Challenge

Hoalen wanted shopping to feel effortless, whether customers were buying online or in-store. But the French company’s legacy payment systems weren’t keeping up with customer expectations, such as the ability to pay with digital wallets. In 2023, Hoalen set out to upgrade its payments infrastructure.

Since 2008, Hoalen’s PrestaShop-based ecommerce platform has evolved through multiple redesigns and iterations, supported by a strong custom frontend architecture. While the online experience was visually modern, the underlying payment systems had changed little since 2014.

The company’s retail stores relied on legacy payment devices that siloed online and offline payments. Manual entry of payment amounts introduced unnecessary risk and operational friction, complicating reconciliation and occasionally affecting the customer experience. Staff also had to manually process returns, which contributed to further reconciliation errors and delays. By 2023, this technical legacy limited Hoalen’s ability to support modern payment expectations across online and in-store channels.

To make payments easier and more efficient, Hoalen wanted to unify its payment channels, so that online and in-store transactions flowed into one simple system and dashboard. The developers wanted a solution that worked smoothly with PrestaShop, connected easily to APIs for custom modules and the POS, and offered a consistent, branded checkout experience. Hoalen also needed to accept digital wallets such as Apple Pay, the preferred payment method for many of its customers.

Solution

Hoalen chose Stripe to unify its online and in-store payments into a single, seamless infrastructure. PrestaShop’s open-source foundation and ecosystem of ready-to-use modules made it possible to integrate Stripe quickly while maintaining the customization Hoalen needed—including the ability to rebuild the frontend checkout interface to match its brand identity while using PrestaShop’s backend integration.

In April 2023, Hoalen implemented Stripe Payments using the server-side PrestaShop module, which streamlined backend integration. PrestaShop’s flexibility, which PrestaShop CPO Clément Paillasse described as the platform’s “exceptional capacity to adapt and evolve,” allowed Hoalen’s developers to focus on customization. To ensure the online checkout experience matched Hoalen’s visual identity, the dev team rebuilt the frontend from the ground up.

“Stripe provides clear documentation with clear examples,” said Johann L’Ecolier, Hoalen’s head of digital. “When we use Stripe, it behaves just like it says it will in the docs. Our instance was super clear and easy to develop.”

The company’s developers turned on Apple Pay using Stripe’s robust API. Stripe’s unified API architecture also means Hoalen can easily add additional payment methods in the future.

Hoalen also built an accounting reconciliation module that connects directly to Stripe’s API. When the company receives bank transfers from Stripe, the system automatically queries all operations within each transfer and matches them to invoices. The program alerts the accounting team of each transfer and highlights any items without invoice references.

To upgrade the in-person payment experience, Hoalen deployed Stripe Terminal across its 14 retail locations over the course of 6 months.

The company also simplified its refund process by developing a returns module integrated with Stripe’s API. Staff can now initiate returns with a single click, automatically processing the customer’s refund and sending confirmation messages.

Before going live, Hoalen used Stripe’s development mode with the Stripe Reader S700 and a dedicated API to validate all usage scenarios. The readers now communicate directly with Hoalen’s POS software via the Stripe API, eliminating the need for staff to manually reenter amounts into separate devices.

Results

Unified payment system centralized transactions across web and retail stores in 15-day integration

With Stripe and PrestaShop, Hoalen eliminated the separation between its digital and physical sales channels. Hoalen’s development team completed the technical integration of Payments and Terminal in just 15 days of focused development time, enabled by PrestaShop’s open-source architecture.

“PrestaShop is built for flexibility, reliable integrations, and the ability to scale without constraints,” said Paillasse. “Its open-source foundations make it easy to connect with any CRM, ERP, payment service, or logistics system.”

The unified infrastructure gives Hoalen complete visibility into payment performance across channels through the Stripe Dashboard, with centralized transaction data and customer payment history in one place. When payment issues arise, the team can quickly search transaction history and see clear explanations rather than cryptic error codes. “This makes it possible to provide customers with clear, fast explanations, which ultimately increases their trust in Hoalen,” said L’Ecolier.

Automated reconciliation streamlined accounting for nearly €10 million in banking transfers

By connecting its accounting module to the Stripe API, the company’s reconciliation process—which previously took four days a month to complete manually—shrank to just one day a month. This automated system now processes millions of euros in banking flows, allowing a single person to manage the entire accounting operation.

One-click refunds replaced manual return process

The unified system now makes cross-channel returns seamless—purchases made online can be refunded in-store and vice versa. With the customer account or order reference, any of Hoalen’s retail stores can now easily find the original purchase and process a refund in one click, without requiring the customer to present their card.

Stripe Terminal eliminated manual payment errors across all retail locations

By connecting Terminal directly to its POS, Hoalen removed manual payment entry errors. Sales staff no longer needs to type transaction amounts into separate bank terminals, which eliminates costly mistakes and enables in-store teams to spend more time serving customers and handling their merchandising responsibilities. The automated flow also improved store cash reconciliation accuracy.