Last updated on 5th October 2023 at 13:35 by Alex Nicholas
Without a doubt, Shopify is one of the most popular e-commerce platforms in the world, with more than a million merchants using it to sell their products online. The platform offers a wide range of customisation options to store owners, including the ability to customise their site's appearance and functionality using Shopify themes.
Your average Shopify theme is a pre-designed template that store owners can download and use to create their online store, and whilst Shopify offers a variety of themes to use on your Shopify store via theme builders, including both free and paid options, not all Shopify themes are created equal when it comes to customisation options.
In fact, nearly all themes offer only basic or limited customisation options that allow you to move and change simple layout features such as your logo position, menu structure or how the product pages look.
And whilst in all honesty, this is fine for the majority of store owners because their needs aren't that complex, there are sites that need more custom features such as:
- Uniques CSS styling
- JavaScript that loads in a specific way
- Enterprise resource planning (ERP) integration
These types of sites require detailed planning and web development work from experienced Shopify devs that have handled these kinds of projects previously.
Choosing a customisable Shopify theme
When it comes to choosing the most customisable and flexible Shopify theme, there are only a few options to consider, but from experience and to narrow it down even further, there's only one option that's worth considering, and that's the Flex theme from Out of the Sandbox.
Flex isn't available to buy on the Shopify theme store so you'll need to buy it directly from their website, but rest assured, the reviews will put your mind at ease, and as a Shopify SEO consultant, I can personally say that it's one of the best Shopify themes on the market.
The Flex theme offers a wide range of customisation options, including:
- Customising your CSS directly within the Theme Editor on your site.
- Choose from four different header & footer styles so that the look of your header and footer is exactly how you want them.
- Three different page layouts so that you can showcase your products in a format that suits you best.
- Choose from 10 different mega menus with up to 6 columns in each.
- A large icon library so you can add icons to specific elements of your Shopify store.
In the same way that WordPress and WooCommerce gives you the option to create a customisable website, Flex allows you to build a Shopify store that performs like a bespoke Shopify build used by the largest brands on the internet.
Your content management system should let you create custom products, add product filtering to your online store with ease and move things like your collection page description, which is exactly what Flex does for you.
Additionally, the Flex theme allows store owners to add large images to their product pages and includes a variety of theme styles to choose from, 13 to be precise.
Flex is essentially a tool that is user-friendly, solves any design issues you might have, and has enough design features to keep your audience engaged.
Of course, there are other customisable Shopify themes to consider, including both free and paid options, but when choosing a Shopify theme, it's important to consider your store's specific needs and the level of customisation you require. Some themes may be more suitable for certain types of online stores or specific industries, so it's important to do your research before making an initial purchase.
It's also really important to understand that not all themes get the same level of backup and support, which again is why I recommend choosing Out of the Sandbox because they support their products well and are constantly making their themes better.
Yes, it's a paid theme (one-time only). But when you're in the process of building your business there are some things that you shouldn't be looking to “get by” with, and your Shopify theme is one of them.
The interface and tech that Out of the Sandbox use is simply better than 99% of all other themes
Best premium Shopify themes
There is a large and growing list of Shopify themes on the market, and in all honesty, you could spend the next month deciding which one to use, so just in case you're looking for a larger range of Shopify themes that might suit your needs, here's a short list for you to consider.
- Turbo Theme by Out of the Sandbox
- Ella Theme by Halothemes
- Shoptimized Theme by Shoptimized
- Basel Theme by Themeforest
- Empire Theme by Pixel Union
- Parallax Out of the Sandbox
- Testament Theme by WeTheme
- Icon Theme by Underground
- Retina Theme by Out of the Sandbox
Choosing the best Shopify theme
Choosing the right Shopify theme isn't as straightforward as it might initially seem because of the sheer amount of features that need to be considered and whether or not they're important to you.
This is why themes like Flex are so appealing because they cover every aspect when it comes to creating a great Shopify store. Flex is everything you need it to be whether you own a small site with a handful of products or an enterprise store with thousands of products and a dozen categories.
All of which can be customised to suit your brand and it's needs.