Shopify Empire Theme​: Is This the Best Theme for High-Volume Stores?

Shopify merchants have almost 900 themes to choose from. A Shopify theme is critical for the look, feel, and customization of your store. Today, we will touch upon the Empire Shopify theme, its pros, cons, styles, and for which stores will benefit the most from this. 

As Shopify development experts, we have integrated many themes into our customers’ stores to enhance their functionality. To write this article, we conducted thorough research on the Empire theme, its customization, and stores that use this theme to increase their sales.

Let’s find out what we found in our study of the Shopify Empire theme. 

Shopify Empire Theme: The Overview

Shopify themes are chosen not just for the look and feel of your website. In fact, based on our study, you should select Shopify themes based on the following factors.

• Ease of use
• Cost-effectiveness (Paid or free)
• Mobile responsiveness
• Customization features 

For stores with large inventories, you need a theme that can handle advanced filtering and product categorization. The Empire theme excels in both these categories. 

Its creator, Pixel Union has also developed many great Shopify themes such as Editions, Grid, and Atlantic. When they created the Empire theme, their primary goal was to address customer shopping experiences in large online stores. Empire is easily one of the best Shopify themes for large stores that we have used. 

Shopify merchants get four ready-made designs with the Empire theme. Let’s have a look at them.

Shopify Empire Theme: Designs & Layouts

Empire

Its grid-based layout helps Shopify stores with large product collections. We found that stores selling consumer electronics, fashion, accessories, and groceries work exceptionally well with the Empire theme. 

We are also fond of their easy-to-browse and navigation features, as well as the customizable slideshow on the homepage.

Forma

Industries such as home goods, travel, and food & beverage need visual storytelling on their websites. Forma layout of the Empire theme is best for these stores. 

Forma is a visually striking layout with eye-catching designs, a grid layout, and fonts. If you want to showcase home designs, travel accommodations, and food products, Forma is the layout to pick.

Depot

This layout is inspired by the Home Depot. By just the look of it, this layout invokes the inner craftsman in you. If you run stores that sell power tools, machinery, or any hardware products, you will benefit from Depot’s dark colors, bold designs and typography. 

Circuit

For all electronics Shopify stores, this is a go-to layout. Instead of the dark color incorporated by Depot, Circuit adopts bright colors, designs, and a white background. 

Circuit layout is also suitable for stores that sell technology equipment, such as smartphones and laptops, as well as automobile accessories. 

All four layouts target different industries with their designs, colors, fonts, and functionality. 

But what are the best features that Shopify merchants such as yourself will get from this theme? Let’s have a look at them.

Shopify Empire Theme: Features and Benefits

Here are the best features that we found in every category of this Shopify theme. 

Cart and Checkout

• Cart notes: Allow customers to leave special instructions or requests with their order.
• In-store pickups: Customers can select in-store pickup as an option for delivery.
• Pre-order: Let customers place orders for products that are not yet in stock.
• Quick buy: Enables customers to quickly add items to the cart without leaving the product page.
• Slide-out cart: Displays the cart in a slide-out drawer for quick review and checkout.

Marketing and Conversion

• Age verifier: Ensures customers meet age requirements before accessing certain products.
• Countdown timer: Creates urgency by displaying a countdown to a promotion’s end date.
• Product badges: Add badges like “new,” “sale,” or “best-seller” to products for better visibility.
• Trust badges: Displays security or payment badges to increase customer trust during checkout.
• Recommended products: Suggest products based on browsing or purchase behavior.

Merchandising

• Animation: Adds animations to make the store more dynamic and engaging.
• Color swatches: Allow customers to see product colors in a swatch format before selecting.
• Image galleries: Show multiple product images in a gallery for a detailed view.
• Image hotspot: Allows you to add interactive hotspots on images for additional product details.
• Slideshow: Creates a dynamic slideshow for showcasing products or promotions.

