A minimal Shopify theme is an ecommerce template that deviates from the overwhelmingly detailed and colorful website designs of past years.
If you want to start your own Shopify store or planning to implement a minimalist look in your current ecommerce store, this one's for you. In this article, we will share with you our top picks of minimal Shopify themes and our take on each one of them.
Outline
- What Is A Minimal Shopify Theme?
- Benefits Of Minimal Shopify Themes
- 6 Best Minimalist Shopify Themes
- More Minimal Shopify Themes Worth Taking A Look
- Bottom Line: Minimalism Is A Choice Of Design
What Is A Minimal Shopify Theme?
A minimalist Shopify theme is a design template for a Shopify store that focuses on simplicity and functionality to improve user experience and to provide focus on important things on a website.
In an online store, the most important content is the product that it is selling. A minimal theme helps highlight the products of an online store by eliminating visual distractions and other unimportant designs and other stuff that aren’t necessary to the website.
To achieve this aesthetic look, minimal Shopify themes typically use limited color palette, simpler fonts, clean lines and a contrast with white space to create a more streamlined look and create an illusion of sophistication with customers.
In today’s mobile-first internet, the “less is more” mantra of minimalist design helps maximize the smaller screens of smartphones and tablets. With less unnecessary clutters to display, more important things can be shown when users scroll down. And a better story can be told.
Benefits Of Minimal Shopify Themes
A minimalist Shopify theme has a number of benefits that both affect your online store and your web visitors. Here are some of its important benefits:
01. Faster Load Speeds
The minimal design of these stores means fewer things to load on the website. Thus, it grants faster load speeds that would benefit even those users who don’t have fast internet connections.
The load speed of ecommerce stores largely affects their sales. In fact, every second that the website takes to load significantly reduces conversion rate.
In a study conducted by Portent on blazing fast websites (loads in 1 second) versus modestly quick websites (loads in 5 seconds), the former receives 3x more conversion rate than the latter.
02. Improved User Experience
An online store using a minimal Shopify theme creates a better user experience by making the website easier to navigate for customers by providing a clutter-free and simple interface that is easy to understand. In turn, website visitors can easily find what they are looking for.
A frictionless online shopping experience helps your customers browse your inventory with ease - and this will largely affect their purchase decisions.
03. Better Focus On Products
The way you curate your online store affects the first impression your customers form in their minds. Whether you want to be story-focused or product-focused in your online store, a minimalist theme will help you highlight your content in an appealing way, which can lead to increased sales.
04. Ease Of Customization
The “less is more” mantra on minimal Shopify themes does not only apply to visual designs. It extends further to the use of third-party apps that improve the functionality or add features to the website.
Some ecommerce stores overdo it with third-party apps like email pop-ups and promotion banners that make the customers feel harassed rather than treated well.
With less of these apps attached to your website, and even lesser design cues to take into consideration, tweaking your website becomes easier. Not to mention that the risk of app malfunction is also exponentially lessened.
05. Mobile Friendly
On the other hand, a minimalist Shopify theme will look good on the smaller screens of mobile devices because it is designed to look as simple as it can be. Thus, no annoying elements occupying a chunk of an already-small smart device’s screen.
6 Best Minimalist Shopify Themes [Free Themes Included]
There are 133 themes in the Shopify theme store as of today. More than 30 of which are classified under the minimalist collection.
But did you know that you can also find minimalist themes on other Shopify theme collections? That’s why in this list, we listed down our top pick of minimalist themes throughout the Shopify theme store.
We will run these themes through PageSpeed Insights to check their speed in both desktop and mobile versions. Here are the criteria:
*Note: We used the demo stores in conducting these speed tests. Thus, the test results are not an absolute representation of the themes’ speed and capability in real-world usage. The results will highly vary depending on the overall store design and optimization of your ecommerce store.
We encourage you to click on the sample stores provided under each theme to explore and experience the real-world usability of the themes.
Now, let’s check out our top picks of minimalist Shopify themes:
01. Stockholm
Stockholm is on top of our list of minimalist Shopify themes for one good reason – it perfectly combines modernity and simplicity in one simple package. The perfect execution is present on all its five (5) theme styles.
