How to choose a Shopify Theme
I get asked this question quite often and it’s something I struggled with for a long time myself when setting up a quick website for clients. This is not as relevant for more custom Shopify stores because you would be changing the whole storefront, but it still helps if you are just making minor changes.
Many agencies use the Debut theme as a starting point for their custom themes for clients. Even the top Shopify Plus agency Lucid does this. The reason they do this is because they don’t have to worry about setting up creating all of the basic functionality that Debut already provides, like the cart for example.
What Shopify theme is a store using?
You can easily find out which theme a Shopify store is using by visiting their website and opening up your browser’s console. You can do that on a Mac by going to View > Developer > JavaScript Console.
Once you are in the console, type this command:
window.BOOMR.themeName
And this will give you the Shopify theme name!
You can also type in:
Shopify.theme.name
But this only shows you what the merchant renamed the theme to instead of the actual original theme name. This can also be used to see if a store was built on Shopify. If the Shopify command in the console doesn’t work, then it wasn’t.
For example if we use the popular Shopify website Tattly and compare the two methods, we will see that the BOOMR method shows Debut, while the Shopify method shows the name of the theme that Lucid set.
If you are a big Shopify fan, then you will be checking all the websites just like I do!
What to look for in themes
If you are not a developer who is looking to create a custom theme, then here are some things that I look for in a theme when I client asks me for a quick set up. Shopify actually lets you try the themes before you buy it, I highly suggest that you take advantage of that. Trying the theme will allow you to fully customize the theme to your liking and test out all the features. It won’t let you publish the theme until you pay for it though.
Here’s what to look for.
1. Navigation style
All of us, to an extent, have a preferred navigation style. So if you are choosing this theme for yourself or for a client, more sure you pick the theme with the one that you prefer. It will require coding to edit the navigation menu beyond the theme’s options so choose wisely.
2. Pre-made Sections
The next step is to play around with all the available sections. The most popular ones are the Slideshow, Image with Text, and Rich Text sections. Beyond those, you need to ask yourself if you need any other sections. How about testimonials, a video, collection list, featured products, etc.
3. Custom Pages
The biggest hurdle that I see for new Shopify merchants or developers is understanding that not all Shopify pages have the dynamic sections available. Those sections are only available on the homepage. To add those sections to other pages will require some coding (very little). But you will have to get your hands dirty. One of my favorite theme creators, Archetype Themes, have created a more dynamic feel for their custom pages, as a developer I appreciate this very much. It makes my job easier and it also gives more flexibility to the merchant.
4. Style
Last but not least, choose your style. This goes without saying, but sometimes merchants are so caught up in other details that they forget to actually choose a theme that they enjoy visually. There are definitely some themes that look better than others (without naming any themes).
Scroll down to the bottom of your theme sales page to see other stores that are using the theme, does it look nice? Also read the reviews while you’re there.
If in doubt or you are not the creative type, hire a consultant to quickly go over your options of themes. Since Shopify doesn’t offer refunds for themes (due to the digital nature of the product), it could be a fairly costly mistake if you are just starting out. A Shopify freelancers/consultant usually won’t charge more than $40–50 for a short consulting session and you might learn something new!
