11.10.16
PrestaShop, an industry leader in open source solutions for ecommerce, today announces the availability of Version 1.7. This major update to the PrestaShop platform was developed by the PrestaShop team and their international community of developers. Version 1.7 puts significant focus on the importance of UX in ecommerce. Time-to-market and international commerce are also major themes in 1.7, reflecting the commercial strategies for many companies operating in ecommerce.
“With version 1.7, we want to give our community software that helps people to overcome the challenges of building and growing an online business,” says Corinne Lejbowicz, PrestaShop CEO. “PrestaShop 1.7 will enable everyone to focus on delivering more, with better quality, and faster. From the merchants to the web developers, 1.7 has significant innovations for everyone.”
Sell Faster: a shorter time to market
Adding new products, mass management of the catalog, module management, and optimized navigation… The user interface of Version 1.7 has been entirely redesigned to help merchants with the daily management of their store. Among these new features are faster and more effective back office management and a drastically reduced time to place products online. These features enable merchants to rapidly launch new products and promotions which is essential during busy retail seasons.
A newcomer to the PrestaShop community, Guillaume Prébois is a journalist, cycling enthusiast, and experienced e-retailer. Guillaume is getting ready to launch La Boutique du Cycliste on PrestaShop 1.7. “I chose PrestaShop to create my new e-store and signed up to be a beta-tester on 1.7. For me this new version was the opportunity to create a store with the highest quality products for cyclists. I am convinced that PrestaShop will help me to have the right store for my business; the launch of La Boutique du Cycliste is imminent.”
Create Easier: a unique user experience
The user experience is the way an e-merchant can create a unique brand experience online. They can foster customer loyalty and convert more visits into sales. To fulfill the goal of placing the user experience at the heart of the product, one of the major new features of 1.7 is the Starter Theme. The starter theme is a simple and flexible tool with all the functionality needed to design the perfect store. The starter theme gives web designers significant opportunity for creativity and customization.
Sébastien Levaillant, Product Management Director at PrestaShop, explains, “The user experience that all e-merchants want will be determined, in part, by their store design. With version 1.7 we’re enabling a whole new group of web designers and front-end developers to create sites that reflect their best design work. The starter theme will enable them to build amazing templates in no time.”
Code Better: Standardizing on Symfony
Version 1.7 incorporates new tools and standards, including the popular Symfony framework and PHP 7 compatibility. The goal is to improve site performance, code security, and to facilitate better development. Among these new features, the integration of Symfony is particularly significant. Developers who are already familiar with Symfony can start developing on PrestaShop very rapidly.
Fabien Potencier, CEO of SensioLabs and creator of Symfony, is delighted with this launch, “The integration of our framework in PrestaShop open source software is excellent news for the Symfony community in terms of opportunities. This means that our community can start developing new e-stores without additional training.”
PrestaShop software is available in 65 languages and through crowdsourcing with our community; Version 1.7 is already available in 25 languages. Merchants around the world can start using a local version of 1.7 right away.
