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How do you choose the right Shopify theme?
Karina Paviotti
Founder, Design by Karina
14 min read
Choose a Shopify theme by starting from your own products and customers: how many products you have, how many sizes and colors, what your photos look like and which languages you sell in. Then test two or three themes with your own products before you commit. Shopify offers 24 free themes in its Theme Store, including Dawn and the Horizon family, and paid themes are a one-time purchase, mostly between $150 and $400, licensed to one store.
In short
The right theme is the one that fits your catalog, your photos and your customers, not the one with the prettiest demo.
You can preview any theme in your own Shopify admin with your own products before you publish or pay for it.
A theme gives you a structure. What it can't give you is the reason someone should buy from you.
Choosing a theme is one of the first real decisions in a new Shopify store, and it feels bigger than it is. The Theme Store has more than a thousand options, every demo looks finished, so it's tempting to pick the one that looks most like the brand in your head.
But a demo is built for the theme, not for you. The photos are shot for it, the product names are short, and every product comes in exactly the right number of colors. In our work, we decide what the store must say before we decide how it looks, and the same order works for a theme: first write down what your store has to do, then find the theme that does it well.
What is a Shopify theme, exactly?
A theme is the design layer of your Shopify store: how your homepage, product pages, collection pages, cart and blog look. Your products, customers and orders belong to the store, not to the theme, which is why you can change themes without losing them.
Today's themes are built on what Shopify calls Online Store 2.0, announced in 2021. Pages are made of sections and blocks that you add, remove and move in the theme editor, without a developer. A section is a part of a page, like an image with text or a row of reviews. Blocks are the pieces inside it, like a heading or a button. Every theme in the Theme Store must support sections, so this flexibility is there whichever theme you pick.
In 2025 Shopify introduced Horizon, a new foundation for its free themes built on theme blocks: 10 free themes that share one system and differ mainly in their look. Dawn, Shopify's earlier free theme, is still available and updated.
Shopify store, webshop, website
Whatever you call it, a Shopify store, a Shopify webshop or a Shopify website, it runs on one theme at a time. You can keep up to 20 themes in your library, but only one is published.
Start from your products and customers, not the demo
Before you open a single demo, write down six things about your store, because they separate a theme that fits from one you'll fight with for years.
Your catalog size. One product needs a homepage that sells like a product page. Two hundred products need filters, good search and a menu that works on a phone.
Your variants. Six sizes and four colors need a product page that makes the choice easy. Made to measure needs room for size guidance and extra fields, which demos don't show.
Your photo style. Some themes are built around big campaign images, others around clean product photos. Be honest about the photos you have today, because a theme that needs a perfect lifestyle shot in every section looks empty without one.
Your languages. Selling in Dutch, French and English means every theme text needs a translation, and the layout has to hold longer words.
How much you need to explain. Skincare with ingredients, or jewelry with sizes and materials, needs space for comparisons and questions. A brand built on its story needs editorial sections.
Your customer's phone. Many visitors see the store on a phone first, so the mobile menu, product page and cart matter more than the desktop demo.
With that list next to you, the Theme Store gets much easier. You can filter by industry, catalog size and features like color swatches or a mega menu, and you'll know which ones matter.
What to check in a theme demo
Every theme in the Theme Store has a demo you can click through. Skip the homepage hero, because every theme gets that right. Look at the pages your customers use every day:
The product page. Where do the price, variants and add-to-cart button sit on a phone? Is there room for what customers need before they buy, like sizes, delivery and returns?
The collection page. Are there filters and sorting? How does it look three rows deep, not just one?
The mobile menu. Can you picture your own categories in it without a long scroll?
The cart. Can a customer change the quantity and keep shopping easily?
The speed. Open the demo on your phone with mobile data. If it feels slow when it's empty, it won't get faster with your apps and photos.
Then add the theme to your own store and preview it with your own products. Shopify lets you preview a theme in your admin before you publish it, and for paid themes, before you buy. That's when you see what happens to your longest product name and your real photos.
