Smartstore 6.3 – more accessibility, AI power & legal compliance

With Smartstore 6.3, we are further expanding the strengths of version 6: more accessibility according to WCAG, even more powerful AI support directly in the media manager, a new convenient payment method for higher-priced purchases, GDPR-compliant captchas as well as numerous optimizations in product management, marketing, performance, and stability.

Accessibility & compliance further expanded

Smartstore 6.3 continues the continuous improvements in accessibility according to WCAG. The shop interface has been further optimized to ensure that content is better structured, screen reader users can orient themselves more easily, and keyboard operation works even more smoothly.

For retailers, this means: your shops become more usable for people with disabilities and even more consistently meet the requirements of modern accessibility standards – an important factor especially for public institutions and larger companies with clear compliance requirements.

AI & image editing directly in the media manager

• New AI provider: Anthropic Claude AI
  In addition to the existing AI providers, Claude is now also available, expanding the possibilities for AI-assisted text generation.
• Image editing with ChatGPT or Gemini directly in the media manager
  In the media manager, one or more images can be selected and edited via an open prompt with ChatGPT or Gemini – images can be changed, combined, or completely new created. A very powerful tool that makes external image editing programs unnecessary in many cases.
• File-based model management
  AI models can be managed in a more structured way, facilitating the organization and use of different models in everyday life.

This creates a seamless AI workflow directly in Smartstore – from text to image generation – without constantly switching between external tools.

More payment options

• New payment method: "easyCredit purchase on account"
  With the new payment method in the existing easyCredit plugin, customers have the opportunity to pay higher-priced online purchases on account: the goods are delivered first and paid for later. This lowers barriers to larger orders and can significantly increase the conversion rate.
• More stable payment processing
  Stability and error handling have been further improved for providers like Stripe, PostFinance, and AmazonPay, ensuring more reliable checkout processes.

GDPR-compliant captchas

For more data protection and legal compliance, Smartstore 6.3 replaces Google reCAPTCHA on demand with two GDPR-compliant alternatives:

• CaptchaFox
• FriendlyCaptcha

Both solutions do not use Google services and are therefore ideal for public clients or companies that place special emphasis on data protection and compliance.

More efficient product management & marketing

• Visual grouping of product specifications
  Product specifications can be displayed more clearly, increasing readability and comparability for customers.
• Comparison prices for variants
  Comparison prices can now also be displayed for variants – more price transparency and better sales arguments directly on the product.
• Batch assignment of products to categories
  Products can be assigned to multiple categories in one step – a big efficiency gain, especially for larger assortment changes.
• Google Merchant Center
  Improved connectivity with product image selection and additional shipping data for optimized presence in Google Shopping campaigns.
• New rules in the Rule Builder
  Additional rules (e.g. cart weight, category affiliation, newsletter status) open up new possibilities for personalized offers and targeted actions.
• Visibility of PageBuilder stories based on cart rules
  Content can be displayed or hidden depending on the current shopping cart – ideal for context-based promotions.
• Google review reminder in email marketing
  Automatic email reminders motivate customers to leave reviews on Google, thereby strengthening the shop's visibility and reputation in the long term.

Performance, stability & bug fixes

• Updated JavaScript libraries for more performance and security.
• File manager with language-dependent tabs for better usability.
• Responsive video embedding in the Summernote editor for modern, mobile-enabled content.
• Extended eTracker integration and guest creation via the Web API.
• Improved return handling with optimized processing of status and quantities.
• Important bug fixes, including:
  • Fixed errors in image generation in the ChatGPT integration.
  • Corrected display and logic errors in MegaMenu PageBuilder.
  • Stability improvements for payment providers as well as fixes for discount codes and shopping cart.

Conclusion: With Smartstore 6.3, retailers get a release that compliance security (WCAG, GDPR-compliant captchas), AI marketing (new AI providers, AI image editing), payment conversion (easyCredit purchase on account) and stability performance strengthens equally – thereby laying the foundation for even better user experiences and higher conversion rates.

Accessibility according to WCAG – ready for the BFSG

From June 28, 2025, the Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG) will come into force – also affecting online commerce for the first time. For retailers, this means: those who do not make their shop accessible risk not only legal consequences but also the loss of important customer groups.

