Picking a Shopify theme can be tough – there are lots of awesome themes out there.
But did you know which one's are better for conversions than others?
In our guide to the 8 best converting Shopify themes, we’ll show you exactly why each theme will make a tangible difference to conversion rates for your Shopify store.
We’ll explain why these particular themes have the edge and why they’ll encourage your customers to stay (and shop) on your website.
We’ll also let you know what kind of businesses they suit, so you can figure out if it fits your brand.
First, let’s take a look at why themes matter so much when it comes to conversion rates, and what you should be looking out for when you go theme shopping.
How Can Themes Help Turn Visitors into Customers?
High converting Shopify themes are super important!
When it comes to conversion rate optimization, you need to think of your customer’s journey through your website.
You can break down conversions into little steps:
- Clicking a link to get to your website (like from an email)
- Clicking from a product image to the product page
- Clicking ‘add to cart’
- Going through the checkout process
All of these things are much more likely to happen if you can make the process easy and quick for the customer.
So, when it comes to finding Shopify themes that are going to convert, you need to look for themes that are going to make it super simple for them.
Here’s a few things to look out for:
Navigation
Can your customers find what they’re looking for? Are the categories clear and well-organised? How do the menus work? Can they find what they need without a lot of scrolling and clicking? Is there a search bar to help them find a specific product?
Images
High-quality images make a big difference, and large images can make a visual impact that might encourage a customer to keep browsing. Does your theme support large images? Or slideshows to show off different products? Can you zoom into images on your website?
Speed
One of the biggest turn-offs to a potential customer is a slow website. According to a loading time analysis by Google, if a page takes 1-3 seconds to load, the bounce rate increases by 32%. If a page takes 1-10 seconds, it increases by a whopping 123%.
Essentially, there’s no point having a lovely, elaborate theme if it takes an age to load!
Check reviews first to see if users mention how fast (or slow) the theme runs.
Sales and Promotions
Sales and promotions are a great way to draw in new customers. Some themes incorporate this into their design, with banners in prominent places so they can’t be missed.
These are just a few things to look out for when you’re looking for a Shopify theme. Now, let’s take a look at some of the best high converting themes out there!
If you’ve got high-quality photographs and you want to showcase them, Retina could be the one for you.
Key Features
- Focus on high-quality imagery to showcase products
- Product image zoom
- Sidebar menu
- Homepage videos
- FAQ page
- Slide-out cart
- Customizable content sections
- Drop-down navigation support
- Social media icons included
- Four styles to choose from – Austin, Montreal, Melbourne, and Amsterdam
Pricing
Retina costs $180.
It’s good for conversion rates because ...
Firstly, the showcasing of high-quality images is a great way to grab a customer's attention. This theme enables your customers to zoom in close on each product, too.
This is great, because it enables your customers to see exactly what your product looks like – according to a survey by Weebly, 75% of eCommerce shoppers say product images are ‘very influential’ when deciding whether or not to buy.
You can also upload videos for your homepage – so it’s a super-visual theme.
The slide-out cart is excellent for CRO as it allows your customers to add products to their cart without leaving the page they’re currently browsing.
Plus, the customizable content sections, drop-down navigation and sidebar menu means you can make it really simple for your customers to find their way around.
Click here to see it for yourself!
Empire is a bold, modern theme suited for businesses with a lot of products to sell.
Key Features
- Amazon-inspired
- Predictive search feature
- Perfect for bigger product catalogs
- Product filtering
- Home page menu list
- Customizable promotion tiles
- Quick buy button
- Available in three styles – Graphic, Supply, Industrial
Pricing
Empire costs $180.
It’s good for conversion rates because …
If Empire feels familiar, that’s because it’s designed to look like Amazon. So, if you want to give your customers an easy shopping experience, this is a good one – it’s a simple, clean, and easy theme designed to draw your customers’ attention to the products you want to feature.
The predictive search makes it really easy for your customers to find what they’re looking for, plus they can add products straight to their cart using the quick buy button.
