Shopify themes: definition, selection criteria & our favorites

The appearance and user-friendliness of an online store are crucial success factors. After all, the more appealing the store looks and the easier it is to use, the higher the conversion rate tends to be.

When you search for Shopify themes for the first time, you may feel slain. After all, you'll find more than 100 templates in the Shopify Theme Store, all of which look impressive at first glance. As if this wasn't more than enough choice, there are also numerous third-party and online marketplaces for Shopify design templates.

To help you find the perfect theme for your brand, we'll introduce you to our 11 favorites in this article. But before that, we'll tell you exactly what themes are and what criteria you should use to select a suitable one.

What is a Shopify theme?

Shopify Ecommerce Themes are design templates that determine the look and certain features of your online store. They are available in different styles and layouts. Besides, each Shopify theme offers a unique user experience.

Design plays a very important role in the online world. As explained at the beginning, it has a great impact on attracting, retaining and ultimately converting prospects into paying customers.

However, when choosing a design, you should not only make sure that it looks especially nice. It should also fit your industry. For example, if you work in the healthcare industry, you need a theme that looks professional and clean. However, in the fashion industry, you can go for a colorful and dynamic design. Still, of course, it is important to give your store a personal touch and not make it look exactly like the competition's. Moreover, its functions should also be adapted to your individual needs.

Note: The terms Shopify templates and Shopify themes are often used synonymously. However, there is a clear distinction here. Themes are complete website templates, whereas templates are just design templates for individual pages. A theme thus combines several Shopify templates, which together create a round overall picture.

How to find your perfect Shopify theme

In the Shopify Theme Store, the different design templates are divided into categories. To find a suitable theme, you should consider the following criteria:

Store size

A large online store with thousands of items has different design requirements than a smaller one with only 20 products. For this reason, Shopify divides its themes into large and small product catalogs, among others.

industry

From the appearance of the online store, it should be immediately recognizable which product you sell. For this reason, Shopify Ecommerce themes are also categorized by industries such as electronics, clothing, restaurants and pet supplies.

Functions

You can use the basic features of the e-commerce platform with any Shopify theme, but each design template has different presets and pre-built features. So, if you absolutely need certain features, you should base your theme selection on them. Possible features are: Fixed header, mega menu, color swatches and translations for EU languages.

Costs

You also have the option to choose between paid and free Shopify themes. In the store, you can currently find 11 free themes that were developed by the store system itself. The other 102 paid themes come from third-party providers, but are recognized by Shopify and regularly provided with updates.

Although the store system already offers quite a few design templates in its own store, you can still take a look at third-party providers and online marketplaces.

Our B2B customer Selecta relies on Shopify's own theme Dawn for their online store.

Responsive design with Shopify themes

In today's digital world, responsive design is essential, especially for online stores. Responsive design means that the layout of a website automatically adapts to different screen sizes and devices - be it on a desktop, tablet or smartphone. Given that the majority of internet traffic now comes from mobile devices, it is crucial that a Shopify store is optimized for all devices.

Shopify offers a variety of mobile-friendly and responsive themes to ensure your online store looks its best on all devices. Shopify offers numerous pre-installed themes that are optimized for all screen sizes by default. These themes adapt automatically, so you don't have to worry about making any additional adjustments. Some of the most popular responsive themes include “Debut”, “Brooklyn” and “Venture”.

With the Shopify Theme Editor, you can further customize your responsive design and ensure that it looks good on both desktop and mobile devices. The editor offers a preview function that allows you to test the design on different screen sizes before publishing changes. Shopify also offers a variety of apps specifically designed to optimize mobile experiences. These apps make it possible to integrate certain mobile features such as quick view of products, mobile payment options or customized mobile navigation.

Shopify theme vs. custom development: Which is the best choice for your store?

If you want to create an online store with Shopify, you have the choice between using a ready-made theme or custom development of your own design. Both approaches have their pros and cons, and the decision depends on your individual requirements and goals.

Shopify theme: The advantages of a pre-built theme

Pre-built Shopify themes are ready to use and can be customized to fit your brand and products with just a few adjustments. Shopify offers a variety of free and paid themes that are specifically designed to work well on all devices and provide a user-friendly experience.

Advantages of Shopify themes:

• Fast implementation: as the designs are already created, you can install and customize a theme in a short time without having to plan for long development times.

• Less expensive: Compared to a customized solution, Shopify themes are much less expensive. Prices vary depending on the theme, but many basic themes are free or very inexpensive.