On both desktop and mobile versions, the sections are evenly divided making for a pleasurable browsing experience. Images are well placed like wall decorations. Despite the minimalist design of the theme, it is suitable for high-volume stores.
Although it is amongst the most underrated templates in the Shopify theme store, we highly recommend that you give this a shot and see if it fits your store.
Mobile Speed Test
The mobile version got a performance score of 65. Its core web vitals are within acceptable parameters except for the TTFB which got a 1.2s – a little slower than than expected.
Desktop Speed Test
The desktop version got a stellar performance score of 95 and passed all the core vitality tests with flying collar.
What We Like:
- Stockholm has a total of five (5) theme styles. No huge differences among these theme styles. Just subtle changes in the color palette. It’s as simple as it can be.
- Great for large-inventory stores
What We Don’t Like:
- The theme may seem lackluster depending on the product of the store.
Most Recent User Reviews:
Sample Store Using The Stockholm Theme
Return On Art is very satisfied with the after sales support of the theme. Upon checking out their website, they took advantage of the modern and simple nature of the theme in arranging their online store of art works. It surely looks and feels like a modern art gallery.
Great for:
- Art
- Beauty
- Fashion
- Accessories
- Home furniture
Price: $320
02. Grid
Grid by Pixel Union is a minimal Shopify theme that is best suited for brands focusing on visual storytelling. Looking at the demo is like looking at a white canvas with portraits hanging on it. It is very neat and easy on the eyes.
It has four (4) theme styles that are not merely the same templates with different colors. All four theme styles provide a different layout. Their Light theme style stands out from the rest because it is the one that is very different. Instead of visual storytelling, it is best used for product-focused brands who want to present their items in a neat, no-fuss fashion.
All theme styles look and feel great in their mobile versions. No oversized fonts nor and no colors that destroy its overall classic feel.
Mobile Speed Test
The mobile version of Grid got a performance score of 43 – which is on the low side. On the other hand, the core web vitals are within accepted range, save for TTFB which is slower than expected.
Desktop Speed Test
Grid got a performance score of 82 in its desktop version. The core web vitals are within acceptable parameters except for CLS which is more than two times higher than acceptable results.
What we like:
- The theme is great for both visual and verbal storytelling.
- It looks and feels the part of a real minimalist theme that evokes a warm and chill vibe.
- Easy to navigate
- Snappy response
What we don’t like:
- The focus of the theme on imagery might overwhelm website visitors if not toned down on the actual web design process especially in its mobile version.
Most Recent User Reviews:
Sample Store Using The Grid Theme
Eve Gravel, a Canadian fashion brand makes good use of Grid’s visual storytelling in its portfolio page. Except for the header, menu items, and footer, the portfolio page contains nothing but high-quality images. Despite the lack of text on the page, you won’t feel lost. Instead, it offers a breath of fresh air to your eyes and you can mindlessly scroll through the bottom of the page without feeling tired.
Great for:
- Summer clothes
- Blogs
- Photography
- Arts and crafts
- Gift stores
Price: $260
03. Studio
Studio is a light-weight minimalist Shopify theme that proves beaty need not be expensive. In fact, this theme can be had for free. Despite that, users won’t feel that Shopify cut corners in developing this free theme.
The theme has this joyful vibe and the colors make great additions to its posh and chic persona. There are no other theme styles to choose from. However, this one, we can say, is all you need if you want this type of personality for your online store.
Since it is a lightweight theme, it offers snappy load speed on actual stores. A huge plus on our list because load speed is a crucial factor in increasing sales conversion as well as in the SEO department.
Mobile Version
For a free theme, Studio did great in the mobile test – being able to get a performance score of 68. One aspect where it falls short is in LCP which is 0.01 s slower than the expected result. In real life usage though, it is very negligible.
Desktop Version
The desktop version of Studio did amazingly well in core web vitals, being able to nail down every test except for CLS (0.24), which was twice higher than acceptable result. It got an overall performance score of 89.
