The verdict in three sentences
PrestaShop 1.6 runs on PHP versions that no longer receive security fixes, exposing your 4,000 business customer accounts and their billing data. For a medical supplies distributor (our reference case is in Grenoble, and the figures hold for Berlin), a PrestaShop 8 upgrade (15,000 to 35,000 EUR excl. VAT) is the rational choice if your B2B rules are standard, Shopify B2B (about 2,300 USD per month) if you want out of technical maintenance, and custom headless (60,000 to 120,000 EUR) if pricing, per-facility catalogues and ERP integrations are complex. In all three cases, allow 3 to 5 months and treat migrating the 6,000 products and redirects as a project of its own.
The three options compared
| Criterion | PrestaShop 8 | Shopify B2B (Plus plan) | Custom headless |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project cost | 15,000 - 35,000 EUR | 20,000 - 50,000 EUR integration | 60,000 - 120,000 EUR |
| Recurring cost | Hosting 150 - 500 EUR per month + maintenance | About 2,300 USD per month + apps 200 - 800 EUR | Hosting 300 - 1,200 EUR per month + maintenance |
| Customer group pricing and tiered prices | Native, modules for advanced cases | Native B2B catalogues | Fully flexible |
| Catalogue restricted by facility type | Module, 500 - 2,000 EUR | Native via company catalogues | Native |
| Customer password migration | Possible | Not possible, email reactivation | Possible depending on build |
| ERP integration (Sage, SAP Business One, DATEV-connected tools) | Modules or connector 5,000 - 15,000 EUR | Apps or middleware 8,000 - 20,000 EUR | Custom API included |
| Typical timeline | 3 - 4 months | 3 - 4 months | 4 - 6 months |
PrestaShop 8 keeps your technical culture and modules (after compatibility checks, 30 to 50% of 1.6 modules usually need replacing). Shopify removes server maintenance but imposes its checkout logic and a monthly cost in dollars. Headless makes sense above 3 to 5 million EUR of online revenue or with multiple integrations.
Data migration: 6,000 products and 4,000 accounts
The main migration risk is not the new site, it is losing information and SEO rankings.
| Item to migrate | Volume | Estimated effort | Watch point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product pages and variants | 6,000 products, about 14,000 variants | 8 - 15 days | Manufacturer references, CE marking, PDF instructions |
| Customer accounts and addresses | 4,000 accounts, 9,000 addresses | 3 - 5 days | Price groups, VAT numbers, facility IDs |
| Order history | 5 years, about 60,000 orders | 4 - 8 days | Needed for quick reorder |
| Specific prices and contracts | 1,500 - 3,000 rules | 5 - 10 days | Negotiated discounts per facility |
| 301 redirects | 8,000 - 12,000 URLs | 3 - 5 days | 20 - 40% traffic loss if neglected |
| Regulatory documents | Instructions, safety data sheets | 2 - 4 days | Access restricted to professionals |
For some medical devices, sales must stay restricted to healthcare professionals. The new platform must keep access control by account type (practice, care home, pharmacy) and manual approval of new accounts.
Typical 4-month plan
| Phase | Duration | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|
| Audit and option choice | 2 - 3 weeks | Map of modules, data, URLs |
| B2B design and mock-ups | 3 weeks | Reorder flow, quotes, multi-user accounts |
| Development and ERP integration | 6 - 8 weeks | Platform on staging |
| Dry-run data migration, 2 iterations | 2 weeks in parallel | Data checked by sampling |
| Testing with 10 - 20 pilot customers | 2 weeks | Fixes before cutover |
| Weekend cutover, 30-day SEO monitoring | 1 week + follow-up | Live site, redirects verified |
Mini case study
Thomas runs a medical supplies distributor: 6,000 references, 4,000 accounts (practices, care homes, pharmacies), 2.4 million EUR of online revenue. His PrestaShop 1.6 suffered two incidents in 2025, each with 2 days of downtime, about 26,000 EUR of delayed or lost sales.
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He picks PrestaShop 8 for 28,000 EUR plus a 9,000 EUR ERP connector. Quick reorder and visible contract prices cut phone orders by 30%, about 0.4 of an admin role (16,000 EUR per year). With a cautious 5% lift in online revenue, 120,000 EUR and 30,000 EUR of margin at 25%, the project pays back in about 14 months, as an estimate.
FAQ
Can you go straight from PrestaShop 1.6 to 8?
Not as a simple update: you install a clean version 8 and migrate data into it. Expect 30 to 50% of modules to replace and 15,000 to 35,000 EUR in total.
Is Shopify B2B suited to medical supplies?
Yes for per-company catalogues and payment terms, at about 2,300 USD per month. Very fine per-facility rules may need extra apps at 200 to 800 EUR per month.
Will customers have to reset passwords?
On PrestaShop 8, passwords can usually be migrated. On Shopify, you send an activation invite, and in practice 60 to 75% of accounts reactivate in the first month.
How do you avoid losing SEO?
A plan of 8,000 to 12,000 301 redirects and 30 days of Search Console monitoring. Without it, organic traffic loss often reaches 20 to 40%.
When should you cut over?
Avoid heavy ordering periods for healthcare facilities. A weekend cutover with a 12 to 24 h order freeze is standard.
Let's scope your project. Send us your PrestaShop version, module list and ERP, and we will compare the three options with a budget of 15,000 to 120,000 EUR and a 3 to 5 month plan. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
