Updated on December 11, 2023
Your online store’s design plays a crucial role in impressing visitors and turning them into paying customers. If done right, your store’s design could even become a key competitive strength that will help you maximize your market share.
Anything related to design cannot be explained better without an Apple reference. Until Apple launched the iPhone, we used to have cellphones that looked like they belonged to the Stone Age. as soon as the iPhone was launched, it inspired a new range of smartphones that were sleek, stylish, and all the more user-friendly.
Sometimes, it is finding the right inspiration for your product or online store that can make all the difference. If you have a list of Shopify store, finding inspiration for your store design is still easier. In addition to built-in themes, there are countless Shopify stores whose designs you can try to find inspiration from or even emulate.
However, looking at an endless list of Shopify stores in 2022 to find inspiration could be a waste of time. That is why we have put together this list of 10 best Shopify stores that have a fetching design.
These stores’ designs stand out from the crowd in terms of theory aesthetics, design, user-friendliness, and several other design aspects. All Shopify website owners can benefit from this curated list of online store designs.
Without much ado, let’s start looking at some of those wonderful store designs.
- Kith
- Blume
- Steve Madden
- Chubbies
- U-Turn audio
- Bison Coolers
- Crown and Caliber
- Pipcorn
- Art of Play
- Ugmonk
1. Kith – The apparel store
Fashion is a brutally competitive industry. To create a brand identity in such a market, especially through online selling, requires the extensive support of design.
Kith has made use of a simple yet elegant design theme to showcase its offerings. The website welcomes visitors with the latest product releases. There are no jarring or obtrusive offers which is usually the cliche of online stores.
Kith further takes visitors down the website, where they showcase a range of its products for men, women, and children. If a user has interest in a particular product category, they can locate the same through a menu.
Takeaways from Kith’s Shopify store design:
- Keep it simple
- Make navigation easier
- Use menus to showcase the product range
2. Blume – the self-care brand
There are tonnes of self-care products on retail stores that promise the sky but do not often deliver on these promises. Blume is different from revolutionizing the space by offering clean, gentle, and effective self-care products. Incidentally, their online store also reflects the same ideology,
The design theme is clean with minimal distractions. The gentle color theme is pleasant on the eye and also relates really with the self-care theme. Further, there is static navigation at the top through which users can hop on to all main pages, including product pages, to start their shopping spree.
Takeaways from Blume’s Shopify store design:
- Use a relative color tone
- Mellow down on flashy CTAs or offer pop-ups
- Use a static navigation bar that redirects to key resources/pages
3. Steve Madden – The versatile shoe store
There is a whole world of sneakerheads out there. Not just sneakerheads but those who adore shoes and footwear. Steve Madden is a renowned online store where customers can find unique and quirky footwear that is hard to find anywhere else on the web.
And what is making the store tick? It’s designed to impress. The first thing that you will notice is that the store is not showcasing shoes or footwear in their real form. It is using the well-known lifestyle marketing of models posing with the product to its advantage. The store design also carefully segments products into multiple types and makes it easy for anyone to make a purchase.
Takeaways from Steve Madden’s Shopify store design:
- Some quirkiness can go a long way in providing a unique experience
- Segment products into niche categories
- Use prominent CTAs that call for making a purchase
Bonus read: Top Shopify bots and sneaker bots for your store.
4. Chubbies – A name that is stirring up casual fashion space
Chubbies is the store you must seek inspiration from if you sell casual fashion or related products. The website has a smooth and easy-on-the-eye appeal to it that can make any visitor pay attention.
Takeaways from the Chubbies Shopify website:
- Use culture as a hook.
- Provide guide/resources to help customers find the right product.
- Offer discounts to win email subscribers.
A majority of the online stores focus on popular niches like fashion. Not, U-Turn. The target audience of U-Turn audio are music lovers looking for audio products that are a class apart. U-Turn is a great source to learn how to showcase a sophisticated range of products that are otherwise difficult to explain and segment.
5. U-Turn audio – A treat for music lovers
A majority of the online stores focus on popular niches like fashion. Not, U-Turn. The target audience of U-Turn audio are music lovers looking for audio products that are a class apart. U-Turn is a great source to learn how to showcase a sophisticated range of products that are otherwise difficult to explain and segment.
Takeaways from the U-Turn Shopify store design:
- Use vivid images to showcase your product
- Showcase social proof from credible sources to instill trust
- Educate customers about the product before pushing for a sale
6. Bison Coolers – Made to last coolers
Showcasing a product that is built for outdoors on an online store is difficult. The store will have to rely extensively on imagery, videos, and use cases. That’s exactly what Bison Coolers has done. If you have a product that is built for the outdoors, Bison Coolers is a good website style to emulate.
Main takeaways from Bison Coolers:
- Use of natural and live imagery that shows the product in real-life scenarios
- Blogs and content highlighting the product’s utility
- Quick showcasing of product variants for easy discoverability
7. Crown and Caliber – Luxury watches sold online
Luxury watches and timepieces need authenticity. There have been instances when customers have lost trust on a website when they got counterfeit products for their money.. However, Crown and Caliber shows that you can mitigage such a challenge with a good website design.
Main takeaways from the Crown and Caliber website design:
- Showcase top brands to focus attention.
- For luxury products, use savings as a hook for sales.
- Tell your brand’s story with imagery or video.
8. Pipcorn – The online destination for snacks
Want to sell unique snacks or food products through your store? Learn from Pipcorn. Pipcorn is selling popcorn in several flavors – a unique thing to find on the internet. Clearly, something to seek inspiration from if you have an offering that nobody is providing.
Main takeaways from the Pipcorn website:
- Unique design theme that uses animation and flat objects
- Strategically placed CTAs to maximize sales for individual products
- Discount offer for first-time subscribers
- Use of a Shopify accessibility extension for optimal inclusivity
9. Art of Play – Handcrafted gifts for everyone
One space that online shopping opened up to its full potential is that of gifting. With online gift stores like Art of Play, anyone, literally, anyone can buy and sell gifts without much hassle. So, if you are selling any curios, souvenirs, or something similar, Art of Play is a good store design to seek inspiration from.
Main takeaways from Art of Play Shopify Store:
- Use of play-related theme that strikes a chord with the target audience
- Theme based on games and puzzles
- Guide to finding the right gift for anyone
10. Ugmonk – Minimalism all around
Minimalism is a trend that has become popular all around the world. More than a lifestyle, it is also a design aesthetic that focuses on utility and functionalities. That said, there are plenty of products and offerings that can form part of minimalism. Ugmonk does a great job of creating a minimalistic website for minimalistic products.
Main takeaways from Ugmonk:
- Simple and intuitive website design
- Product imagery with all white background that resembles minimalism
- Separate section for men and women along with a store for objects
- A dedicated section that talks about their story
In conclusion: Be inspired, but do not copy
There is a fine line of difference between acting based on inspiration and copying from somewhere. To get the best results, always improvise from what inspires you. It is easy to identify a website design that has been copied from somewhere. Especially with Shopify themes and designs being popular, it is necessary to be certain that the design that you use for your store is not copied but inspired from somewhere else.
These top 10 list of Shopify stores can give you a direction as to how to go about designing your store. They sell all kinds of products and hence can be handpicked based on the corresponding product that you are selling. As an add-on, we have also written in detail about 7 Shopify apps that you need for your store, which you can read here. In the end, it is your store’s design that is going to play a crucial role in influencing the visitors to make a purchase.
At Kommunicate, we are envisioning a world-beating customer support solution to empower the new era of customer support. We would love to have you onboard to have a first-hand experience of Kommunicate. You can signup here and start delighting your customers right away.
