If you use Shopify to build your dropshipping store, you may be limited by the functionality of free themes. However, in Shopify Theme Store, a theme can cost 200 ~ 350 dollars. Is buying a theme worthwhile? The answer is YES. Unless you're an excellent website developer, it can save you tons of time using paid themes. Moreover, you won't need to invest money in some plug-ins which might reduce your website speed.
This article will introduce how to choose a Shopify theme for dropshipping first, and focus on the top 10 Shopify themes that you should use.
How to Choose a Shopify Theme for Dropshipping?
What makes a good Shopify theme for dropshipping? A good Shopify theme should be affordable, easy to use, customizable, mobile friendly, SEO friendly, and attractive. Here are 6 tips for you to choose a Shopify theme for your dropshipping store.
1. Set a Budget
How much you're willing to pay for a theme? On the whole, the price is largely impacted by the theme developer, level of customization and functionality. Start exploring themes for Shopify stores by using Google to make such a decision.
More experienced developers tend to charge more. The higher the level of customization, the more expensive. The more functions a theme has, the more expensive it is.
2. Learn More about Themes in Shopify Theme Store
Shopify Theme Store is like Shopify App Store. It is a marketplace where you can browse, and view the demo store of a specific theme. Therefore, get inspiration from modern website designs here to start building your Shopify dropshipping store.
3. Take Your Industry into Account
Some themes are specially designed for a certain industry, for example, clothing. Product images need to be zoomed in, and large catalog size should be supported.
4. List the Main Features You Need
Although English is an international language, if you sell in the European, translations should be included. If you need to run promotions all the time, things such as countdown timer, event calendar, and sticky headers are nice features to have.
5. Favor Mobile Friendly, SEO Friendly & Lightweight Design
As for a theme, being attractive is far from enough. It should also be mobile friendly, SEO friendly and lightweight.
Nowadays, mobile ecommerce is becoming increasingly popular. If your website is not optimized for mobile devices, you're going to loose a large number of buyers. Preview a theme on different mobile devices and check the navigation menu, image sizes, spacing, call-to-action buttons, etc.
Additionally, if a Shopify theme has built-in SEO features, you can easily optimize web pages to gain more organic traffic. In this way, you can save a lot of money that you need to spend on paid ads.
In terms of choosing a lightweight design, you should avoid the fancy features which take more than 3 seconds to load. Bear in mind that speed is everything - users prefer websites that load fast.
6. Check Ratings & Reviews
If you want to use themes provided by third parties, such as Debutify, Turbo, and so on, you'd better check ratings and reviews. Browse the reviews to learn whether it is easy to use, you can also find out updates and support that the developers provide.
Top 10 Shopify Themes for Dropshipping
1. Brooklyn
This theme is tailor-made for apparel dropshipping stores. It is a theme that accentuates photos. With it, you can feature multiple product images in a slideshow on your home page or feature a video to tell your brand story. The dynamic product grid changes automatically based on how many products are displayed. The slide-out cart is user-friendly.
Judging from the reviews, we conclude that it's a good choice for beginners!
2. Debut
Debut is specially built for 1 - 9 products. It is available in two different styles, namely Default and Light. Compared with Brooklyn, it has more advanced features. This theme allows you to show pickup availability, customer testimonials, promotional banner, product recommendations, and filtering. Moreover, the predictive search can improve user experience.
Many users have left positive reviews, so it's worth trying.
3. Narrative
Similarly, Narrative is also designed for a small catalog size. However, there are 4 presets, and it is specially designed for visual storytelling. You can feature an autoplay fullscreen video on your homepage. Products and relevant information can be displayed in a vertical slideshow. What's more, the navigation menu is fixed at the top of each page.
The positive score is high enough, which indicates that it might be a good choice!
4. Minimal
Minimal has three preset templates: Vintage, Fashion, and Modern. It is great for jewelry and accessories and the setup is minimal. With it, you can use a hero video to tell your brand story or a slideshow to display multiple products on your homepage. Moreover, it enables filtering and product recommendations.
