PrestaShop Software - Prestastore Update

In a previous post, I talked about the release of Prestashop 1.2 (alpha) and some of the new features that were being implemented with the software such as

• Improvements in statistics with tracking and affiliation options.
• New mail-alert functions.
• Client groups.
• Improved search.
• Advanced tag management.
• Possibility of attaching files to products (PDF, images, etc.)
• And many others ... you can find the changelog on the previous post here

But the biggest news coming soon will be the upcoming unveiling of PrestaStore, which will be introduced via the PrestaShop  BackOffice in version 1.2.

So what is PrestaStore?

PrestaStore is the new marketplace for all things PrestaShop. The goal for PrestaStore will be to create a marketplace where contributors (programmers and web designers) who work as freelancers or for Web agencies, can submit their work and thus connect with merchants who use PrestaShop.

For contributors, there are two types submissions that can be made:

• Modules, which extend functionality around the heart of the PrestaShop code.
• Themes, which allow users to personalize the graphic appearance of their online stores.

Revving up in 3 speeds

The launch of PrestaStore will be carried out in 3 stages:

1. Prestashop will target contributors who could make their work available as soon as the site is launched.
2. Prestashop will open the site only to these same contributors in order to have time to validate the quality of their work.
3. The Website will be open to the general public.

PrestaStore, the place of choice for improving PrestaShop

The goal of the project is essentially to centralized place for information that is currently disseminated.  It is also to lend visibility to the numerous and growing list of people who work on the Prestashop software. Prestashop also hope to facilitate the personalization of PrestaShop stores by e-Merchants. The PrestaStore platform will therefore be the preferred place to find all supplementary functionality based on PrestaShop code. 

The overall result is that Prestashop will have greatly simplified the process for obtaining modules and Themes; customers will simply go to PrestaStore and choose the category in which they hope to find suitable modules to enhance and optimize their PrestaShop online store.

What will be available at launch?

At the launch, there will be several categories as follows:

• Price comparators,
• Logistics,
• Payment tracking & conversion,
• Themes. 

Later, Prestashop will widen the choice based on new modules  and the creativity of the community!  In order to obtain a product, all you will need to do is find what you require, add it to your shopping cart and validate the order. The customer will then receive an e-mail containing a link for downloading.
 
At launch, about 40 products will be proposed from the Prestashop team.  Big names such as Fia-Net, Shopping.com, kelkoo, Amazon, etc, will be present.  Contributions by the community will then be added.
 
Contributions will help to (for example):

• Automate customer management
• Propose various payment services by responding to the needs of merchants and customers, regardless of their bank
• Improve product and promotional visibility of a shop within numerous price comparators.

Security and quality is something that Prestashop are very concerned about; therefore all submissions will be verified by Prestashop staff before being added to PrestaStore. Prestashop will also carry out an auditing service of all the submissions made.

About Prestshop

PrestaStore is a development undertaken by PrestaShop. They hope to unite in one place those contributors who provide quality work based on our software that will help to continue to attract new users to their open-source software.

PrestaShop is open-source e-commerce software that allows e-merchants to sell their products on the Internet thanks to its powerful tool-set.  The company was founded in 2007 by Bruno Lévêque and Igor Schlumberger. The Prestashop solution has been downloaded at a rate of more than 25,000 times per month, and 15,000 of these downloads are currently in production according to Mikaël Bellina. Communications Manager, PrestaStore.
 
PrestaShop software stands out with its ease-of-use and the growing number of capabilities it offers including many Web2 features. Version 1.2, currently in Alfa will again extend the capabilitie.

Visit the prestastore website at  http://www.prestastore.com or the main site at www.prestashop.com

Article posted: 7th May 2009