If you want to run promotions, this is the perfect theme – you can easily add fully customizable promotion tiles to draw your customers’ eye.
Plus, product filtering and the simple navigation make it super easy for your customers to browse.
Click here to see it in action.
Venture – Best Free Theme
Want to take your customers on an adventure? Venture will help you with that.
Key Features
- Suited for bigger product catalogs
- Customizable content sections on home page
- Drop-down navigation
- Social media icons
- High-quality imagery included
- Three styles to choose from – Snowboards, Outdoors, and Boxing
Pricing
Venture is completely free!
It’s good for conversion rates because …
For a free Shopify theme, Venture has tons of great features.
Firstly, if you’ve got a big product catalog, it will help you keep things organised with customizable content sections. Plus, drop-down navigation makes it really easy for your customers to find their way around (and the search box at the top helps, too).
Social media icons and free high-quality images make this theme suited for businesses related to outdoor pursuits – like extreme sports or camping. Despite the big images, you’ve still got plenty of room for clear, descriptive text.
With Venture, you can choose to showcase your best-selling products on the homepage. This is a great way to entice customers.
It’s also really easy to set up, which makes it a solid choice for beginners.
The only downside? It will need a bit of code-tweaking to customize it, as it’s a pretty basic theme in itself.
Find out more about it here.
Boost – Best Versatile Theme
Whether you’re selling kids toys, homeware, or high fashion, Boost can draw your customers’ attention to your best products.
Key Features
- Image hotspot linking
- Predictive search
- Custom promotion tiles
- Highlight promotions in main menu
- Color names and display swatches included
- Feature products on blog posts
- Three styles to choose from – Flourish, Spark, and Inspire
Pricing
Boost costs $180.
It’s good for conversion rates because …
Do you know what? Boost has so many great features, it’s hard to know where to start.
Firstly, it’s versatile. If you’re not into the theme above, you can choose another. Here’s an example of ‘Inspire’:
Although the color swatches and fonts are varied, the basic premise is the same – Boost will grab your customers’ attention and push them towards products or promotions you want them to see.
Image hotspot linking lets you tag images, so your customers can easily find the products they’re attracted to.
Plus, you can feature certain products on blog posts and article pages – so you can give customers an informative, interesting blog post, and then send them in the direction of the products you want to feature.
On top of that, it’s super easy to promote sales and discounts using promotional tiles.
In our opinion, Boost is definitely worth the money when it comes to improving your conversion rates.
Find out more about it here.
Fashionopolism – Best for Showcasing Clothes
If you sell clothing or homeware, Fashionopolism’s built-in pencil banner and focus on high-quality imagery could be just right for you.
Key Features
- Sticky navigation
- Product image zoom
- Product quick view
- Choose from slide-out sidebar menu or horizontal menu
- Showcase an image slideshow
- Customizable content sections on home page
- Available in four styles – Empire, Secret Sale, Pop Up Shop, and Galleria
Pricing
Fashionopolism costs $140.
It’s good for conversion rates because …
The name might be a mouthful, but Fashionopolism has a lot to offer.
The sticky menu is one of the best things about this theme. This makes browsing your website much more attractive to customers – meaning they’re less likely to click away. Customers can jump from page to page without scrolling up and down constantly.
The built-in promo banners are great for sales, plus the mobile theme is well designed – for example, the cart icon is right in the middle of each product page, which makes it really simple to ‘add to cart’.
There’s also a couple of small extras. Try adding a product to the cart on the demo page – it makes the cart ‘pop’ from the side, making it really simple and easy to start the checkout process.
There is a problem, though, and that’s the search bar. Hidden in the menu, it makes searching a bit more difficult. According to Shopify, 13.8% of a customer’s overall revenue comes from visitors using search boxes – so that search box is pretty important.
You might be able to adjust the theme slightly, but you’ll need a bit of coding knowledge – so that’s something to keep in mind.
It’s a theme that requires really clear, high-quality images and videos to make your page enticing.
You can find out more about it by clicking here.
Story – Best for Small Businesses with a Backstory
If you’ve got a story you want to tell about your company, this theme works beautifully.
