8 Best Shopify Themes for 2020 (And How to Choose One For Your Store)

A killer Shopify theme can make or break any ecommerce store. Get it right and you’ll see sales go through the roof. While picking a dud could see you land flat on your face. But with so many different themes available, it can be a nightmare finding the perfect one for your Shopify business. Don’t worry though - help is at hand. We’ve sifted through to hand pick the eight best Shopify themes for 2020 out there. We go through exactly what makes each one so good, who it suits best and even how to choose the perfect one for your online store.

The best Shopify themes 2020

You can find a range of both free and paid themes at the Shopify Theme Store. Here are some of our favourites and why we like them:

Minimal (Free)

Minimal is great as a starter theme and lends itself well to fashion brands.

Key features:

• Minimalist and responsive design that looks beautiful on all devices.
• Multiple styles - Vintage, Fashion and Modern.
• Slideshow to showcase multiple large product images on home page.
• Home page video allows you to tell your brand story.
• Product image zoom to give customers a closer view.
• Related products module allows easy upselling.
• Enhanced product filtering tool.

Price: Free | Check it out here.

Simple (Free)

Simple is exactly what it says on the tin - simple. It’s great for putting all the focus on your products but without the fancy frills of other themes.

Key features:

• Super minimalistic, lightweight and responsive Shopify theme.
• Two styles - Light and Beauty.
• Accordian style sidebar menu to easily display items and collections.
• Product image zoom and image animations.
• Related products module allows easy upselling.

Price: Free | Check it out here.

Brooklyn (Free)

Brooklyn has a high focus on brand and product imagery and so is perfect for modern apparel and clothing stores.

Key features:

• Simple and responsive design.
• Two themes - Classic (suited to adult wear) and Playful (suited to kids wear).
• Strong header slideshow showcases multiple product images on home page.
• Home page video allows you to tell your brand story.
• Dynamic product grid displays a gallery of most popular items.
• AJAX ready slide-out cart helps increase conversions and sell more product.

Price: Free | Check it out here.

Venture (Free)

As the name suggests, Venture is a great option for retailers selling outdoor, adventure or sports goods. It’s also excellent for anyone looking to list a large product catalogue - so avoid if you’re only selling a few items.

Key features:

• Responsive design that looks beautiful on all devices.
• Multiple styles - Snowboards, Outdoors and Boxing.
• Slideshow to showcase multiple large product images on home page.
• Built for large catalogues with simple organisational structure.
• Promotional banner allows you to highlight sales and discounts.
• Multi-column menu features product details and large images.
• Enhanced product filtering tool.

Price: Free | Check it out here.

Supply (Free)

Supply is a minimalist theme with great filtering and doesn’t go overboard on creativity. This makes it an excellent option you need to list a large catalogue of practical products.

Key features:

• Responsive and pragmatic design.
• Two styles - Blue and Light.
• Excellent sidebar filter makes it great for large catalogues.
• Customised filters based on your brand and products.
• Display multiple featured collections directly on home page.
• Optional slideshow to showcase multiple product or brand images.

Price: Free | Check it out here.

Split ($180)

With large imagery, Split is a great option to display highly visual products. It’s also fantastic at helping communicate your brand story throughout the site.

Key features:

• Highly responsive design with ‘mobile first’ approach.
• Clean design with large, high-resolution imagery.
• Multiple styles - Cuber, Looker and Jagger.
• Sleek vertical slideshow to display products, blogs or other info on home page.
• Use customer testimonials and comments to promote products.
• Choose between a multi-level, slide-out sidebar or large horizontal menu.
• Related products module allows easy upselling.
• Display both your Twitter and Instagram posts in a stylish social feed grid.

Price: $180 | Check it out here.

District ($160)

District is one of the best Shopify themes for showcasing featured collections and galleries in a clean and beautiful way.

Key features:

• Sleek and responsive design showcases collections on all devices.
• Multiple styles - District, Energy and Coast.
• Phenomenal reviews (100% score from 269 reviews at time of writing).
• Promotional banner allows you to highlight sales and discounts.
• Strong header slideshow showcases multiple product images on home page.
• Home page video allows you to tell your brand story.
• Marketing popup to share full screen promo messages to visitors.
• Showcase latest Instagram posts in a full width feed.
• Promote collections through dedicated image galleries on your home page.

Price: $160 | Check it out here.

Icon ($140)

Icon comes built-in with some stunning visual features, tools and effects. This makes it an excellent candidate for any online store that has a heavy focus on imagery and visual content.

Key features:

• Beautiful responsive design viewable across all devices.
• Multiple styles - Dolce, Yves and Christian.
• Stunning parallax scrolling creates animated depth effect.
• Sticky navigation keeps menus fixed to top of page when scrolling.
• Showcase latest Instagram posts in a full width feed.
• Quick view popup product details without leaving current page.
• Feature product images in a large, multi-column drop-down menu.
• Slideshow to showcase multiple large product images on home page.

Price: $140 | Check it out here.

Considering Shopify Plus? Check our guide Shopify Plus Demystified!

Picking a Shopify theme

So you've seen our eight best Shopify themes. But maybe you're still wondering how to actually pick the right one for your store.

Here are a few basic things to look out for before settling on a new theme:

• Responsive design. Mobile is fast becoming the top online sales channel for UK retailers. Meaning it’s critical to have a responsive Shopify theme that works seamlessly across all devices. Take a look at the awesome work by CRU Kafe:

• Consistent themes. People tend to look for certain things in certain places. Make it easy for visitors by adhering to these ‘standard themes’, such as always having the shopping basket icon in the top right.
• Website speed. According to HubSpot, 40% of people leave a site if it takes more than just three seconds to load. The best Shopify themes are lightweight and load as quickly as possible in order to keep users engaged.
• Strong theme support. Shopify provide direct support for all free themes in the Shopify Theme Store. But keep an eye on reviews and recent updates to ensure any themes by third-party developers come with quality support.

• Ratings and feedback. Always consult the marketplace ratings of any Shopify theme you’re considering. You’ll gain insight into other retailers’ experiences by reading through all relevant positive and negative feedback.

With all this said, the best Shopify theme for your online store is still going to be unique to your business.

For example, do you have a range of visually stunning products? Then find a theme that provides space for incredible images on the product page.

Or is it more about being able to sell with words for your business? Then something that highlights the product description is probably a better fit.

Ask some serious questions about what you want a Shopify theme to do for your online store. Such as:

• How do I want to display my products?
• How many products do I need to display?
• What are my competitors doing that I like and dislike?
• How do I want my customers to feel when they’re on my ecommerce website?
• What do I want my site to say about my business?
• What’s my budget for a new theme or design?

After considering all this, make sure to experiment with a few options to see what it looks like for your site and product catalogue.

Consider using a Shopify Expert

A final option to potentially think about is going even more customised and using a Shopify Expert to design everything for you.

Of course, this usually means splashing a bit (and sometimes a lot) more cash. But you end up with an ecommerce website that’s perfect for your brand and of incredible quality.

If you do decide to go this route then make sure you opt for a quality designer with plenty of positive feedback behind them - like We Make Websites, Carson, Whole Design Studios or ShopPad.

And that’s it! You’ve now seen some of the best Shopify themes and how to choose one for your online store.

Go ahead and use this info to help you build the perfect Shopify-powered ecommerce website for your brand.

But first - let us know in the comments which theme you ended up going for (whether it’s in our list or not).