Product Discovery

• Back-to-top button: Adds a button that lets users quickly scroll to the top of the page.
• Breadcrumbs: Shows a navigation trail to help users understand their location on the site.
• Collection page navigation: Helps customers easily browse and filter products in collections.
• Enhanced search: Improves product search with filters and relevant suggestions.
• Mega menu: Displays a large, multi-column menu for easier navigation of products and categories.
• Product filtering and sorting: Allows customers to filter and sort products by criteria like price, size, or popularity.
• Sticky header: Keeps the site navigation bar visible as users scroll down the page.
• Swatch filters: Enable filtering by product attributes like color, material, or size.

Top Stores Using the Empire Shopify Theme

Muji

Muji expertly uses a mega menu, swatch filters, and collection page navigation to enhance their fashion store experience. The grid-based layout looks fantastic to showcase their products. 

Lanoguard

Lanoguard uses Depot layout to full effect. They sell solutions against rust protection for machinery. Depot’s feel of craftsmanship with dark colour and professional designs looks perfect for this brand. 

Lighting Design

Lighting Design uses Forma as a layout to showcase its home decor products. Forma offers a bright, soft, and personalized feel to its products, perfect for selling home lighting products. 

We found these three Shopify stores to be the best examples of those using the Empire theme. Now, let’s get into the pros and cons of the Shopify Empire theme. This will help you with a clear understanding before making the final decision to buy this theme.

Pros & Cons: Shopify Empire Theme

Pros

• Empire’s layouts provide a marketplace feeling to the website, best for large stores. But unlike a marketplace, the theme doesn’t compromise on aesthetics. It combines the benefits of look and feel with functionality.

• E-commerce stores are shifting towards a mobile-first approach. Shopify stores with the Empire theme are mobile-responsive, providing an enhanced shopping experience. 

• The support team at Pixel Union is one of the best we have experienced so far. Their helpdesk has guides related to every topic, such as updates, repairs, and features. Additionally, you will get priority support with Pixel Union’s merchant success team. 

Cons

• While their priority support team is top-class, it doesn’t come free with the theme. It costs an additional $99 to subscribe to this service.

• Empire is not suitable for small and medium-sized businesses as it comes at a Premium price of $340.

• It’s easy to set up this Shopify theme, but the area where you need technical expertise is customization. Shopify Empire theme customization options do have a learning curve. You need to hire Shopify experts to customize themes tailored to your store.

Click here for the Empire Shopify theme demo store set-up. You can view the demo and try this theme on your store. You can use the free trial, but like all Shopify themes, you need to purchase it to make it live.

Shopify Empire Theme: Reviews & Ratings

The Empire theme has a 79% positive rating on the theme store with hundreds of positive reviews. Customers love this theme’s design, functionality, and fantastic support team. 

Wrapping Up: Is This the Best Theme for High-Volume Stores?

As Shopify development experts, we have customized Shopify themes for thousands of stores. If you have a Shopify store with a large collection of products, the Empire theme will work wonders for you. 

This Shopify theme is built for scalability and for Shopify merchants who want to organize their extensive product line into a seamless shopping experience. 

With features such as mega menu, advanced filtering, mobile responsiveness, and smart search, Shopify store owners will find Empire to be one of the best Shopify themes for large stores. 

FAQs

1. How to tell what theme a Shopify site is using?

You can use tools like Shop Theme Detector to identify any theme a Shopify store is using.

2. Can I change my Shopify theme without losing content?

Yes. You won’t lose data or content if you change your Shopify theme. 

3. Are paid Shopify themes worth it?

Yes. You can save a lot of money and time with functionalities and customisation by installing a paid Shopify theme. However, do make sure the theme fits well with your brand. 

4. Can you customize Shopify themes?

Yes. You can fully customize any Shopify theme with built-in features and coding knowledge. 

5. Which are the best Shopify themes for clothing and apparel stores?

Dawn, Origin, and Colorblock are some of the best Shopify themes for clothing and apparel stores.