Mastering PrestaShop Store Management for BTS NDRC Exams

David Davis · 2026-01-22

If you're preparing for the BTS NDRC E5B technical exam, you know the PrestaShop store management section can feel overwhelming. It's the second evaluation block, and the tasks they can ask you to perform are numerous and varied. Let's break it down together, step by step, so you can approach this with confidence rather than anxiety. You'll need to manage your time carefully during the 40-minute exam. This block typically takes about 13 minutes and represents 6 to 7 points out of 20. The other two question blocks focus on product sheet creation/modification and customer service (SAV) respectively. We're focusing on the store manipulation part today. ### Understanding the Evaluation Framework First things first – the evaluation criteria come from an academic circular (Annex VII-I) that gets updated annually. The 2025 version outlines exactly what you need to know. Think of it as your roadmap. Without it, you're just guessing what might be on the exam. The framework covers eight main areas: Appearance, Content, Orders and Promotions, Images, Modules, Navigation, SEO, and Users. We'll touch on most of these today, though some deeper content aspects like customer complaints and predefined messages will be covered in that upcoming SAV article. ### Navigating Your Store's Appearance This is where you make the first impression. You'll need to know how to display and arrange homepage blocks. Can you move the Popular Products section? What about New Arrivals? These aren't just decorative choices – they're strategic decisions that affect user experience. You'll work with two pre-installed themes in version 9. Learning to reposition blocks between them and configure navigation blocks is fundamental. It's like rearranging furniture in a physical store to guide customers naturally toward what you want them to see. ### Managing Content and Display Here's where things get practical. You need to display products effectively, showcase special offers, and present your company information clearly. Creating categories and subcategories falls here too. It's not just about putting products online – it's about organizing them so customers can actually find what they need. One student told me recently, "I finally understood categories when I thought of them like aisles in a supermarket." That's exactly right. You wouldn't put milk in the cereal aisle, right? Same principle applies here. ### Working with Store Resources This section covers the backbone of your operation. You'll manage customers (creating and managing client groups), handle delivery settings, work with brands and suppliers, and understand internal roles within the store. Managing inventory is crucial here too – nothing loses a customer faster than selling them something you don't actually have in stock. Remember that screen terms might differ slightly between your version and what you see in guides, especially if you're using a multilingual CMS where some labels remain in English. Don't panic if things look a bit different – focus on understanding the concepts rather than memorizing exact button locations. ### Practical Exam Strategy Here's my advice after helping dozens of students through this: Practice the timing. Seriously. Set a timer for 13 minutes and run through these tasks. Can you reposition navigation blocks, configure display settings, and manage basic resources in that time? If not, you need more repetition. The exam also tests conceptual understanding, like e-commerce legality aspects. This complements the written E5A exam preparation (competence 3). Think of it as learning both the "how" and the "why" of online store management. What most students struggle with isn't the individual tasks – it's putting them all together under time pressure. Start by mastering each component separately, then practice combining them. Create a mock store and run through every task on our list until it becomes muscle memory. You've got this. The structure might seem complex at first, but once you understand how each piece connects to the others, it all starts making sense. Take it section by section, practice consistently, and walk into that exam knowing you've prepared for exactly what they're going to ask you to do.