Try it with your hardest product
Preview the product with the most variants, the longest name and the weakest photo on your phone. If the theme works for that one, it'll work for the rest.
Theme speed: what to look at
Speed matters because people leave a slow store before they've seen what you sell. Shopify sets a minimum for Theme Store themes: an average Lighthouse performance score of at least 60 and an accessibility score of at least 90, on the home, product and collection pages.
That's a floor, not a promise. What slows a store down is often what's added on top of the theme: very large images, homepage video, and apps that load code on every page. Some features you'd add an app for, like swatches or a size chart, are already built into many themes.
Themes for fashion, beauty and jewelry
The Theme Store has industry filters, including clothing, beauty and jewelry. They're a good start, as long as you remember the demo shows one way of using the theme. What each kind of store usually needs:
Fashion: size guidance close to the size choice, color swatches that switch the photo, filters by size and color, and room for campaign images and lookbooks.
Beauty and skincare: space on the product page to explain ingredients, results and how to use it, plus reviews and comparisons. Some themes offer a before and after image slider.
Jewelry: large, sharp product images with zoom, clear options for materials and sizes, and a calm layout that lets fine details be seen.
Screenshot: vyola.beVYOLA is a Belgian atelier for custom-made body jewelry, so the product page had to sell a fit, not just a size. Size guidance and a considered ordering flow sit right where the doubt happens. That's the kind of thing no theme demo shows you, so you plan for it before you choose.
TOOL: THEME FIT CHECK
Free or paid Shopify theme?
Shopify's free themes are made and updated by Shopify, and the newer ones include a mega menu, filters, swatches and quick view. Paid themes come from independent developers, and you mostly pay for a particular look, extra features for a certain kind of store, and the developer's support.
Free themes | Paid themes | |
|---|---|---|
How many | 24 | 1,327 listed |
Made by | Shopify, including Dawn and the 10 Horizon themes | Independent theme developers |
Price | $0 | $100 to $500 once. In our count of 720 listings, about 8 in 10 cost between $150 and $400, and the middle price was $320. |
How you pay | Nothing to pay | "One-time payment, lifetime license for your store", licensed to the store where you bought it. Purchases are final sale. |
Try before you choose | Add it and preview it in your admin | Preview and customize it in your admin before you buy |
Updates | From Shopify, free to add | From the developer, free to add. Theme editor changes carry over to the update. |
Support | Shopify | The theme developer |
Sections everywhere | Required for every Theme Store theme: all templates support sections (Online Store 2.0) | |
Speed and accessibility | Theme Store minimum: average Lighthouse score of 60 for performance and 90 for accessibility, on home, product and collection pages |
Sources: Shopify Theme Store (themes.shopify.com), the free and paid theme counts and the Horizon themes collection; paid prices are our own count of 720 paid listings on the Theme Store, in US dollars as shown there; license wording from a paid theme listing; Shopify Help Center, adding, previewing and buying themes, and updating themes; shopify.dev, Theme Store requirements. All checked October 2026.
Start free when the free themes already show your products well in the preview and your budget is better spent on photos. Look at a paid theme when it has a feature your store needs built in, so you don't need an app. More in Free or paid Shopify theme?
Good to know in the Netherlands
A theme in Dutch: Shopify's free themes, like Dawn and Horizon, include Dutch translations of the theme texts, and you can change any wording, like "Sold out", without code. With paid themes, check: the Theme Store's "EU translations" label covers English, French, Italian, German and Spanish, not Dutch. iDEAL isn't something the theme shows: it appears at checkout once you switch it on in your payment settings, whichever theme you choose. And since June 28, 2025, the European Accessibility Act applies to webshops in the Netherlands. The ACM, which supervises it, says the rules apply to businesses with 10 or more people and/or a yearly turnover above €2 million. Under those numbers, good contrast still helps every customer.
In Belgium: you'll often need French and Dutch, so the theme's translations matter twice. Bancontact, like iDEAL, is set up in your payment settings and shown at checkout, not by the theme.
NOT A TOOL
What a theme can't fix
I've seen €15K websites that don't convert.
