and adapting the web to your design and brand, avoiding reloading the code of the page with CSS that you are not going to use.
Internal structure
The small changes in version 1.7 leave us with an internal structure that facilitates the customization of our e-commerce.

Order management
Having a user-friendly order management system that provides you with all the information you need to keep track of your orders. control over orders, statistics and shippingis essential to know the data of your business.
This is where the PrestaShop back-office has an added value compared to other CMS. It offers us:
- Backoffice Ids: Checking double transactions and errors
- Order status information and configuration
- Follow-up of the sale: We can know where the sale is coming from.
- Apply filters: weight, size, color...
- Contrast Back Office data VS Analytics: A statistics dashboard with the possibility of exporting data and comparing it with measurement platforms.
Modules for almost everything
If there is one thing that stands out in PrestaShop compared to other CMSs, it's the quantity and quality of existing modules to make any implementation. From creating a Marketplace for external stores, to synchronizing the store's product feed with advertising platforms, without needing to know how to code. The modules offer practical solutions to different problems.
PrestaShop has an official store to download and install modules with all the guarantees of security and performance. Although there are also developers who offer their modules in other portals. We leave you a modules link that are recommended as a must-have for any online store.
Translations and sales in other countries
More and more online stores are choosing to to sell in other countries in our environment. In this case, the translation of the product sheets, categories and template becomes essential.
PrestaShop makes it easy for us, offering, natively, the main changes to our website. So we can configure:
- Add a default language and country
- Default languages: en ca gl eu
- Units of measure
- Language and country code
- Currency
There are translation modules that make our work easier, although we always recommend an in-depth review and check the main terms and categories of the page.
Product sheet: titles and descriptions
And we come to the part where we have to present our product to the web surfers. This is where we always recommend to our customers invest time in describing and titling the products in order to be found by search engines, combining a broad description of our product, with photos and graphics that make the item for sale attractive.
PrestaShop is very convenient and easy to use.

The Catalog section encompasses the ecosystem of products, categories and brands. Each tab has clear options to optimize each product.
Options such as choosing the cover photo, product associations, category and subcategory where to associate the products, even the use of specific modules for each product, as well as filters to facilitate the customer's search.

Conclusions
Among the different CMSs we see daily in the agency, PrestaShop has been gaining an increasingly important place in e-commerce with catalogs of between 2,000 and 10,000 products.
The ease of managing many items and the variety of modules and solutions to customize online stores, make it a compelling choice for the vast majority of online stores.
The biggest drawback we detected is the price of modules and templates, having to make a higher initial investment than with other CMS for e-commerce management. We hope it will help you to make a decision and choose the CMS that best suits the characteristics and needs of your business.