What we like:
- For new entrepreneurs who are just getting their feet wet in ecommerce, a free and well-executed theme like this will help a lot in the finance department.
- This will also help users build confidence in using and customizing their Shopify themes.
What we don’t like:
- The lack of theme styles leave users with no other choice.
- It may not be the best choice for ecommerce stores looking for long-term flexibility.
Most Recent User Reviews:
Sample Store Using The Studio Theme
Dream Luna Boutique is one of the few users of this minimalist theme. They are happy with both the front-end and back-end of Studio that they opted to use it despite using paid themes in the past.
In their website, this minimalist theme worked well in blending in with their items, which are primarily gold and silver. There is a nice contrast between the content and the white background. By how it looks, no one would think that this is a free template. It is evident that they poured a lot of thought in curating the website by using the right images to put in their main content. Well done!
Great for:
- Perfumes
- Jewelry
- Art & crafts
Price: Free
04. Alchemy
Alchemy by Clean Canvas is a popular choice for those who are looking for a minimalist theme without looking and feeling boring. It has three (3) theme styles that have different look and feel while retaining the theme’s hidden capabilities.
It combines full-width and smaller sections for a nice dynamic look on desktops. In the mobile version, the theme is equally modern and dynamic. Sections and images are proportional and leave a satisfying taste to scroll down to the bottom of the page.
Alchemy theme fits nicely on small and huge online businesses as it is capable of handling large amounts of SKUs. Its simplicity makes for ease of use for new Shopify users. But if you want more creative and advanced features, Alchemy has them too.
For a visuals-focused brand, the theme enables you to add a video section so you can tell your brand story. On the homepage, you can add a checkout section and recommended products to increase sales conversions.
Mobile Speed Test
The mobile version of Alchemy got acceptable results on half of core web vitals while scoring a little lower on LCP, INP, and TTFB. Overall, it got a performance score of 60.
Desktop Speed Test
The desktop version got an overall score of 96 and the core web vitality tests yielded great results – showing that it is a truly lightweight theme that is capable of heavy lifting.
What we like:
- This minimalist theme looks proportional in both mobile and desktop versions. No compromises made.
- We also like the checkout section right at the homepage which could hugely impact conversion.
- It is very capable in handling large amounts of SKUs as well as complex processes.
What we don’t like:
- Honestly, it is hard to fault this theme for what it is.
Most Recent User Reviews:
Sample Store Using The Alchemy Theme
Garden Tool Company is very satisfied with the Alchemy theme. True enough, their website loads in a blink of an eye on any page you click despite having almost 400 SKUs in their website. This just proves how capable Alchemy is handling large amounts of products.
This online store is focused on their products rather than visual storytelling but in now way does it feel like they are trying so hard to sell. Thanks to Alchemy’s clean code, they were able to further simplify their website with nothing more than what’s necessary.
Great for:
- Fashion
- Lifestyle
- Gardening
- Home furniture
- Crafts
Price: $260
05. Editions
Editions by Pixel Union is a minimalist theme that is perfectly suited for online stores who just want to sell and nothing more. The homepage is saturated with sections for products and catalogs so web visitors can browse through the collection without moving to another page.
The clean and modern design is as straightforward as it can be. True to the intention, so to speak. Despite that, it is not overwhelming to look at because Editions excellently makes use of white space so as to give this feeling of balance.
Both desktop and mobile versions look clean and well-balanced. Everything is spaced out properly so it does not overwhelm users with a barrage of information in each section.
Mobile Speed Test
The mobile version of Edition scored pretty well on half of the core vitals but it can do better in LCP, INP, and TTFB – all scoring a little lower than good but within accepted parameters. Overall, it got a performance score of 56.
Desktop Speed Test
The desktop version paints a different story. It scored incredibly well on all core web vitals except for LCP - which is still within good. Overall performance score is 95.
What we like:
- A no-fuss theme that is great for quick and easy online store setups.
- Focused on simplicity and product storytelling.