Changing your Shopify theme safely
Switching themes doesn't touch your products, customers or orders, and your web addresses stay the same, because Shopify sets them, not the theme. What needs care is everything you built inside the old theme.
Duplicate first. Copy your current theme so you can always go back. When you publish a new theme, the old one moves to your drafts.
Build the new one in preview while your current store keeps selling.
Expect to rebuild your sections. The texts and images you placed in the old theme's sections belong to that theme, so plan time to set them up again.
Check your apps. Apps built for Online Store 2.0 work as blocks, and their code leaves when you uninstall them. Older apps sometimes wrote code into the theme itself, and that code can stay behind. A switch is a good moment to clean up.
Test again on a phone: product page, collection page, menu, cart and checkout.
Once you're on a theme, keep it up to date. Shopify shows updates in your admin, and you add the new version for free. Theme editor changes are copied over, but Shopify advises saving a copy of any code you edited, one more reason to keep code changes few and documented.
Customize your theme, or go custom?
There are three ways to get a store that looks like your brand:
Customize a theme yourself. With sections, blocks, your colors, fonts and photos, you get a long way without code. See our guide to customizing a Shopify theme without code.
Have your brand applied to a proven theme. A designer chooses the theme that fits your catalog, then shapes the pages and details around your brand and customers, on a base that's tested and updated.
A custom Shopify theme. The store is designed around your brand first and built to fit. It makes sense when your products, ordering flow or story need things no theme does well. More in Custom Shopify theme: when is it worth it?
If you're searching for "Shopify thema laten maken", this is the choice behind it. The deciding question is how much of what makes you different the store has to show, and whether a theme can carry that.
Who we are, and what we do
We're Design by Karina, a boutique Shopify agency in Rotterdam. We design and build strategy-led Shopify stores for ambitious fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands. Combining brand strategy, UX and thoughtful design, we create shopping experiences that turn what makes you different into a reason to choose you.
Ecommerce strategy
Who is buying, what do they need to know, and what helps them choose your brand? We define the positioning, customer journey and store structure before design begins.
Shopify design
A store should feel unmistakably yours and make shopping intuitive. We design brand-led Shopify experiences, from the homepage to product pages, with mobile users in mind.
Shopify development & migration
From custom Shopify theme development to platform migrations. Moving from WooCommerce or another platform? We help you make the transition with a clear plan for your store, content and customer experience.
Conversion & retention
What customers need to see, understand and feel before they choose, from product pages to the emails after the sale.
Growth after launch
We look at how real visitors use your store and make prioritized improvements over time.
Brand Sites
For coaches, creative studios and service businesses with something to say.
Why founders choose us
Strategy before pixels. Before opening a design file, we want to understand who buys from you and what they need to see first.
A background in product design. Before starting Design by Karina, I worked in product design at Uber, helping shape payment experiences for drivers.
Fewer projects, more care. We limit the number of projects we take on at a time, so I'm closely involved in every one.
We say it straight. If a free theme and a few good changes are enough for your store, we'll tell you.
Launch is the starting line. After launch, we keep improving the store with what real visitors do.
What does it cost to have your Shopify store built on the right theme?
How we work | From | Best for |
|---|---|---|
The Launch | €4,500 | Your first proper store, with your brand applied to a proven Shopify theme, a sitemap approved before design begins, and 30 days of support |
The Atelier | €6,900 | An established brand that wants a store designed around it, not a template with a logo on it |
Migration | €900 | Added to a project, when you're moving to Shopify from another platform |
Growth Plan | €590 / month | A store that's already live. We pick the change that matters most, make it and report back every month, for at least three months. |
If a paid theme fits your store better than a free one, you'll see it in your proposal, with the reason.
The short version
Write down your catalog, variants, photos, languages and what you need to explain before you look at a demo. Test the product page, collection page, mobile menu, cart and speed on your phone, and preview your top choices with your hardest product. Start free unless a paid theme has a feature you need. Check Dutch translations, keep apps lean, and duplicate before you switch. The theme is the structure: what makes people buy is what your store says inside it.
