Make sure we download the latest version of Prestashop, this is to ensure that we are building an online shop or online store with stable version and the best security as possible.

And, here is the..

How to download the Prestashop files from the official website.

• Go to http://www.prestashop.com/en/downloads

How to download the Prestashop files from the official website

• Give the answer to the questions of Your name, Your email, who you are (A merchant, A developer, A web-agency or other).
  Note: You do not have to give the answer to those questions, but it really help Prestashop team to know their users if you give them the answer to those questions.
• After giving the answers to those questions, then hit the Downloadbutton, and you will be taken to the following webpage.
  

  Prestashop final version of 1.4.4.1

•  The last step is to click that Download Prestashop button in order to get the latest version of Prestashop right from the official website.

That is it. There we have it.

Now you have the Prestashop files in your computer and what you need to do next is to extact the Prestasop files with the free application that is written here.

how to extract files or aplication with 7zip

One of my favorite Free Software that is installed in my PC is the free software to extract files and application with free software called 7-zip.

This free software also is needed when you are planing on building up an online store with Prestashop, in fact this Prestashop Book Tutorial blog is explaining on how to extract Prestashop files that we download from the official website, since the files are zipped.

I know that Windows Operational System already has the built in peace of software to extract files, but the other advantage of this free software called 7-zip is the ability to not only extracting the files that has .zip file extension, but also many other such as .rar, .iso, .7zip, and many others.

without a further do, let’s just download this free software for the official site and follow the step by step image below:

1. Go to http://www.7-zip.org/
2. Click on the download link.
   

   download 7zip

3. Once you downloaded, double click and hit the install button.
   

   how to install 7zip

After you follow the instruction above and this free software called 7-zip installed on your computer, you can easily extract files and application by right-clicking on the zipped files, select Zip and then click on Extract Here.

extract files and aplication with 7zip

That is how you install the free software and extracting files with 7-zip.

Please leave your comment, bellow. I always interested in what you have to say.

Understand the disadvantages and advantages of online shop

It is sometimes not easy for everyone to make a decision other in relationship with friends or even in making decision in business.

If you are a someone who wants to sell something or currently selling something offline and wanted to try to sell your product online, you really have to understand the Pros and cons between Offline and online store.

Here are some ideas of Pros and cons between Offline and online store.

The only disadvantages of Online store are:

• Not easy to find a customers for  the very fist day.
  Of course this is not easy for the very first day since we only web the information about our business and products.

• Not easy to convince customer about our products.
  Not easy to make our customers or our future customers to trust us since they can only read the details information of our product that we are selling without seeing them or touching them, and this will be a lot harder if we are selling a brand new product that is not currently familiar in the market.

The advantages of Online shop are:

• Incredible convenience: In comparison to a brick and mortar store with fixed hours, online shoppers can choose any time of the day or night to get on the Web and shop. This is especially useful for moms with small children, people that are home-bound, or simply in times of inclement weather.
• Price comparisons: When you visit a store, you most likely have to settle for whatever price the vendor has placed on a particular item. Not so with online shop – you have the ability to compare prices from hundreds of different vendors.
• Infinite choice: Shelf space in a brick and mortar store is limited, which means that your variety of goods is limited. Not so with an online store. Plus, if you don’t see what you want in one store online, you can simply move on to the next one – you’ve got the power to do that.
• Easy access to consumer reviews: It’s easy to access consumer reviews for pretty much any product you can think of online, which makes for more informed purchases.
• No pressure sales: We’ve all been awkwardly propositioned by eager salespeople. You don’t have to put up with that online.

These are just some of the advantages of online shop.

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What is an online store

Before we learn further about on how to build an online store with Prestashop through this Prestashop Book online, I would really what what is an online store or web store.

According to the Wikipedia,  A webstore is a website that sells products or services and typically has an online shopping cart associated with it. With the popularity of the Internet rapidly increasing, online shopping became advantageous for retail store owners, and many traditional “brick and mortar” stores saw value in opening webstore counterparts.

As explained by Wikipedia above, we can understand that an online store or webstore is more likely a real shop that we normally go to on weekend or anytime when we need to buy something.

And here is the Webstore characteristics according to Wikipedia as well.

Webstore Characteristics

Webstores typically share several similar characteristics, such as:

• Sell Products or Services – Although some webstores are simply informational websites for the retail store or company they are associated with, most webstores do sell specific products or services.
• Ecommerce Shopping Cart – The goal of most webstores is to have customers buy their products. These stores have an online shopping cart on their web site, and customers are able to add products to the shopping cart, enter their payment information, and check out.
• Niche Industries – Many webstores target a specific industry and find their own unique corner of the market. However, exceptions include Amazon.com which found success in offering customers a myriad of products.