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Smartstore Releases Versions 6.1.0, 6.2.0, and 6.3.0 with Enhanced AI, Accessibility, and Payment Features

Smartstore

Smartstore, an open-source, modular eCommerce platform built on ASP.NET Core, has issued three significant updates introducing AI enhancements, improved accessibility compliance, new payment options, and various feature improvements and bug fixes. These releases continue to advance Smartstore's capabilities for developers and online retailers.

Overview of Smartstore

Smartstore is a cross-platform, modular, and scalable open-source eCommerce platform designed for businesses of all sizes. Built on ASP.NET Core and Entity Framework Core, it supports multi-language, multi-store, and multi-currency setups. The platform is popular among developers and online retailers seeking a customizable and high-performance solution for online shops. It includes built-in AI capabilities for text and image generation, comprehensive product and order management, and a focus on accessibility and extensibility.

Release 6.1.0 Highlights

Published in early May 2025, Smartstore 6.1.0 introduced a major framework upgrade to .NET 9, boosting overall performance. AI features were expanded with the addition of new providers, including DeepSeek and Gemini, and improvements such as a "Continue Writing" function for the HTML editor and keyword avoidance settings. Other new features included:

  • Alternate link settings for localized pages in XML sitemaps and HTML headers.
  • Enhanced import options to update products based on key fields.
  • A configurable Content-Security-Policy (CSP) HTTP header.
  • New shipping and category options for more granular control.
  • Improvements to MegaSearch performance and configurability.
  • Summernote HTML editor enhancements, including emoji support, zoom, sticky toolbar, and AI-assisted writing.
  • Payment updates for PayPal, including Google Pay support and new provider options.

Numerous bug fixes addressed issues in checkout, logging, product display, and AI streaming.

Release 6.2.0 Highlights

Released in July 2025, version 6.2.0 focused heavily on improving accessibility in compliance with WCAG guidelines. The update made many frontend sections accessible to screen readers, including language and currency selectors, customer account areas, search boxes, footers, and checkout processes. Several plugins were updated for better accessibility, and new scripts were introduced to manage keyboard navigation and focus trapping within modal dialogs.

Other notable changes included:

  • A breaking change enhancing the Web API endpoint for payment methods to provide detailed provider information.
  • Introduction of the commercial Idealo Feed plugin.
  • Improvements to order processing, including allowing completion of refunded payments.
  • Bug fixes targeting product list ordering, cart exceptions, forum profile views, and payment provider configuration.

Release 6.3.0 Highlights

The December 2025 release 6.3.0 brought substantial new features and improvements, continuing the platform's emphasis on AI, accessibility, and payment options.

Breaking Changes

  • Introduction of the IEventMessage marker interface enforced across the publish/subscribe (pub/sub) pipeline to standardize and validate event contracts. This change impacts developers working with event-driven integrations.

Accessibility Enhancements

  • Added "Skip list" buttons to product, category, tag, blog, and news listings to aid keyboard navigation.
  • Updated multiple frontend sections such as homepage product displays, compare/wishlist/cart pages, checkout, photo galleries, and page builder story blocks for improved screen reader compatibility.
  • Summernote editor now supports query strings in video URLs.

AI Features

  • Image editing in the Media Manager via text prompts with selected images.
  • File-based metadata management for organizing large language model (LLM) information.
  • Added new AI providers: Anthropic Claude and Ollama.
  • ChatGPT updated to support GPT 5.1 for text and image generation.
  • Gemini provider supports advanced text generation (Gemini 3.0 Pro) and image generation/editing with Nano Banana models.

Payment and CAPTCHA

  • PayPal integration now supports Apple Pay.
  • Added easyCredit purchase on account payment provider.
  • Introduced a modular CAPTCHA system with pluggable providers, replacing hardcoded reCAPTCHA logic.
  • Integrated commercial CAPTCHA providers CaptchaFox and Friendly Captcha.

Additional Features and Improvements

  • Visual grouping of product specification attributes.
  • Compare price added to attribute combinations.
  • Enhanced customer role permission tree visibility.
  • New rule builder conditions for cart weight, category-based product presence, and newsletter subscription.
  • Apple Sign-In support.
  • Support for extensionless static files in .well-known directory.
  • Google Merchant Center feed improvements.
  • Email reminders now include Google Reviews.
  • Pixlr editor session-based mode selection.

Bug Fixes

  • Resolved issues with shopping cart migration on external authentication.
  • Fixed ChatGPT image creation errors.
  • Corrected attribute combination image selection and multiple payment provider issues.
  • Addressed various UI, logging, and API endpoint bugs.

Conclusion

These three consecutive releases demonstrate Smartstore's ongoing commitment to enhancing its eCommerce platform with cutting-edge AI capabilities, improved accessibility compliance, expanded payment options, and robust developer tools. The platform continues to evolve to meet the needs of online retailers and developers seeking a flexible and modern eCommerce solution.

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