From the studio
What we see with clients
When founders come to us unhappy with their theme, the theme is rarely the real problem. It's usually that the store was set up to look like the demo, and the demo was never built for their products, their photos or their customers' questions. Once we start from what the store has to say, the theme choice often turns out to be the easy part.
Questions
What is the best Shopify theme?
There isn't one for every store. The best Shopify theme for you shows your products, variants and photos well on a phone. For many new stores, a free theme like Dawn or one of the Horizon themes is a strong start.
Are Shopify themes free?
Some are. The Theme Store has 24 free themes, all made by Shopify, and more than 1,300 paid listings from independent developers.
How much does a paid Shopify theme cost?
Paid themes on the Theme Store cost between $100 and $500, most of them between $150 and $400. It's a one-time payment, with a license for the store where you buy it, and updates from the developer are free to add. We compare both options in Free or paid Shopify theme?
Can I try a Shopify theme before buying it?
Yes. You can add a paid theme to your store and preview and customize it in your admin before you buy, so you can see it with your own products. Buy only when you're sure, because Theme Store purchases are final sale.
Can I use a theme I bought on another store?
It's licensed to the store where you bought it, so a second store usually needs another license. Shopify says you might be eligible to transfer it in some cases.
What is Online Store 2.0?
It's how modern Shopify themes are built, since 2021: pages made of sections and blocks you move in the theme editor without code, and apps added as blocks. Every Theme Store theme supports it.
Can I change my Shopify theme without losing anything?
Your products, customers, orders and web addresses stay the same. What you set up inside the old theme, like homepage sections, needs to be set up again. Duplicate first and build the new one in preview.
Which Shopify theme is the fastest?
Every Theme Store theme has to meet a minimum Lighthouse performance score, so your own images, videos and apps often make a bigger difference than the theme. Test the demo on your phone with mobile data.
Which Shopify theme is best for fashion, beauty or jewelry?
Start with the Theme Store's industry filters, then check what your products need: size guidance and swatches for fashion, room to explain for beauty, sharp images with zoom for jewelry.
Is there a Shopify theme in Dutch?
Yes. Shopify's own free themes, like Dawn and Horizon, include Dutch translations of the theme texts, and you can change any wording in the language editor. With paid themes, check that Dutch is included before you buy, because the "EU translations" label in the Theme Store doesn't cover it.
What does it cost to have a Shopify theme made for your brand?
It depends on how far the design goes. With us, The Launch starts at €4,500 and applies your brand to a proven Shopify theme. The Atelier starts at €6,900 and is designed around your brand. When a fully custom theme is worth it is in Custom Shopify theme: when is it worth it?
What is the best Shopify agency in Rotterdam?
That depends on what you need: some agencies are strongest in development, others in design or in marketing. We're one of the options: Design by Karina is a boutique Shopify agency in Rotterdam that starts with your brand strategy, and chooses the theme around your products and customers, not the other way around.
Your store, your numbers
Want a straight answer for your own store? Book a free call and we’ll walk through it together.
Sources
Shopify Theme Store, themes.shopify.com: theme counts, filters, "EU translations" feature (checked October 2026)
Shopify Theme Store, Horizon themes collection, and Shopify Editions Summer 2025 (checked October 2026)
Paid theme prices: our count of 720 paid Theme Store listings, in US dollars, and the license wording on a paid listing (October 2026)
Shopify Help Center: adding, previewing and buying themes; updating, publishing and duplicating themes; changing theme wording (checked October 2026)
shopify.dev: Theme Store requirements and Online Store 2.0 (checked October 2026)
Dawn and Horizon theme code on GitHub, Dutch translation file (checked October 2026)
ACM, digital accessibility rules from June 28, 2025 (checked October 2026)
Karina Paviotti
Founder, Design by Karina
Karina Paviotti is the founder of Design by Karina, a boutique Shopify agency in Rotterdam. Before starting the studio, she worked in product design at Uber, shaping payment experiences for drivers. Today she leads every project, from strategy to launch, for founder-led fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands.
