When is it a good time to migrate from Shoper to Prestashop?

Are you taking your first steps in the e-commerce business? Are you hesitant if your products are going to sell? Do you want to test your business idea before implementing a personalized store on Prestashop? 

If so, a ready-made online shop on the SAAS platform will be the best solution. The most popular service of this sort is Shoper. Thanks to this solution, you can test your idea for a very low price. If your online shop turns out to be profitable, you can migrate to a different platform.

Today I will tell you how to migrate your online store from Shoper to Prestashop. 

A store on Shopper is better than a store on PrestaShop

Yes, I’m seriously writing this. While running a Prestashop agency for 12 years, I often advise clients to start with a different platform. Shoper can be a better starting solution in many cases. 

It offers a cheap and short commissioning process. You can start selling in your e-commerce within only a few days. Of course, you have to have your own domain or buy an SSE certificate, but you will have a quick working tool. You add products by hand and set up payment methods. Thanks to the low cost, you will be able to test:

• the ability to generate store traffic,
• the ability to encourage users to shop,
• logistic efficiency,
• the profitability of the sales model and the implementation of business assumptions.

But is Shoper for everyone? Not if you already have a proven business idea. For example, you already sell locally or in marketplaces. You have specific requirements to be implemented in an e-commerce store, which I will explain in the next paragraph, and it turned out that no SAAS platform will meet them. In this case, you should immediately implement the store on an open-source platform, such as Prestashop or another dedicated solution.

What limitations will force you to migrate from Shoper to PrestaShop?

The answer to this question is simple. Check if you have encountered the following limitations in your business.

1. Graphics, templates, UX design – Shoper limitations

You want to create better graphics and change something in the structure of the template. The Shoper store, unfortunately, only allows partial changes. Another example – you have custom fields for products and would like to display them on the product card. Sadly, you cannot add a custom field in a Shoper template. Maybe you would like to show payment methods differently – this also is not possible.

2. Functionality – the possibilities of Prestashop

You need to add some functionality to the store, but for various reasons, it is not possible on Shoper. Shoper does not have such a function, and the service will be available in a few months. An example would be a non-standard customer discount system used simultaneously in another sales channel.

3. Integration difficulties in the store

Most SAAS platforms provide an API from which you can download various things. Sometimes there are integration restrictions. The API allows you to download only certain items.
For example, there are no fields in the order or the ability to download detailed information about the customer such as related transactions, and payments. Sometimes it will not be possible to integrate with ERP the way you would like. For example, it’s impossible to send two price lists for one customer.
You want to send a PDF invoice to the client but cannot connect it to his order in the client panel. Maybe you sell not only in the online store but also through other channels. Customers may want their orders from different channels to be visible in one profile. SAAS does not always provide such opportunities.

4. Lack of control on SAAS platforms

A store created on the SAAS platform does not really belong to you. The site creator can make changes to the store template at any time. This can affect its appearance. You also have no influence on, for example, whether a given platform will cease to exist. It will disappear from the market and then what happens to your store? More likely, it will be bought by a big player who will make big changes.
These are not common situations but should be taken into account to avoid problems and additional costs. Especially when you start paying developers to customize the platform to your needs.

When is it worth migrating your online store to PrestaShop?

You are the one who needs to feel the limitations that are slowing down your business, and making you feel unsatisfied and want to do something more. This is normal in the development of any business.

When is it worth considering changing? A lot depends on the scale of your activities. You know that one full-time job costs a minimum of PLN 40,000 per year. Think about how much you could increase your income by implementing automation of logistics, sales, or customer service processes will relieve employees or increase their efficiency.

You should be interested in the new functionalities available. Learn about new development and automation opportunities for an online store. Find out what solutions have led to the development and greater success of other entrepreneurs. For example, by how many percent has the number of orders increased due to the given change?

For example, changing the delivery and payment methods in the purchasing process for one of our clients resulted in an average of a 13-17% increase in sales.

What does that mean? At a certain scale, the cost of migrating your online store to the PrestaShop platform will pay off within a few months!

In the next article, we described the migration process from Shoper to the Prestashop platform.

Summary – migrating to PrestaShop

Are you satisfied with the results of your Shoper store? Do you have all the functionalities you need? Are you satisfied with the income and do not feel the need to go one step further? Use your time and money to develop in other areas of your e-commerce.

Are you ready to go to the next level? Do you need more? Have your requirements increased? It’s time for a change!