A well-designed online store is one of the best ways to showcase your products.
Often the best-designed stores are those that are simple. Are you curious about minimal Shopify themes and how they can benefit your business?
As we are immersed in an ever-evolving world of technology. More and more, as a society, we are turning to technology to help us find, discover and purchase products.
Today, we are constantly inundated with things that require us to make decisions quickly. Technology has trained our brains to think faster and have shorter attention spans.
The question then becomes how can we get people to slow down long enough to pay attention to our business?
One answer is to focus on minimalistic design, where key information is highlighted and put at the forefront of customers’ minds.
In this article, I will cover the value of minimalistic design and the best minimal Shopify themes you can use for your online store.
Benefits of Using a Minimal Shopify Theme
There are some great benefits to using a minimal Shopify theme, no matter the size of your online store or the season of business you are in. Let’s go over a few of those key benefits.
Faster Loading Times
Having a website that loads fast means that your visitors can discover your products more easily. One of the key benefits of a minimal Shopify theme is that it can have a faster loading time.
This occurs because a minimal Shopify theme doesn’t have extra load-heavy features that you may not need for your business. Instead, the design and development of the theme focus on the key elements you need to show off your products, give your customers information and lead people to a sale.
Increased Focus on Products
Another benefit is that minimal Shopify themes allow your products to be the center of attention. With a minimal design, your website visitors can keep their attention on your products.
This will give you the opportunity to wow your visitors with the brilliance of your products and allow them to make a faster buying decision.
Ultimately leading to a more seamless checkout process.
The easier visitors can navigate your website, the faster they can become customers.
Enhanced User Experience
Another pro of a minimal Shopify theme is the enhanced user or customer experience.
Your visitors won’t be easily distracted by extra elements and features that could deter them from purchasing.
Instead, they could easily discover information, click photos, watch videos, or read reviews to help them make a faster buying decision.
Flexibility and Customization Options
Finally, a minimal Shopify theme has flexibility and customization options. Due to the lighter nature of the theme, it can be easier to add the features and elements that you need.
Rather than purchasing a theme with a ton of features that you may not use.
With a minimalistic theme, you can add any additional features as needed through theme customization.
Top 5 Minimal Shopify Themes
Now that you know the benefits of a minimal Shopify theme, let’s go over 5 that you should check out for your online store.
Prestige Shopify Theme
The Shopify theme Prestige is a beautiful minimalistic theme with great features that are perfect if you need more elements to make selling your products seamless. This theme features a beautiful editorial layout with clean lines and beautiful callouts to keep your visitors attention. Here are some of the unique features of this theme.
- EU translations
- Countdown timer
- Promo popups
- Stock counter
- Size chart
- Before/after image slider
- Color swatches
- Mega menu and more.
This theme will be perfect for you if you want to show off various elements of your products, such as different color choices. Or if you want to tease your website visitors with special announcements using the countdown timer and more.
You may not want to select this theme if you have a small selection of products or if you find that you won’t be using most of its features.
The investment for this theme is $350, and you can get it through Shopify.
Spark Shopify Theme
The Shopify theme Spark is perfect if you want a high-end look and you don’t have a large selection of products. For example, if you are earlier in your business journey or you purposely keeping your product line down to a few select items.
What I love about this theme is your online store can look high-end and modern. Plus theme allows your products to be the focal point of attention.
Coupled with great captivating branding, persuasive copywriting, and photography, your visitors will easily fall in love with your products.
This theme would not suit you if you want a mega menu, want a countdown timer, or don’t like the layout. Here are some of the fabulous features of this theme.
- Stock counter
- Promo popups
- Lookbooks
- Size chart
- Product videos (must have your own videos)
- Infinite scroll.
The investment for this theme is $300, and it can be purchased through Shopify.
Forge Shopify Theme
The Shopify theme Forge is absolutely gorgeous if you want to have clean lines and minimal details that bring your products to the spotlight.
This theme has editorial layouts, large photo callouts, and a simple navigation bar. If you also want a mega menu to highlight your products, you’ll also love this theme.
Here are some features of Forge
- Fast product filtering
- Ability to sell products in sets
- In-menu promos
- Stock counter
- Customizable contact form
- And more.
You may not want to select this theme if you have a larger catalog of products. Or if you want more features such as a countdown timer, various popups, etc.
The clean lines and heavy focus on the product photos make this a great theme if you really want to show off your products.
The investment of this theme is $220, and it can be purchased through Shopify.