With Smartstore 6.2 you are well prepared. The current version meets the requirements of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) – and therefore also the standards of the BFSG.

What was optimized?

Smartstore 6.2 focuses on frontend accessibility. Key areas have been specifically revised:

• Homepage, categories & product pages – clearly structured for screen readers

• Search, shopping cart & checkout – fully operable by keyboard

• Customer account, header & footer – logically navigable and easy to understand

• Interactive elements like dialogues or off-canvas pop-ups (e.g. cookie manager) – now with focus trapping for barrier-free operation

Technical basis for true accessibility

Smartstore relies on clean HTML5, ARIA roles and attributes, and a throughout thought-out keyboard navigation. The result: A shop interface that is not only legally compliant but also future-proof.

Your advantage as a merchant

• Legal security: With Smartstore 6.2 you meet the requirements of the BFSG.

• New customer groups: An accessible shop means access for everyone – regardless of restrictions.

• Competitive advantage: Retailers who act early secure trust and brand strength.

With Version 6.2 you not only make your online shop fit for the legal requirements but also offer a barrier-free user experience that pays off.

Following the successful launch of Smartstore 6, we are pleased to present the new features and improvements in Smartstore 6.1. This update brings numerous improvements for store operators: a revised HTML editor with emoji support, extended, greatly improved AI capabilities, two new AI providers, significantly improved store searches, a new overload protection against bot traffic, and much more!

General

With Smartstore 6.1, we rely onMicrosoft .NET 9as a technical basis. This is mainly a developer topic and has no direct impact on the daily operation for shop operators, but ensures a future-proof and powerful platform.

Summernote Editor - Comprehensive Revision

The HTML editor in Smartstore 6.1 has been fundamentally overhauled. We are already presenting the first results of this yet to-be-completed modernization.

A key new feature is the handySave buttondirectly in the editor (Ctrl+S).

Shop operators no longer need to rely on the general "Save and Continue" button but can save their text changes directly in the editor. The advantage is obvious: The text becomes immediately visible in the frontend, which is particularly time-saving when testing formulations and formatting.

Also, theHTML path of the active elementis now clearly listed. When hovering over it with the mouse, the corresponding area in the text is automatically highlighted, and clicking an element in the path selects the associated text area directly. This provides a better overview of the HTML structure, especially with complex formatted texts, and greatly facilitates precise work.

The neweditor zoomalso allows you to individually adjust the font size during editing without changing other font sizes in the backend. This way, each user can choose the most comfortable view for them and work without fatigue.

A particularly outstanding innovation is the comprehensive emoji supportin the HTML editor. With a Unicode emoji picker encompassing over 1,200 emojis, shop operators can now make their texts visually more appealing. Multi-tone emojis (light skin, dark skin, etc.) and over 10 languages for names, tags, and shortcodes are also supported.

Protection against overload from bot traffic

In the age of increasing automated access, we offer our customers effectiveoverload protection. Many store operators report rising bot traffic, which can not only affect performance but also pose potential security risks. Our new overload protection offers a easily configurable solution directly in the shop configuration, without requiring extensive technical knowledge.

Detailed information about configuration and functions of the overload protection can be found in our in-depth documentation: Overload protection.

Extended AI Functions

The AI tools introduced with version 6.0 have already helped many shop operators to create, edit, and translate product, blog, and other texts effortlessly.

With version 6.1, we significantly expand this functionality by integrating two new AI providers: DeepSeek and Gemini. In addition to the proven ChatGPT support, they can now be used, providing not only more flexibility but also the use of the specific strengths of different AI models for various text types, as well as different pricing models for AI.

Particularly practical is the new "continue" function, allowing you to instruct the AI to continue an existing text from any point. This is perfect for expanding existing content or overcoming writing blocks. For instance, you start with a basic product description and let the AI add technical details or application examples – creative possibilities that noticeably facilitate everyday work.

The AI tool remains a commercial feature, is a fixed part of the Premium Edition, and can also be purchased separately as a plugin. It offers significant added value for everyone regularly creating or maintaining content.

Improved Search Functions

The quality of the store search is crucial for an online store's success. Therefore, we have comprehensively optimized thestore searchincluded by default in Smartstore 6.1.

