Prestashop vs. Shoptet – what is the best platform for e-shop creation?

Developing an e-shop out of nothing only with the use of code is some kind of relic these days. Even though you can create truly any websites this way, it is also toilsome and lengthy way of doing it. Majority of smaller, medium-sized and a part of the bigger e-shops is built upon one of the platforms, which are meant for the e-shop creation and make the work considerably easier. Let's have a look, which one is the best.

Prestashop and Shoptet are one of the most used platforms for creating e-shops in the Czech Republic. They offer simple interfaces in which you can create at least an online store for anyone, even without knowing any code. However, each of these platforms works a little differently. So which one is better.

What are e-commerce platforms?

First, let's explain what e-commerce platforms are. These are programs in which you can create your e-shop using pre-made templates and elements. Each platform has its own editor, in which you can edit your shop freely. This saves you a lot of time and money, because you don't have to have the site intricately programmed from scratch. All templates and most elements are editable, so you can make your store exactly the way you want it and be different from the others. In order to find out which e-commerce platform is the best, we will first present them separately and then compare them.

Prestashop

Prestashop is one of the world's most used e-commerce platforms. When creating an online store, it offers thousands of templates to choose from, which you can freely customize to achieve exactly the design you want. In addition to the almost limitless options for customizing the look and feel of your site, Presta offers a variety of features you can use to outfit your e-store.

Although Presta is not originally a Czech brand, it is no problem to create an entire website with perfect localization for the domestic market. Whether it's language, currencies, shipping methods and carrier connections, payment methods and a whole host of other extensions. In fact, thanks to its size, Presta offers extensions for almost anything you can think of. You can also connect it to a variety of analytics, accounting and other tools.

So you can create your e-shop in Presta exactly the way you want it, much easier than if you had to hand-code the entire site from scratch. Still, with so many features, building a store in Presta is not a piece of cake. If you don't have any experience with coding or web development, you'll probably struggle a bit with the platform at first. For those who do know Presta, however, it holds tremendous potential for creating the ideal e-commerce store. Once the store is well designed, maintaining it afterwards is a breeze.

Shoptet

Shoptet is a Czech platform that was created in 2009. It is especially popular with smaller companies that have brick-and-mortar stores or offer smaller quantities of products and want to do everything themselves. Its main advantages are especially very easy to use and Czech localization. Shoptet offers you several templates on which you can start building your e-shop. You can also choose from many accepted payment and shipping methods.

The platform also offers over 200 different add-ons that you can use to enhance your e-shop. Of course, EET support, which is no longer necessary for e-commerce, is also available, as well as links to various accounting systems, price comparisons and affiliate marketing support.

However, simple interface is at the expense of limited adjusting possibilities. Currently you have a choice of 10 templates, whose layout is only partially changeable. There are almost 29 thousand e-shops running on Shoptet, therefore your e-shop will probably resemble someone else’s due to limited editing possibilities. Only in the Czech Republic, there are nowadays around 50 thousand active e-shops, and originality is a key factor in gaining new customers. Another problem you can encounter while developing an e-shop in Shoptet is complicated or even impossible localization in case you would like to translate your website into another language and distribute your products outside of the Czech Republic. 

Comparison

We introduced Shoptet and Presta individually. Now it's time to put them side by side and summarize what we've actually learned. Shoptet is definitely easier to use and right from the start, your store is fully localized for the Czech Republic. Presta, however, offers a lot more options, both in terms of design and e-shop features.

As we wrote above, Shoptet can be a good choice either for companies that also have brick-and-mortar stores, the e-shop is only supposed to be an add-on and they like to do everything themselves, or for small entrepreneurs who just need the very basics. The Shoptet e-shop can be "clicked" from the available functionalities during a weekend by almost anyone, without much knowledge of e-shop systems.

But if you want to have a classy online store and differentiate yourself from others, Prestashop is definitely the best choice. Creating an e-shop in this platform is noticeably more challenging than with Shoptet, but the result is worth it. And if you don't feel like doing it yourself, you can leave it to the professionals.

Another difference is that the e-shop on Shoptet is not yours, but you pay its monthly rent to the operator of the platform. Prestashop is yours, individual extension modules are in the hundreds of crowns and you don't pay any monthly fee for operation or commission on sales. The investment in a new e-shop on Prestashop is certainly higher than on Shoptet, but you are the master of your e-shop from the beginning and there are hundreds to thousands of possibilities for customization.

Last but not least, it is also important to mention that you need to think about future management, expandability and possible customizability of the e-shop. A large number of companies and skilled individuals will customize your e-shop on the Prestashop platform, but customization on Shoptet is inherently very limited, often impossible. However, many of you will not be bothered by this and it is not an obstacle. In short, it's always a good idea to take a comprehensive and forward-looking look at your new e-shop and choose the most suitable and appropriate platform accordingly.

Having a professional-looking and fully functional e-shop is no longer just a privilege for a select few. Anyone can have a proper online store today, and for a song. At Presta, we've built dozens of stores and we're happy to help your project too. We will listen to your wishes, discuss everything in detail and create a store exactly according to your ideas. If you are interested in the idea of an original and smooth e-shop, do not hesitate to contact us. And if you are interested, we will be happy to take care of the marketing, which we understand just as well. This way you can concentrate on what you really enjoy.