What we don’t like:
- Its straightforward-ness is true to its minimalist nature.
- May seem boring out of the box. It might need a little more design if you want to elevated customer experience.
Most Recent User Reviews:
Sample Store Using The Editions Theme
Abundant Living Design is satisfied with the theme’s flexibility and streamlined appearance. As we mentioned, this minimalist theme is great for those who like to strike a balance between content and white space. And as expected, Abundant Living Design hit the right mark in this department.
The streamlined and straightforward feel of the theme fitted perfectly in their products; and we must say, they did a great job in the overall design of their website.
It is probably the cleanest online store that we have seen. It’s so pleasurable to look at their website and very easy to navigate. The blend of light and heavy colors in their product photography helped elevate the store’s persona.
Great for:
- Fine arts, architecture, and design
- Lifestyle
- Art galleries
- Accessories
- Furnitures
Price: $250
06. Responsive
Topping off our list of minimal Shopify themes is Responsive by Out of the Sandbox. It has four (4) distinct theme styles that are hugely different from one another. Thus, we can say that it is a theme with different personalities.
One Responsive theme style that stood out for us is Paris. It is a truly minimalist theme that sources its colors from the images you upload in it. No solid colors on any section and even on the menu bar. It’s pure, clean, and simple.
Yes it’s a minimalist theme, but it is not a lesser theme than the rest of this list. On the contrary, it is a very capable theme that can handle large inventories on both physical and online stores. Therefore, if you are planning to sell online and in-store, this theme is worth giving a shot.
The desktop version of Responsive Shopify theme looks soothing and is very inviting. The mobile version is equally stunning so your web content will definitely pop-out.
With a little bit of creativity and a collection of high-quality images of your products, this one will definitely help you achieve that modern minimalist look you are eyeing.
Mobile Speed Test
The Responsive theme got a low performance score of 48 in its mobile speed test. The core web vitals are also less than impressive as it gets low scores in LCP, INP, and TTFB.
Desktop Speed Test
On the other hand, it gets a high performance score of 95 in the mobile version. It falls short on one of the core web vitals, LCP, getting a score of 2.7 s, 0.02 s slower than accepted parameters.
What we like:
- It is very clean and simple.
- Great theme for quick setups as well as in online stores with complex processes.
- Responsive is probably one of the very few templates in the Shopify theme store that will look great on any business model.
What we don’t like:
- Just like Alchemy, it is hard to look for things that we don’t like about this theme.
Most Recent User Reviews:
Sample Store Using The Responsive Theme
Mayfair Stockings says it all with a very few words in their review of this minimalist theme. As they say, less is more.
Let’s take a look at their website.
Mayfair Stockings’ online store embodies elegance and elevates the appreciation of female beauty and figure in their product photography with stunning models. Browsing their homepage is like shopping in an actual store with real models. It is quite a unique experience.
Responsive's simplicity helped a lot in making their products standout. It puts the spotlight on each individual product without overwhelming the web visitor.
Elegance, opulence, and simplicity in one sweet package. Well executed!
Great for:
- Luxury products
- Streetwear
- Lifestyle
- Beauty products
- Intimate wear
Price: $240
More Minimal Shopify Themes Worth Taking A Look
Didn’t find what you like on the list above? Here are some of the runners-up in our minimal Shopify theme picks:
Bottom Line: Minimalism Is A Choice Of Design
Minimal Shopify themes help your website focus on content. They make your website more approachable and easier to digest compared to online stores that are using themes with too many things happening at once.
A minimalist theme on your Shopify store makes your audience want to stay longer on your website because there are no dangling clutters that irritate them. But taking a closer look at minimalist websites, we can say that minimalism is but a concept and an approach that can be used on practically any template in the theme store. It’s how you design your website.
Of course, choosing a minimal Shopify theme firsthand will help a lot in the design process because there’s not a lot of elements to eliminate.
At the end of the day, the truth is, you can make any theme minimalist by implementing simpler designs.
If you are eyeing a theme that is not in the list, there is another way. You can use our page builder to create that simple, modern, and elegant look that you want.