The newflexible sorting of search resultsis particularly valuable, enabling store operators to present the results exactly as they wish.

Thesortingcan now be configured to follow the order specified for the product – a feature requested by many customers.

There are also significant improvements insearch filters. Category, manufacturer, and delivery time search filters can now be individually arranged by the store operator to provide the customer with an optimal user experience. This marks a notable advancement over the previous version where the order was largely predetermined and only the possibility of hiding existed.

MegaSearch improvements

Our premium plugin MegaSearch has also been significantly further developed for Smartstore 6.1. The already powerful search function, which guides customers precisely to the desired products, now works up to20% faster. Even on standard hosting, searches among millions of articles are displayed in a tenth of a second. This responsiveness is particularly noticeable in shops with extensive product catalogs.

A further important innovation concerns the handling of compound words. Automatic segmentation of compound words can optionally be suppressed. As a result, only the compound word is searched for, not the separated words, which tends to result in fewer search hits.

Example: the shop customer searches for "wardrobe":
With segmentation enabled, both "wardrobe" and "robe" are searched for, and a large number of matching products are displayed in the search results.
With segmentation disabled, only "wardrobe" is searched for, and the shop customer is shown fewer but more accurate search results.

There are also new options for indexing: meta keywordsof products can be ignored if desired, to optimize the relevance of search results.

For shop operators maintaining their products via imports, we have introduced a practical feature: product keywordscan now be imported using the column name 'MegaSearch.Product.Keywords', which greatly simplifies tuning of the shop search.

GooglePay available in PayPal

Convenient online payment is a crucial factor for completing a purchase. We are therefore pleased that with Smartstore 6.1, GooglePayis now available as an additional payment method within the PayPal integration.

As the world's most used online payment method, PayPal is already a standard in Smartstore shops. The addition of GooglePay offers your customers even more flexibility in payment and corresponds with the growing trend towards mobile payment methods.

The setup is straightforward within the existing PayPal integration and allows you to cover an even wider range of payment preferences for your customers.

Smartstore 6 Release Highlights

With the release 6 major improvements are added for shop admins: automatic content creation with AI, the integration of the powerful Pixlr image editor, new flexible rules for the visibility of certain product attributes, a greatly improved customer experience in the checkout process with Quick Checkout, MailChimp integration and hundreds of other improvements.

Content Creation with AI

Take advantage of AI to generate text and images directly in Smartstore – simple, fast, and to the point. In Smartstore 6, a new AI framework debuts, to which any AI provider can be connected. Initially in 6, this is ChatGPT from OpenAI. You can create a paid customer account there and register it in Smartstore. Then you're ready to generate high-quality text and images.

At many points in the shop, the new wand symbol is discreetly located to the right of the text input or image upload. By clicking on it, windows open, allowing you to elaborate a new product description or a new content page. So-called AI prompts don't need to be written, but you can. We offer simple selections to generate content in the desired style, mood, or environment.

In later versions, we will support additional AIs besides ChatGPT. Automatic content creation and efficient image generation make your online shop more attractive and efficient. Benefit from the powerful AI features of Smartstore 6.

More information about the AIplugin in Smartstore at: https://smartstore.com/en/plug-in-smartstore-ai-chatgpt-deepseek-gemini-simplify-content-creation/

Integration Pixlr Image Editor

You no longer need an external image editing app like Photoshop, Affinity, or Gimp. Edit your images directly in the media manager with the powerful Pixlr online editor, which is integrated into Smartstore 6. Simply click on "Edit with Pixlr" or "Create new with Pixlr" and get started.

Pixlr is a free, web-based photo and graphic design suite. It provides tools for image editing, including quick fixes, AI cutouts, effects, and advanced edits like layers, overlays, and frames.

The user-friendly interface allows basic edits like cropping, straightening, and resizing as well as color and light adjustments. There are also beautifully designed templates for text banners that can be easily reworded.

The best part: no back and forth with graphic files, as they are automatically saved back to the Smartstore Media Manager when you complete your Pixlr edit. The Smartstore plugin for Pixlr integration requires a one-time Pixlr registration and access credentials from your Pixlr account.