Grid Shopify Theme
The Shopify theme Grid has a fun masonry-style layout that you can use to highlight the various aspects of your products. While this feature is optional, you can use it to add some dimension to your online store.
This theme has a grid layout that makes it easy to navigate and discover products. No matter what size store you have, this is a great option to showcase a modern style and approach to your showcasing your products.
Some notable features of Grid
- Age verifier
- Quick view
- Promo banners
- Mega menu
You may not like this theme if you want to have a mega menu that shows product images or if you need a feature that shows different product colors.
Otherwise, this theme is a great minimalist Shopify theme.
The investment for this theme is $260, and it can be purchased through Shopify.
Pipeline Shopify Theme
For my fellow luxury lovers, this one is for you. The Shopify theme Pipeline is designed for fashionable luxury brands. Don’t worry; you don’t have to sell clothing to use this theme.
The clean layout with full-height imagery that blends into the navigation will draw your visitors into your online store. In order to really capture your visitors’ attention, you could use a video to engage those that land on your homepage, inspiring them to check out other aspects of your online store.
Here are some features of Pipeline.
- Stock counter
- Trust badges
- Color swatches
- Size chart
- Usage information
- Image hotspot and more.
You may not like this theme if you need more advanced features like a sophisticated mega menu.
Otherwise, you can still use this theme if you sell a different type of product other than fashion.
The investment for this theme is $320, and it’s available on Shopify.
Each Shopify theme I shared is made with the latest Shopify technology called Online Store 2.0. This version of Shopify themes allows you to have greater flexibility to update and change your layouts on your own.
If you want to ensure that your theme doesn’t look like everyone else’s, you can customize the theme to match your brand and your unique business needs.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Minimal Shopify Theme
Of course, you are probably wondering how to choose the best Shopify theme for your business. There are many factors to take into consideration. Here are a few to keep in mind.
Design and Aesthetics
It’s important to remember your ideal customers when deciding which theme to select. Think about what design and aesthetic will capture and keep their attention.
Also, make sure that you love the design, this is your business, and you need to feel confident that your brand is being represented according to your liken.
Start by looking at all the theme options and rule out those that don’t meet your bigger-picture vision. Don’t worry about any minor design details. Those most likely can be customized or removed to match your business needs.
Features and Functionality
The features and functionality of a theme are very important. Before deciding which Shopify theme to select, it’s important to understand what features you need based on your business.
Ask yourself important questions such as what would I need to have in order to do X?
That could be having an FAQ section on your product page that would keep visitors on your product page. Or do you have a large selection of products and need to ensure they are showcased appropriately throughout your site? Think about which themes will support a larger catalog of products, etc.
Intentionally take time here to figure out what would be best for your needs. If you would like support, you can also book a Luxury Strategy Session, and we’ll figure out together what you need to meet your business objectives.
Customization Options
Along the lines of features and functionality, also explore the customization options of the theme. You’ll want to make sure you can make changes that are important to you in a timely manner.
Fortunately, the themes I have recommended are all made with Shopify’s latest technology, Online Store 2.0. This latest version of Shopify allows merchants to customize their stores, that they previously could not easily.
If you’re exploring other options, make sure that the customization options are flexible enough for your needs.
Support and Documentation
When you purchase a premium Shopify theme, make sure that you also look and see what type of documentation is available. Documentation is important when you need to customize your theme to make it more unique to your business.
A well-documented theme will save you time and frustration in the long run. Along those lines, ensure there is support to assist with questions.
Pricing and Budget
Next, consider your budget and the price of the theme. This will largely depend on the stage of business you are in. If you have a solid strategy and vision for your business, you should easily be able to make earn back the investment of your theme.
When it comes to a free theme vs. a paid Shopify theme, a paid theme will give you greater flexibility for customizations right away than a free theme.
Conclusion
A minimalistic or modern Shopify theme has a lot of perks, from highlighting your products to helping your online store run faster.
Some key features that you’ll enjoy are clean layouts, easy-to-navigate menus, seamless opt-ins or email subscription invites, and more.
My recommendation is to take an assessment of your current needs and match them up against the Shopify themes you are considering. This will help you rule out those that won’t support your business. Also, consider how much customization you may need.
Most Shopify stores actually aren’t 100% custom built but use a premium Shopify theme as a base that is customized to their needs so their stores don’t look exactly like everyone else.
I highly recommend taking this approach if you have the budget and want your online store to look unique and not out of the box.
