Monday, May 2, 2022

Best Shopify Website Examples for Inspiration (Apr 2022)

With Shopify powering over 500,000 businesses across 175 countries, it's safe to say that lots of merchants rely on this eCommerce platform to establish their online presence. Of course, branding is an essential aspect of that.

While Shopify only comes with nine basic themes (each of which comes with its own templates), hundreds of premium themes are available. On top of that, users have access to an active community that's brimming with other design-minded online store owners. All things considering, there are plenty of resources available to help you bring your dream eCommerce store to life.

That said, in this article, we’re showcasing some of the best Shopify website examples. These sites showcase innovative and memorable design choices that highlight their brands perfectly!

So, without further ado, let’s jump in.

Learn moreHow to Start an Online Store in 15 minutes with Shopify

Sugergoop.com


The moment you click on Sugargoop‘s website, you get a flash of color. This Shopify store uses yellow and blue to effect a bold, extreme contrast. You’ll be hard-pressed to find another website quite like it.

Sugergoop sells sunscreen, which, of course, explains the sunny seaside palette. We love the clear color messaging! The blue and yellow are reflected in all the imagery—both on the product packaging and website pictures.

The website header feels a little 90s, perfectly fitting their talk-show-inspired video header with, (who would have thought – *gasp*), yellow daffodils.

All in all, Sugargoop's website is a perfect example of color branding done to a tee!

The New York Times Store


The New York Times Store sells everything from personalized gifts to branded clothing, cooking collections, book editions, wall art, and more.

Despite their vast array of products, their site design is very cohesive. Most noticeably, Store uses a nude color palette comprising muted pastels that feels earthy, soft, and simple. This goes a long way to ensure the web design and layout don't overwhelm website visitors. Wherever the Store uses bolder colors, it serves as a booming accent that draws your attention immediately.

In short, it's color theory done right.

Soylent


Soylent’s motto is “on the go nutrition for an active life.” Their meal replacement is a classic, as is their web design. Everything about Soylent’s website is simple and understated. There's lots of white space with simple, clear text and boxes of color. Its straightforwardness mimics the Soylent bottle itself, which doesn’t shout for attention. Everything about Soylent's branding speaks to their core product: simple gimmick-free meal replacements.

The user-focused content at the bottom of the website also works well. Here you see a range of customers with simple soylent bottles. Not only is this fabulous social proof that builds credibility with their target audience, but it's also in keeping with their cohesive web design – win-win!

Mayhabis


Mayhabis sells a specific style of shoe. The layered design promises comfort in any climate and poses a very distinct look. Mayhabis took comfortable slippers and transformed them into fashionable, versatile products that can be worn anywhere, in any weather.

What’s distinct about the shoe’s design is the horizontal layers of color. This is reflected in the website’s design, where flat sections of grey and yellow highlight key information. The background is also kept simple, making it easy to follow the website's color scheme layer by layer.

Hydrant


Hydrant, as the name suggests, is a brand that helps you stay hydrated. They sell energy flavor packs you can dissolve in your water for added vitamins and a much-needed boost.

How does the website communicate this through design, you wonder?

Unsurprisingly, fresh pastel blue is the website's primary color, which is complemented by yellows, reds, and oranges. These accent colors add a necessary pop to draw attention to products and other core website elements.

We also love the wave-shaped divider located further down the page. This is actually an animation that wavers like water before it settles. This remarkable effect certainly captures the eye and provides a nice contrast to the otherwise clean, straight edges showcased throughout the site’s design.

 

Learn moreRead our full Shopify Review.

The Sill


The Sill sells beautiful potted plants, plant-care kits, and flower bouquets perfect for your window sill or a gift. The Sill uses a muted grey color scheme which, against the colorful plants, really pops. You really get the impression that a fresh plant could brighten up an otherwise dull space.

Another design element we admire is the logo heading at the top of the site. The Sill separates its title into two words, with a long, uninterrupted line between them. This almost looks like two plants sitting on opposite ends of a window sill. Clever, right?

We also like the popup that springs up on the homepage. Sometimes popups can be annoying, but the subtle coloring and the offer of a 15% discount are certainly enticing!

In summary, The Sill is an excellent example of what good product photography can do for a website when each image perfectly complements the overall web design. The end result? A cohesive, slick-looking aesthetic.

EU Polaroid


Have you ever seen the classic printer logo with rainbow color swatches? That’s pretty much EU polaroid’s website but in motion.

EU Polaroid sells small, instant analog cameras. The rainbow boasting vibrant print colors doesn’t only feature on its product. It’s everywhere – from the excitedly animated header to the various product previews in different hues. You’ll find a bold mixture of blue, red, green, and yellow everywhere throughout the site.

EU Polaroid intersperses this with enough white space to ensure its web design doesn't appear tacky. Yet again, product design and website design go hand in hand. In this case, the same color scheme and font language (print-favorite Helvetica fonts) are used.

