How to pick a Shopify theme by looking at top stores
The fastest way to choose a theme is to see which ones work for stores like yours. Here is how to find out what theme any store uses and how to compare the ones top stores in your niche run.
On this page
Choosing a Shopify theme from a gallery of demo stores is hard, because every demo looks good with professional photos and a perfect catalogue. A better approach is to look at real stores in your niche that are doing well, find out which themes they use, and judge those themes against how you plan to sell. This guide shows how.
Key takeaways
- Start from stores like yours, with a similar catalogue size, price range and product type, not from theme demos.
- You can usually see a store's theme in its page source, with a browser extension or in a theme directory.
- A popular theme among strong stores is a sensible shortlist, not proof the theme causes the sales.
- Judge themes on mobile product pages, speed, variant handling and the sections you need, not on the homepage.
- Prefer Online Store 2.0 themes, so you can build pages from sections without code.
Why look at top stores first
A theme demo shows a theme at its best. A real store shows a theme under real conditions, with real product photos, long variant lists, review widgets, upsell apps and a mobile audience. If several strong stores in your niche use the same theme, it has already survived the problems you are about to face.
The goal is not to copy a store's design. It is to shortlist themes that are proven for your kind of catalogue.
How to find out which theme a store uses
By hand
Open the store, right-click and view the page source, then search for the word "theme". On most Shopify storefronts you will find a theme object that includes the theme's name. Two things to watch for:
- Many stores rename their theme, so the name you see can be a custom label. Look for clues such as the theme's store ID or the style of the code.
- Heavily customised or fully custom themes will not match any theme in the Shopify theme store.
With the RivalSonar extension
The RivalSonar Chrome extension opens a panel on any store with its platform, theme, installed apps, tracking pixels, best sellers and estimated sales. It is quicker than reading source code when you are checking many stores in a row. Analysing a store with the extension costs two credits.
With the themes directory
The RivalSonar themes directory lists themes detected across the stores we cover. Each theme page shows the stores using it, and you can filter those stores by estimated orders, country and category. In the store explorer, you can also filter by theme directly.
A step-by-step method
Step 1. Define what "stores like yours" means
Write down three things:
- Catalogue size. One product, a small range of under twenty, or a large catalogue.
- Price band. Low-ticket impulse items, mid-range, or considered purchases.
- Product type. Visual products such as clothing and home decor, technical products that need specs, or consumables sold by subscription.
A theme that is ideal for a large fashion catalogue can be a poor fit for a one-product store.
Step 2. Build a list of strong peers
In the store explorer, filter by category, country and your price range, then sort by estimated monthly orders. Keep the top twenty to thirty stores. If you sell one product, add the one-product stores filter. Remember that the order and revenue figures are estimates, which is fine for ranking stores against each other.
Step 3. Record each store's theme
Note the theme of each store in a simple table, along with its estimated orders and catalogue size. Group the results. You will usually find that a handful of themes cover most strong stores in a niche, with a long tail of custom builds.
| Theme | Stores in your list | Typical catalogue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theme A | 9 | Small range | Strong mobile product page |
| Theme B | 6 | Large catalogue | Good filtering |
| Custom | 5 | Mixed | Usually larger brands |
Step 4. Study the product page on a phone
Most ecommerce traffic is mobile, so open three stores per theme on your phone and look only at the product page:
- Is the price, a compare-at price and the main call to action visible without scrolling?
- How are variants shown? Swatches, buttons or dropdowns?
- Is there room for reviews, FAQs, size guides and trust badges without clutter?
- Does the page load quickly on mobile data?
Step 5. Check what is the theme and what is an app
Many features you admire, such as quantity breaks, bundle builders, sticky add-to-cart bars and review carousels, come from Shopify apps rather than the theme. The extension and the store profile list detected apps, so you can tell which features you would get from the theme itself and which you would need to add. The guide on which Shopify apps top stores use covers this side.
Step 6. Try the shortlist with your own content
Most themes in the Shopify theme store can be tried on your own store before you buy. Load your real product photos and descriptions into your top two or three themes. A theme that looked best on someone else's photos can look very different with yours.
What to weigh when you decide
- Speed. Fewer scripts and lighter images help conversion rate. Test the product page with a page speed tool.
- Sections. Online Store 2.0 themes let you add sections to any page. Check that the sections you need exist, such as comparison tables, image with text and FAQs.
- Updates and support. Prefer themes with recent updates and an active developer.
- Fit with your apps. If you rely on a review or bundle app, check it works with the theme.
- Free first. Shopify's free themes, including Dawn, are fast and well maintained. Many strong stores run them with small changes, so a free theme is a reasonable starting point while you validate products.
A note on cause and effect
If many top stores use one theme, that does not mean the theme made them successful. Popular themes are popular partly because they are well built and partly because they are easy to find. Use top stores to narrow your choice, then decide on how well each theme presents your products to your customers. The design that matters most is a clear, fast product page, whichever theme provides it.