Key Features
- Story-focused product pages
- Built-in timeline tool
- Lookbook feature
- Showcase your team
- Collection filtering in sidebar
- Available in three styles – Chronicle, Quest, and Heritage
Pricing
Story costs $180.
It’s good for conversion rates because …
If you want to draw in loyal customers, sharing your story as a business is a great way to build trust.
Maybe you’ve got a great charitable drive you want to promote. Maybe you want to show off your eco-friendly credentials. Or maybe you started as a small business and grew to something bigger, and you want to share that story.
This theme makes it super easy to give customers a peek behind your brand using story-focused product pages with clear images and text, as well as a cool timeline feature that allows customers to follow your journey.
The navigation is really simple, the theme itself looks slick, plus the collection filtering in the sidebar allows customers to find what they’re looking for really quickly.
Just like the previous theme, one small complaint is the search bar is tucked out of the way, which is inconvenient.
You can see Story for yourself here.
Flow – Best Minimalist Design
If you like a clean, sharp look, Flow is the one to go for.
Key Features
- Homepage video
- Slide-out cart
- Promotional banner at top of homepage
- Product grid
- Collection page sidebar
- Long-form homepage
- Available in three styles – Queenstown, Byron, and Cannes
Pricing
Flow costs $180.
It’s good for conversion rates because …
There’s a lot to love about Flow. Firstly, the clean, stripped-back look will make it really easy for your customers to be drawn to the promotional banner at the top of the page.
Plus, navigation is really simple. There’s a search button right at the top – so it gets brownie points for that – and the slide-out cart is a great way to prompt customers to start the checkout process.
The homepage itself is attractive, too. You can feature your best products in a grid, and the collection-specific sidebar allows you to showcase groups of products.
This theme ticks a lot of boxes for us! You can find out more about it here.
Minimal – Best for Smaller Stores
If you want to showcase your products in a clear, simple way, Minimal is a great free Shopify theme to try.
Key Features
- Slideshow to showcase products on home page
- Product image zoom
- Homepage video
- Product filtering
- Product recommendations
- Available in three styles – Vintage, Fashion, or Modern
Pricing
Minimal is a free theme.
It’s good for conversion rates because …
If you have a small amount of products and you want to showcase them beautifully, Minimal is great. The slideshow on the home page will draw your customers attention to your best products, while the product image zoom will let them take a closer look if they wish to.
Product filtering allows them to find their way around your products easily – plus it’s got a search bar right at the top!
Product recommendations on each product page provide a great way to encourage customers to add more to their cart, too.
It may not be the flashiest theme on this list, but from a customer’s perspective, it’s really easy to use – which is super important.
You can find out more about Minimal here.
Conversion Rate Optimization for Shopify
How can you optimize conversion rates for your Shopify store?
There’s a few things you can do.
Firstly, you’ll need to pick a decent theme (hopefully this article has helped with that). Secondly, you need to think of your store from the customer’s perspective.
What makes you want to click off a website? A boring layout? Or a layout that’s too busy and difficult to navigate? A website that takes a long time to load?
Essentially, you want to make the shopping experience as simple for your customer as possible – and you want to make sure your store is attractive enough to entice customers to keep clicking (and, ultimately, to go through the checkout process).
There is a lot you can do to improve your Shopify conversion rate. Running split tests and making simple changes can make the world of difference.
You might want to consider taking a course, like the Shopify Split Testing: Conversion Rate Optimization course over at Udemy. The course takes you through how to run a split test on your own Shopify website, and how to test and measure variables which may affect your conversion rate.
It will also help to improve your add to carts, initiate checkouts, and purchases. It’s well worth investing in if you want to see a real, tangible difference to your own Shopify conversion rates. See here for more info.
Wrapping Up …
Hopefully, this run down of some of the best converting Shopify themes has helped you to find the perfect theme for your store – one that is going to turn visitors into customers.
By making the process as simple as possible, these themes can help your customers have an easy shopping experience – one that they’ll (hopefully) keep coming back to!
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