Artifox


Artifox is an online furniture store that sells elegant, artistic, and minimalist wooden furniture products. Their products naturally showcase very warm and grand color schemes across various wooden browns, whites, and blacks.

Artifox's site lets its products do the talking. The website is white and very simple, ensuring nothing distracts the visitor from its product photos. These snaps are at the very center of the website. The second you click on through to the homepage, each product photo is set against a simple grey background that enlarges when you hover over it.

Another nice touch is that the site never changes its layout. As you click from one page to another, you know exactly what to expect. The super-simple and easy-to-navigate menu remain to the left, where it doesn’t ever change. All in all, Artifox is a sterling example of genuinely sturdy and reliable web design.

Caldera Lab


Caldera Lab offers green tech skincare. With nature at its core, it's no wonder its color scheme enjoys olive greens and browns. It avoids harsher black hues, giving the site a lovely softness alongside the modern, clear-cut design. We also like Caldera Lab’s elegant and straightforward iconography that makes use of simple line illustrations. The use of a testimonial and a CTA button front and center on the homepage is also worthy of note. It draws potential customers in without appearing overly salesy.

Fetching Fields


When you first navigate onto Fetching Field’s website, you’re greeted with a delicious, healthy-looking breakfast spread. There’s a bowl of honey, a wooden spoon full of cereal crumbling onto the tabletop, and vibrant red apples just off to the side.

Nothing at first glance suggests that you're looking at dog food.

But that's precisely what Fetching Fields sells – human-grade, certified, organic, plant-based food for canines! Their product aims to promote doggie wellness and activity at a quality that no person would scoff at themselves – and they succeed at that!

Fetching Fields uses a unique and surprising approach that subverts first expectations, which certainly earns them a spot on this list!

Gemmist


Gemmist sells cosmetic products like shampoos and conditioners. Following the trend of minimalist and transparent cosmetics, the brand keeps things simple on their packaging, with straightforward typography and fashionable peachy pinks and blues.

There's a quiz functionality that generates personalized product recommendations for the best shampoo match – which we think is a nice touch! Not only is this a clever way of boosting visitor engagement, but it also enables the company to learn more about its customers. They can then use this know-how to improve their products and marketing strategies. Win-win!

Golde


Golde takes website design standards and subtly breaks them to create a lively and exciting site.

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The Latte Whisk is advertised with a smooth, blodged color backdrop consisting of yellows, peaches, apricots, and greens. The product packaging also reflects a similar design, featuring a wavey, blotted design comprising greens and yellows.

Scrolling down the site, this theme remains amazingly consistent. The same backdrop is reused for all product images, and the white background is decorated with splashes of pastels. Sections are divided with slightly wavey color transitions that introduce just enough motion to keep things interesting.

We also like that Golde pairs this color scheme with a dark brown for its main text and headings. It takes the edge off ordinarily black text and blends in nicely with this soft, welcoming brand design.

Harper Wilde


Harper Wilde sells bras for ‘leading ladies', and its Shopify website design speaks volumes to this. The site uses colors you wouldn’t initially associate with femininity. Instead, sporty dark blues and reds sell the kind of strength, determination, and reliability the brand looks to convey.

The site feels very dynamic, with occasional animated banners and high-quality images that crossfade into other shots. Another excellent detail is the under-lining of keywords that appears as you scroll through.

Leo et Violette


Leo et Violette’s Shopify website immediately invites you in with its full-width feature photography. The earthy, natural colors are coordinated beautifully across the website so that each image complements the next.

Products are manufactured in Italy, so the sandy tones mixed with ocean blues and pictures of the sea work well to convey the brand's roots.

Some product photos come with a slideshow effect to showcase different angles. Also, when you hover over the snaps, a picture of a model showing off the accessory appears – instead of the product on its own. Pretty neat, right?

Brightland


Brightland lives up to its name with its vibrantly colored website. Golden yellows, reds, and blues create a pleasant and robust sunset palette. The brand sells extra virgin olive oils, so making viewers feel like they’re standing on a Mediterranean beach watching the horizon is a perfect feeling to emulate. We just love the exquisitely bright and lively colors contrasting against the simple black-and-white design of the menus and paragraphs.

The site uses familiar rustic textures and colors in its imagery, too, showing rough walls in the backgrounds of their product imagery with apricot halves and bundles of herbs.

But where the site design really pops is through its animations. As you scroll down, small shapes animate to align with the text and images. It’s almost as if things fall into place as you proceed. The motion is just enough to keep you engaged with the website and draw your eye to headings and essential information without posing a distraction.

Smol


Smol has developed a high-performing laundry capsule so condensed and concentrated that it can be posted through your letterbox. This selling point can’t be missed on the website. To really ram home the point, Smol displays all vital product photography in the center column of their site, where it really doesn’t take up much space at all.

