When building your Shopify store, you will typically build from a template called a theme. This theme will be the basis for the organisation, look and functionality of your store, including which features you can use and offer to your customers.
You can peruse various Shopify themes on the Shopify website (both paid and free) or you can look at third-party designers for more varied, unique options. In short, the range of choice available to you for your Shopify theme is pretty vast—and it can be a little overwhelming to narrow this down to just one.
How to choose a theme?
To help with this narrowing process, begin to filter out what your store requires, and what is a non-essential. For instance, your clothing brand may benefit from a theme with a non-distracting minimalist design and colour swatches. By contrast, your dog food brand may prefer a stock checker and more eye-catching design elements.
In particular, you might think about the following theme considerations:
Budget
How much are you willing to spend on your Shopfiy theme? The Shopify website lists over 80 free themes, and their paid options start at around $180, while third party designers charge anything from £50 for their unique themes. It may be more expensive again to invest in a custom theme.
It’s best to decide from the beginning whether your theme will be:
- Paid or free?
- Purchased or custom?
- Managed by yourself or a Shopify agency/expert?
All of these things must be accounted for in your budget.
Catalogue size
You may only sell one product, or you could have a catalogue of hundreds to thousands. Your catalogue size will dictate the kind of theme which will work best for you. Larger catalogues, for instance, benefit from themes which include enhanced search, filtering and mega menu features, while smaller catalogues perform better with simpler, less cluttered themes.
Product category
You may want to choose a theme based on what kind of product you are selling. If you are selling clothing, for instance, you may want to choose a theme which includes features like colour swatches, a store locator, and quick view. Alternatively, if your business sells unique crafts, you may consider a stock counter and a more minimalist design.
Required features
Again, look at the features you need. If you’re not sure which features are best suited to you, check with a Shopify expert or check the list of Shopify features various themes offer. Again, different types of stores will benefit more from different features, and your unique audience may also appreciate certain features in their shopping experience.
Most popular Shopify themes
Now that you’ve worked out what you need, what you can spend and what direction you want to go in, now is the time to actually choose your theme.
We have looked over the most popular paid themes and also the free options which have the best review scores, so that you can start to think about what sort of theme might suit you best. We’ve also included a selection of the features each theme offers, giving you a better idea of whether one of them might be the right fit for your products and customers.
Amongst these paid options, you may find themes which offer variations. Many have 3 or 4 different styles within the one theme, which offers more flexibility and value for your money, too.
In the paid section, you can find the following:
Impulse
($320)
Good for high volume stores, physical stores and visual storytelling
95% reviews positive
Features include:
- Quick buy
- EU translations
- Product reviews
- Promo popups
- Stock counter
- Quick view
- Colour swatches
- High res imagery
- Product videos
- Size chart
- Mega menu
- Enhanced search
Prestige
($320)
Good for editorial content, physical stores and visual storytelling
91% reviews positive
Features include:
- Cart notes
- In-store pickups
- Blogs
- Promo popups
- FAQ page
- Recently viewed
- Stock counter
- Store locator
- Image rollover
- Image zoom
- Mega menu
- Enhanced search
- Sticky header
Symmetry
($320)
Good for high volume stores, physical stores and visual storytelling
93% reviews positive
Features include:
- Quick buy
- In-store pickups
- Blogs
- Promo popups
- In-menu promos
- Recommended products
- Stock counter
- Trust badges
- Image rollover
- Image zoom
- Collection page navigation
- Lookbooks
Warehouse
($320)
Good for dropshippers, fash sales and high volume stores
87% reviews positive
Features include:
- Quick buy
- Gift wrapping
- Blogs
- Cross selling
- In-menu promos
- Product badges
- Stock counter
- Trust badges
- Image rollover
- Image zoom
- High resolution imagery
- Colour swatches
Focal
($320)
Good for high volume stores, editorial content and visual storytelling
97% reviews positive
Features include:
- Quick buy
- Slide-out cart
- Blogs
- FAQ page
- Promo banners
- Promo popups
- Stock counter
- Trust badges
- Recommended products
- Image zoom
- Colour swatches
- Recently viewed
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Then, for free options, the following have the best review scores on the Shopify website:
Sense
(free)
Good for visual storytelling and quick setup.
Features include:
- Cart notes
- Quick buy
- Blogs
- Product views
- Promo banners
- Quick view
- Recommended products
- Image galleries
- Image rollover
- Lookbooks
- Size chart
- Usage information
- Mega menu
Craft
(free)
Good for visual storytelling and quick setup.
Features include:
- In-store pick ups
- Quick buy
- Blogs
- FAQ page
- Image rollover
- Image zoom
- Size chart
- Mega menu
- Recommended product
- Sticky header
Refresh
(free)
Good for editorial content and quick setup.
Features include:
- Slide out cart
- Quick buy
- Blogs
- Cross selling
- Product views
- Promo banners
- Recommended products
- Lookbooks
- Product videos
- Enhanced search
Dawn
(free)
Good for visual storytelling and quick setup.
Features include:
- Cart notes
- In-store pick up
- Blogs
- FAQ pages
- Product reviews
- Quick view
- Image galleries
- Image rollover
- Megamenu
- Sticky header
In conclusion—it’s important to choose the Shopify theme which best suits your brand, budget and product/s. This can be somewhat overwhelming, but if you narrow the search by various requirements, you will be able to pinpoint one or more themes which match your needs.
Of course, don’t feel as though this is a decision you can only make once. Another big plus of using Shopify is that you can change your theme without losing your content. That means if you want to switch your brand’s look or expand your product list beyond the capabilities of your current theme, you can.
It’s also important to remember, as mentioned previously, that with many of your paid, you may receive multiple different styles—many of which offer great variation and opportunity to really overhaul your brand’s look without any further investment.
If you have further questions or queries, contact us at Glaze Digital. As Shopify experts, we’re knowledgeable about all things Shopify, including which themes—paid, free or custom—are best for your unique brand.
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