Over 80% of users think it's a great free Shopify theme.
After going through the best free themes, let's start looking at the paid ones.
5. Debutify
With Debutify, you can easily build a professional Shopify store and boost conversions. Thanks to the drag-and-drop editor, the tool is easy to use and your design can fit any device. Debutify has built over 50 add-ons for you to use, including Cart Maximizers, Conversion Triggers, Loyalty Builders, Shopping Enhancers, and Shop Protectors.
Because Debutify offers a free plan, you can try it for free. If you need add-ons and integration, you may consider the Starter plan later.
To compare Debutify with other paid themes, you may take advantage of this comparison page.
Debutify has over 9,500 reviews and a rating of 4.8 stars on Trustpilot. Evidently, the tool is worth trying.
6. Handy
Handy is a paid theme in Shopify Theme Store. It costs $180. The free trial is unlimited and you just need to pay once when you publish the store. It is specially designed to support visual brand storytelling. The setup steps are minimal. The theme enables functions including slide-out cart, sticky cart, product badges, reviews, promo banners, recommended products image rollover, image zoom, and so on.
Look at the positive score! The theme is sure to be a worthwhile investment in your dropshipping business!
Apart from Shopify Theme Store, you can also buy popular themes for Shopify stores from ThemeForest.net. Here, we can find the best-selling Shopify themes, such as Ella, Wokiee, and so on.
7. Ella
Ella is the best-selling Shopify theme of all time. It offers over 50 world-class homepage layouts and maximum customizability. The theme is compatible with Online Store 2.0, and it loads fast.
Moreover, Ella provides many free premium features, including Bundles & Discounts, Advanced Mega Menu, Product Filtering, and so on. You can also get lifetime free updates and excellent customer support if you choose Ella.
You probably can't believe that Ella just costs $89.
8. Wokiee
Wokiee is a Shopify theme built for high conversions. Up till now, it has over 20,000 happy customers. It offers over 80+ layouts and 99% of customers are satisfied with it. Wokiee promises a fast load time. You can take advantage of all the apps here, such as Megamenu, Instagram shop/feed, Wishlist, Compare, Related products, Special price countdown, and so on. What's more, a great number of useful e-commerce features are also included.
What's more, the cost of Wokiee is even lower, only $79.
9. Turbo Theme
This is the most popular theme developed by Out of the Sandbox, a famous Shopify theme designer. Turbo is specially designed for high-volume shops that require speed, style, and flexibility. It is fully compatible with Online Store 2.0. The design put performance first, in combination with high-impact visuals. Based on predictions, Turbo will preload pages in the background to ensure an ultra-fast browsing experience. Besides, you can also benefit from upgraded product layouts, predictive search, etc.
With $400, you can get all Turbo's built-in styles. After a 14-day trial, if you don't love Turbo, you can get a full refund.
10. Booster Theme
The booster theme has been built since 2015 and the team keeps optimizing it based on the studies, requests, and suggestions of over 45,000 stores. If you want the most adaptable conversion-focused Shopify theme, Booster Theme is a perfect choice. With it, you can get all the apps you need to increase sales, including Megamenu, live chat, Optimized Product Filtering, Promotion Timer, Shoppable images, Predictive Search, and more. It also guarantees lightning-quick page loads and an enhanced mobile surfing experience. Additionally, the installation is super easy - just a single click is needed to install 20 demo presets.
Two options are available, namely, the yearly license and the lifetime license. If you are determined to build a successful Shopify store, you may go ahead with a lifetime license.
Wrapping up
A Shopify theme will determine the website style and functionality, so you’d need to mind your choice. Consider your budget, technical needs and industry. Meanwhile, don’t forget to check whether the design is mobile-friendly, SEO friendly and lightweight to ensure great user experience. Last but not least, refer to the ratings and reviews.