The main header video is a laundry capsule rotating on its own in an empty white space. There's nothing to distract your attention from the small but effective item that presents the biggest burst of color on the page.

Smol uses gradients of green and blue for a fresh, clean look throughout its website, with soft grey and white writing that lets the more color-heavy product images shine.

Not Pot


Not Pot’s Shopify website is unique. We're talking about the simplicity of 90s web design, with clean fonts, nostalgic clipart, blocks, and a single block of background color.

This design choice is wholly purposeful and is matched with clips and images of old-fashioned manga art. Not to mention, everything is in lovely pastels.

While the site sells cannabis products, they have found an approach that is “safe, effective, and fun.” As such, Not Pot’s web design purposely steers away from everything you’d typically associate with cannabis. The brand feels like it has lots of fun with its shop and service and succeeds at standing out from its competition in entirely unexpected ways.

Area Ware


Area Ware sells unique and natural home accessories, office accessories, puzzles, and toys. Their Shopify website design has gone for colorful product images on a clean white background, so each image pops.

The bursts of color create a friendly appeal that's immediately inviting for families with children. They’ve chosen a bright yellow as an accent color, which works well to offset navigation selections.

Blume


Blume is a cosmetics and self-care brand that uses a peachy and baby blue color palette. It follows in the footsteps of many clean and natural cosmetic products that keep their design very simple and non-intrusive. This goes a long way to help them appear more authentic, down-to-earth, and transparent.

The straightforward typography and images don't create much noise, and as such, it feels like they’re cutting right to the chaste. The whole website is incredibly user-friendly, including the checkout process. Within minutes you could select an item and purchase it.

Room


Maybe while offices are shut, you won’t be shopping with Room too soon, but their concept is an interesting one nonetheless. Room has developed purpose-built booths that can be set up within your office space to create custom cubicles, meeting spaces, and more. The aim is to provide a flexible alternative to fixed construction and spruces up traditional office design.

The eCommerce website draws attention with a video header showcasing people working in their various “Rooms,” showing off versatile applications, like phone booths, video conference rooms, etc. This is incredibly eye-catching!

This dynamic theme boasts animated blocks of color animated to support the infographics – it's incredibly engaging and well thought out!

Counter Print


Counter Print shares some ideas in common with the previously mentioned EU Polaroid. This web design is predominantly black on white, with straightforward typography and colorful imagery. But instead, counter Print doesn’t quite go with the boldest colors of the rainbow; rather, they show a preferenced for slightly more subdued pastels.

Rachel Comey


Rachel Comey’s apparel website might throw you off at first. The retailer goes so minimalistic to not even immediately label menu items, and the homepage also tells you very little. You’re greeted with a strongly textured image that clearly communicates what the brand’s clothing is all about – urban, youthful, fashion.

When you check out the new arrivals, Rachel Comey makes use of an exciting image gallery. The photography is incredibly consistent, showing cool, stoic real-life models against a blank grey background. As you hover over the images, you’ll see feature shots of the design that draw you right back in – either close-ups or variant poses.

The product detail pages present you with a full screen of images so that you can see the product in all its glory. For more info, you have to click extra to get text details.

Rachel Comey’s web design choices might not be for everyone. Still, it certainly dared to be different, which match their brand perfectly.

Ugmonk


Ugmonk sells high-quality analog productivity items, like stationery and specially designed notepads. The wood-themed color scheme is understated like their products, and as such, exudes a simple yet elegant vibe.

One interesting design element is the incredibly smooth navigation preview, which fades seamlessly as you hover from one item to the next. Each menu item comes with more photography and a sub-menu detailing Ugmonk's different collections. In short, everything about the website screams luxury and sophistication.

Jackie Smith


Jackie Smith is a bold accessory brand. This eCommerce business uses the appeal of comic books with thick, heavy fonts and icons for its imagery, giving you that “kapow” the brand is clearly aiming for.

You’ll commonly find heroically bold oranges, reds, and blues that complement each other beautifully on the website. Every image on the site works wonders, and on the product pages, hovering over images gets you another view of each handbag.

Also, at the very bottom of the homepage, we like the small social media icons. When clicked, these take you straight to their social pages, making it easy for visitors to follow Jackie Smith elsewhere.

Did You Find Your Inspiration From These Shopify Website Examples?

If these Shopify website examples teach us anything about online business, it's that there are loads of ways you can use Shopify to create unique and brand-fitting stores. So many of these website examples tell us the story of their businesses in ways no one else could. Some break the mold of expectation entirely and turn all stereotypes on their heads.

We hope this has served as an excellent example of how you can use customization, color, menu choices, animations, and photography on your eCommerce sites to make your Shopify theme work for you. Like these best website examples, you don’t need to do anything too complicated to stand out. It just takes a clear understanding of your own brand message so that you can communicate it clearly.

Which of these websites did you find the most inspiring? Let us know in the comments below.

 


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