• Ease of use: Shopify themes are easy to use and offer an intuitive way to design the store, even without extensive technical knowledge.

• Mobile optimization: Most Shopify themes are already responsive, which means your store will look great on different devices, especially cell phones.

• Regular updates: Shopify offers regular updates for its themes, so you can be sure that your design remains compatible with the latest features and security standards.

Disadvantages of Shopify themes:

• Limited customizability: although you can customize a theme to suit your brand, the options for full personalization are limited. You can't change all aspects of the design without digging deep into the code.

• One-size-fits-all look: Since many other Shopify merchants use the same theme, your store might not look unique if the design is not customized deeply enough.

Custom development: A customized design for your brand

Custom development means that a developer or team of designers creates a unique design from scratch for your Shopify store. This can include both layout and functionality, giving you complete control over the look and feel and user experience.

Benefits of bespoke development:

• Unique design: a bespoke design ensures that your store stands out and is specifically tailored to your brand identity.

• Full flexibility: You have complete control over the design and functionality of your store. From navigation to product pages, you can customize everything to your liking.

• Better scalability: As your business grows and your needs change, you can easily adapt the design and functionality to meet the needs of your business.

• Optimized user experience: Custom development allows you to create a user experience that is precisely tailored to your target audience, which can improve conversion rates and customer satisfaction.

Disadvantages of custom development:

• Higher cost: Custom development is usually significantly more expensive than using a pre-made theme, as it requires custom design and development work.

• Longer development time: It can take several weeks or months to create a bespoke theme, depending on the complexity of the project.

• Maintenance and updates: You are responsible for the maintenance and updates of your customized theme. This means that you will need to regularly ensure that your design remains compatible with the latest Shopify features and security standards.

The best Shopify themes: our 11 favorites

Choosing the right theme depends entirely on what you want to achieve with your online store. We have collected 11 beautiful and popular Shopify Ecommerce themes for you - divided into free and paid:

Free Shopify themes

Free Shopify themes are probably the first choice for most users of the platform, after all they are free and come directly from the provider. With the release of Online Store 2.0, Shopify's new theme engine, some impressive new design templates have been added here as well. However, let's move on to our 3 favorites:

1. Dawn

Shopify Dawn Theme is the first free "Shopify 2.0" theme that takes full advantage of the new theme engine. The result is faster loading times and a modern design optimized based on insights from Shopify data. Instead of the previously common auto-scrolling slideshow, there is now a static header image with call-to-action.

Moreover, Shopify Dawn theme is more flexible than previous templates. While you were previously limited to extensive personalization of the home page, you can now add custom sections to product pages, for example. The minimalist design makes Dawn a true all-rounder, equally suitable for stores with many products and those with just a few. Shopify refers to it as "visual storytelling" because the navigation focuses on product images. So if you have high-quality product photos and want to present your items in an appealing way, the Shopify Dawn theme is a great choice.

Features:

• Predictive Search

• Advanced product filtering

• Fixed Navigation

• Size chart

2. Sense

Sense is also a 2.0 theme that was released only in 2022. It is similar to Dawn, but is especially designed for online stores in the health and beauty sector. For example, the product pages are a bit more extensive than Dawn's, so you can present your beauty products in a proper way. Due to the good filter options and the simple product navigation, Sense is also suitable for online stores of any size.

Features:

• Optimized for large images

• Product image rollover

• Videos on the home and product pages

• Customer testimonials

3. Craft

Craft is also a Shopify-owned theme and comes from Generation 2.0, but unlike its two predecessors, this design template specializes in home decoration or garden products with any catalog size. With the Craft theme, you can design a store that will help you showcase your creativity and craftsmanship. Like the other Shopify 2.0 themes, Craft offers various sections and blocks, only the arrangement differs from other templates. So, if you are looking for an elegant and flexible theme for your store, you should definitely give Craft a try.

Features:

• Galleries

• Videos on the home page and product page

• Blog posts on the home page

• Testimonials from customers

Paid themes

In addition to the free Shopify themes, you can also find a number of paid templates in the store, as mentioned earlier. We present our 8 favorites in this category below.

1. Prestige

Costs: 380 USD

With Prestige-Theme you have 3 theme style options to choose from to make your store stand out. It is the perfect choice for you if you want to create a store in the categories of clothing and accessories, health and beauty, and business equipment and supplies. Also, you can add and organize any number of products.