More information about the Pixlr plugin in Smartstore at: https://smartstore.com/en/plug-in-seamless-image-editing-in-smartstore-using-pixlr/

New EU Regulation GPSR (General Product Safety Regulation)

Smartstore prepares shop operators for the upcoming EU regulation on general product safety (GPSR) which will come into effect on December 13, 2024. The GPSR aims to make e-commerce safer and more transparent by introducing new obligations for online retailers. These include providing detailed product and manufacturer information, conducting risk analyses, and ensuring rapid communication in case of defects. Smartstore supports this with version 6 and offers a GPSR plugin to facilitate compliance. This feature will be available for free to Premium Flat customers and can be purchased as a standalone license by others.

More information about the GPSR plugin in Smartstore at: https://smartstore.com/en/plug-in-smartstore-and-the-gpsr-your-guide-to-the-new-eu-product-safety-regulation/

Conditional Product Attributes

Control the visibility of product attributes with flexible rules for a tailored customer experience. This feature extends the control options for product attributes. Based on the powerful rule builder, you can control the visibility of product attributes in Smartstore 6 using flexible rules.

It is particularly useful for configurable products, such as in the furniture industry, to dynamically show or hide fabrics only when it makes sense to the store customer.

For example: In the product "sofa", create a new rule for the product attribute "back panel made of leather" under "edit attribute", with the condition that this attribute will only appear if the sofa material is leather. It's quite simple and surprisingly sales-promoting, previously only possible through external configurators!

More information and an instruction manual on the application possibilities of the plugin are available at: https://smartstore.com/en/tips-and-tricks-set-visibility-of-individual-product-attributes-with-rules/

Checkout Improvements

Smartstore 6 offers numerous improvements in the checkout process, the procedure in which the customer completes an order with their shopping cart and pays.

The innovations include various options that make the ordering process easier for the customer. The standard checkout process has been finely tuned in many places, including the introduction of the Quick Checkout configuration option. When Quick Checkout is activated, the shop customer can order faster if they have already made a purchase and can skip the payment method selection.

Smartstore becomes a PayPal checkout! Furthermore, the Smartstore checkout can also be meaningfully used on-store terminals at a machine or in a retail store. The standard mode (classic e-commerce checkout) is supplemented by two new modes: "terminal mode" without payment via Smartstore through the store cash register, and "terminal mode with payment", where payment can be handled, for example, through PayPal functionality and other payment methods in Smartstore 6.

This enables many interesting applications and business models. Store owners can, for example, set up a terminal in their retail location and offer their customers in the store the option to pay with PayPal, Stripe, Amazon Pay, etc. These innovations in Smartstore 6 make the checkout process not only more efficient but also more flexible, as it can be adapted to various sales scenarios.

As is customary with Smartstore, all texts and descriptions can be adapted and internationalized by the store operator without programming.

More information about the checkout improvements in Smartstore at: https://smartstore.com/en/quick-checkout-rethinking-the-shopping-experience/

MailChimp Integration

Connect your newsletter subscribers seamlessly with your MailChimp campaigns. Smartstore has long had the newsletter feature. Store customers can register here and receive newsletters with beneficial offers by email. These emails can also be sent directly from Smartstore. When dealing with large subscriber lists, sending via a specialized service like MailChimp is highly advisable. Smartstore 6 provides a current integration that supports additional mail activities on MailChimp.

More information about the Mailchimp plugin in Smartstore at: https://smartstore.com/en/mailchimp-in-smartstore-proven-tool-for-effective-email-marketing/

... and much more!

Hundreds, if not thousands, of smaller and larger improvements can be experienced by store customers and operators with the new Smartstore 6. A complete list can be found on our Github after release.

For information about previous versions, please click here:
Smartstore 5.1 Release Infos
Smartstore 5.0 Release Infos

How to get Smartstore 6

Smartstore 6 is available in various editions and manufacturer support.

For store operators, we recommend our Premium Flat as the ideal entry point. This not only includes the 15 base plugins for optimal store operation but also telephone expert support, a guaranteed 4-hour response time, as well as regular updates as part of our Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model – all this included in the monthly fee.

Do you have further questions about Smartstore 6 or would you like to schedule a live demo? We are happy to help:

Your Smartstore Team

Email: info@smartstore.com
Phone: +49 (0)231-5335-0
SmartStore AG
Kaiserstraße 63-65
44135 Dortmund