How to Choose a Shopify Theme: 8 Things to Check Before You Buy

By the Shrine Theme team. Published 2026-10-08.

Your theme controls how your store looks, loads and sells, so it is worth choosing carefully. Use this checklist before you spend money on any Shopify theme.

1. Mobile design

A large share of shopping happens on phones. Open the live demo on your own phone and test the menu, product pages and cart, not just the homepage.

2. Speed

Run the demo store through Google PageSpeed Insights. A slow demo will not get faster once you add your own products and apps.

3. Product page features

Product pages are where sales happen. Look for a good image gallery, clear variant selectors, an easy add-to-cart button and space for size guides and trust badges.

4. Flexibility in the theme editor

Choose an Online Store 2.0 theme so you can add and reorder sections on any page without code.

5. SEO foundations

A theme cannot rank your store alone, but it can help. Check for clean markup, a proper heading order and structured data for products.

6. Updates and support

Find out whether updates are free and how you get help. Read the documentation before you buy. Good documentation is a sign of a well-maintained theme.

7. A live demo you can explore

Never buy a theme without a working demo. Click through collections, filters, the cart and the checkout path.

8. Price and licence

Compare one-time payments with monthly fees, and check whether a licence covers one store or several. Shrine costs $29, and Shrine Pro costs $39, both as one-time payments.