Features:

• Hotspot products

• Advertising banner

• Slideshow

• Pick up in store

• Inventory counter

• Store finder

• Animation

• Color sample

• Size chart

• FAQ

• Currency selection

• Newsletter Pop-up

2. Impulse

Cost: 380 USD

Impulse is one of the most popular Shopify themes. It offers a lot of room for personalization and has already pre-integrated popular features like a FAQ section or a blog. Impulse especially scores with its marketing options: For example, you can use it to create extensive discount promotions to promote your products and your online store. The built-in filter functions are also excellent and help your buyers browse even large product catalogs. Impulse is a paid 2.0 theme that is available on the Shopify store, but it was developed by a third-party developer. Accordingly, you need to contact the developer for support.

Features:

• Alternative templates for different subpages

• Parallax slideshow

• Inventory counter

• Store finder

• Store collections

• Animation

• Color sample

• Size chart

• FAQ

• Currency selection

• Newsletter Pop-up

3. Empire

Costs: 340 USD

Another very popular paid Shopify theme is Empire. It is designed for large product catalogs and the design was inspired by the market itself. With the exceptional functionality, organization and performance it contains, you can increase your customers' confidence. Example features for this are mega menus, tag filters and category search. Furthermore, Empire can shine with the following features, among others.

Features:

• Shopping cart notes

• Pick up in store

• Pre-order

• In-menu promos

• Inventory counter

• Store finder

• Slideshow

• Trust Badges

• Animations

• Color fields

• Lookbooks

4. Stiletto

Cost: 360 USD

Stiletto is a luxurious Shopify theme designed primarily for growth. With the Stiletto theme, a clean and functional design meets highly customizable features for a compelling product discovery experience.

Features:

• Translations for EU languages (DE, EN, FR, IT, ES).

• Events calendar

• Age verification

• Countdown timer

• Color fields

5. Symmetry

Cost: 340 USD

Symmetry is a fashionable and professional Shopify 2.0 theme with many premium features. Symmetry is perfect for large-scale inventory and offers all the features you need to create a professional online store.

Features:

• EU translations (EN, FR, IT, DE, ES)

• Color samples

• Quick view

• Stock counter

• Promotions in menu

• Blog functionality

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• Size Guide

6. Concept

Cost: 320 USD

The Shopify theme Concept offers a variety of features for large product catalogs and merchants who rely on a professional design. It combines customizability, performance and user-friendly features to improve the shopping experience and increase sales.

Features:

• Modular structure

• High-quality product presentation

• Optimized for large catalogs

• Responsive design

• Built-in promo banners, countdown timers and pop-ups

• Mega menus for large product catalogs

• SEO optimized

• Blog integration

• Cross-selling/upselling

• Multilingualism and currencies

7. Broadcast

Cost: 400 USD

The Shopify theme Broadcast is ideal for merchants who place great value on visual product presentation, modern design and intuitive user guidance. With its modular customizability, built-in marketing tools and responsive performance, it is perfect for growing e-commerce stores with visual and product-heavy requirements.

Features:

• Responsive design

• Modular structure with drag-and-drop

• Optimized for visual presentation

• Extended product pages and product catalog management

• SEO-optimized

• Promo banner and countdown timer

• Mega menus and breadcrumb navigation

• Multilingualism and internationalization

8. Impact

Cost: 380 USD

The Impact theme is a premium theme for Shopify that features a modern design, high customizability and a variety of features. It has been specially developed to create visually appealing and user-friendly online stores. The theme is particularly suitable for brands that want to make a strong visual impression, such as fashion, technology, lifestyle or beauty products.

Features:

• Interactive hotspots

• Before and after display

• Cross-selling options

• Offer blocks

• Mega menus

• In-menu promos

• EU translations (EN, FR, IT, DE, ES)

Custom Themes Development

In addition to using pre-built themes, Shopify merchants also have the option of creating one themselves or having one created. There are hardly any limits here, as work is done directly in the code and thus additional functions can be easily programmed to it. Examples of such features are:

• Special filtering for product or category pages

• Customized search function

• Frontend with integrated user guidance

If you also want such an individual theme for your store, or want to have new functions added to an existing one, then we will be happy to implement this for you. Simply contact us for this purpose.

As we have seen with Shopify Theme Development, we will tell you exactly how to do this in this article.

Conclusion

Since your Shopify theme will ideally accompany you for several years, you should consider well in advance which requirements it has to fulfill and whether it ideally underlines your brand. So take your time for this and compare several design templates, look at the layouts and Shopify templates of the live demo and only then make a decision. This way, you have a good chance of finding an e-commerce theme right from the start that you are satisfied with and that adequately supports your project.