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- Tecnoacquisti.com
- Optimization and Web Vitals
This guide explains how to test the loading times and performance of an ecommerce PrestaShop. However, what is described in this guide can be applied to any type of website, regardless of the CMS in use. Performance has become vital since Google introduced the Web Vitals metrics.
Use GTmetrix
It is definitely the most convenient tool for testing the performance of our ecommerce in PrestaShop, unfortunately the free version offers few options and the test is conducted from Canada. Therefore, it is necessary to create an account to perform the test from a closer location; with the free subscription, we can test from London, which is certainly the best choice for obtaining more accurate data. Only with paid plans can we test our ecommerce from Paris and Frankfurt, providing more realistic data for the target market.
See: https://gtmetrix.com/locations.html
Using GTmetrix allows us to perform continuous performance monitoring in order to quickly identify any issues and take action. The service provides a set of recommendations to optimize PrestaShop and any website and CMS.
Use Chrome Developer Tools and Lighthouse.
To best analyze our ecommerce, it is advisable to use the developer tools provided by Google Chrome (already seen in the guide on responsive verification), this tool is by far the best available for this type of activity. Along with a VPN that allows us to test the ecommerce from foreign locations, it becomes an unbeatable tool.
Network Card
This Developer Tools tab is, after Console, the most useful one, allowing us to see in real-time what happens while we load our ecommerce in PrestaShop. It helps us identify any issues caused by modules or external services (Facebook pixel, verified reviews, etc.) and to see their impact on the performance of our Website. As I explained in an old article of mine - Why chasing Google Page Speed Insights is a mistake and a waste of time for your ecommerce? - the impact of external services can be very high, as many are served from US servers and suffer from latency.
First of all, it is very important to perform this type of test in incognito mode. (Ctrl+Shift+N on Windows or cmd+shift+n on Mac)
We can access the Developer Tools in the following ways:
- Using the keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+I
- Right-clicking on the page and clicking on "Inspect".
- From the Chrome menu in the top right corner, selecting:
More Tools -> Developer Tools.
Once the tool is open, simply navigate to "Network" (or Network if displayed in English). We refresh our page and will see the various elements appear as they are displayed. We should perform multiple tests for each page by simply refreshing the same page multiple times. Different results are due to the intervention of the cache or different loading times, both from our server and from the remote servers that provide external services like Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, CDNs for images, etc.
Use Lighthouse
Lighthouse is an installable extension in Google Chrome, click here to install it! Once installed, we just need to open Developer Tools, and we will find the tab "Lighthouse".
This tool, which is the same one used by Google's PageSpeed Insights, provides us with various metrics and useful tips to improve our site, giving us a score that is actually the least interesting data.
Is it possible to reach 100?
The correct question is, is it worth it? When an ecommerce in PrestaShop has a TTFB time of less than 200ms, it falls within the Web Vitals metrics and loads in less than 1.4s or less. In the example images, a clean installation of PrestaShop 1.7.7.8 was used, which has a full loading time of less than 800ms, and despite this, the score is just above 80.
It is a score, not a performance index.
Can we go further? Yes, with small modifications we can reach 90, and with template customization and database optimization, we can even reach 100, but the investment in work hours and the sacrifices to be made (no Page Builder, no external JS) make the solution practically too costly for a real improvement that is almost negligible.
Like a racing car, pure performance is achieved by reducing weight as much as possible.
Just perform the same test on large ecommerces, for example Amazon.com, to notice that even they do not invest to achieve high scores in this metric, even though 0.1 ms less loading time means hundreds of thousands of euros in additional revenue for them. In fact, they invest time in Web Vitals metrics and loading times, balancing needs with performance.
Perform more tests.
Regardless of the tool used as was done in the laboratories during physics lessons, for an accurate analysis, multiple measurements must be taken, and in our case, they should also be spaced throughout the day. This helps to reduce error and provides a more comprehensive view of the performance of our ecommerce in PrestaShop.
Mistakes to avoid
There are many free online services that allow you to test your ecommerce in PrestaShop, but you need to pay attention to the location from which the tests are conducted regarding the metrics shown: these are indications that need to be interpreted.
1. Pay attention to the location.
If our ecommerce is localized for the Italian or European market, the server where it is hosted will be physically located in Italy or another European country. Consequently, if we conduct a test even with valid services like GTmetrix, but from Canada, the results will be skewed by the latency of the connection, that is, the distance from Canada to the location of our server. Even the speed of light has its limits when distances are considerable.
2. Exchange a score for a performance index.
One of the most common tests concerns the use of PageSpeed Insights by Google. It is important to preface two important considerations regarding this: the first is that it is a score related to the adoption of certain technologies and not a performance index, the second is that the same result is based on Lighthouse, so it is worth considering the direct use of the extension for Chrome to get a more realistic result.
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Load Test PrestaShop with Siege
It is possible to perform a true benchmark and HTTP load test from the command line with Siege, which can be installed on Linux distributions. This test should be conducted with great care and with the permission of the provider where our website is hosted. In fact, it could be mistaken for a Denial of Service (DDoS) attack; in our FAQ you can find information about this type of test. The test shows the performance of our e-commerce in PrestaShop in responding to multiple simultaneous connections.
Author: Loris Modena
SENIOR DEVELOPER
For Ind Loris Modena, owner of Arte e Informatica, started working in the IT sector in 1989 as a system administrator responsible for the maintenance and installation of computer systems. He began programming for the web in 1997, focusing on CGI programming in PERL and later transitioning to programming in PHP and JavaScript. During this time, he became familiar with the Open Source world and the management of Linux servers.