PrestaShop 9.2: the AI assistant and whether to plan an upgrade

Each fresh PrestaShop release provokes the same dilemma: should the store be upgraded, and if yes, at what moment. With 9.2 that dilemma carries more weight than usual, since the back office can for the first time host a native AI assistant that responds to questions concerning store data and is able to modify it.

An AI assistant in the back office

AskAI, an assistant embedded in the back office, is the flagship feature. As the PrestaShop help centre explains, questions can be posed to it in ordinary language, for instance how many orders await shipping or which products have run out of stock, and it replies using the store's live data. Changes are possible too, to stock levels or an order for example, though an employee must approve each one beforehand.

Only the back office is where the assistant operates, meaning customers never encounter it. A key from one of the AI model providers is required: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral or a provider compatible with the OpenAI format. Storage of the key happens on the store's server, and per PrestaShop the store's data does not travel through its infrastructure. While the store sits in maintenance mode the assistant stays inactive. For stores wanting a customer-facing chatbot on the storefront, what it offers and what to prepare before deploying it are covered in the article on website chatbots.

The MCP server: a bridge between the store and AI applications

An MCP server underpins the assistant and, as PrestaShop's documentation states, links the store with AI applications like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. Via it, an AI application is able to search products, browse orders and customers or update descriptions across several languages. The MCP server has already left beta.

Where stores run custom modules, the crucial detail is that modules may expose their own functions to the assistant. Suppose a store has, for instance, an unusual module for wholesale orders; it can be extended so that the assistant is able to use it.

Other changes in 9.2

A one-page checkout also arrives with PrestaShop 9.2, placing address, shipping and payment on a single page, while the classic multi-step checkout remains on offer. With a new Extra Properties feature, stores can add their own fields to products, customers or orders without touching the core database, which ought to make future upgrades simpler for stores holding custom data. Beyond that come B2B foundations, currently as features to switch on, plus easier collaboration for several people on one PrestaShop account.

Upgrade risks

No two PrestaShop installations are alike. Versions compatible with 9.2 may not exist for third-party modules, overrides and custom changes, and the theme requires updating as well. A larger leap awaits stores still on 1.7 or 8 than those already on 9.1, and their exposure to incompatibilities is greater.

Prior to upgrading, establish which modules have compatible versions, which call for replacement and which call for rewriting, whether the theme supports the new version and whether the server is prepared for a newer PHP version. For particularly old stores, on 1.6 or early 1.7 for example, rebuilding the store and transferring the data frequently proves the better investment. Stores remaining on 8.2 for the time being continue to get security fixes and can treat that as an interim solution. Following the upgrade, store speed deserves a check too, since the new version, theme and modules alter how it behaves. What to examine is covered in slow PrestaShop store? A Lighthouse score is not the whole story.

Clicking a button is far from all an upgrade involves. Backups of the store and database come first, a test upgrade on a copy of the store follows, and the production upgrade happens only at the very end. When the store's condition before the upgrade is unclear, an e-commerce audit is a good place to start.

Upgrade in place or a fresh install with data migration

Two roads lead to version 9. An in-place upgrade raises the version of the existing installation together with its database, modules and theme. A fresh install with data migration starts from a clean PrestaShop 9, into which products, customers, orders and URLs are moved, while modules and the theme are chosen anew or rewritten. The first road keeps more of the current store, the second leaves behind overrides and modules nobody has used for a long time.

The state of the installation matters more than the version number. A store on 8.x whose modules have versions compatible with 9, and whose theme is still maintained by its author, usually goes through an in-place upgrade. A store on 1.7 with many core overrides, modules abandoned by their authors and a theme reworked by successive developers more often qualifies for a fresh install. For a PrestaShop 1.7 to 9 migration, a staged path with a stop at 8.2 is also considered, so the store can settle before the jump to the latest version.

Data migration can be performed manually using MySQL or dedicated modules such as MigrationPro; however, keep in mind that in most cases, it is far from a "one-click" process and must be conducted in maintenance mode.

What drives the cost and duration of a PrestaShop upgrade

Upgrade offers are hard to compare, because the same name covers different scopes of work. Some of them mean raising the version within one branch, for instance from 8.1 to 8.2, and do not include the move to version 9. In others, adapting modules, the theme and the PHP version sits outside the base scope and is priced only once problems surface. When comparing offers, it pays to check that they describe the same thing.

The cost and duration of a PrestaShop upgrade depend most on the version the store starts from, the number of third-party modules and whether their authors still maintain them, core overrides, how heavily the theme has been modified, integrations with wholesalers, ERP systems and marketplaces, and multistore mode with its language versions. The server and PHP version matter too, as does the condition of the database, where statistics and leftovers from removed modules pile up over the years. Any one of these can turn a simple upgrade into a long, troublesome process, which is why a credible quote follows a review of the installation. The scope of work for each starting version is described on the PrestaShop upgrade page.

When to upgrade

Should the AI assistant and MCP server suit how the store operates, they can be a solid reason not to delay the upgrade for long. Upgrades, migrations and maintenance of PrestaShop stores, along with configuring the AI assistant and MCP server, form part of the PrestaShop stores service.