This content originally appeared on Envato Tuts+ Tutorials and was authored by Brenda Barron
Adding an online store to your website or creating one from scratch is a great way to increase your business revenue and reach new customers. This is especially true if you’re a small business owner looking to expand your customer base without the big budget needed for another physical location.
Incorporating an online store, or in other words, adding eCommerce functionality, is an affordable way to spread the word about your business online and reach people beyond your regular business location.
When it comes to building eCommerce websites, a great design, no matter which eCommerce platform you’re using, is a must. A well-designed, responsive, and eye-catching eCommerce template will put your products in the spotlight and help skyrocket your sales.
Whether you’re a business owner looking to create a new online store, or a web professional that is helping your client with their eCommerce setup, working with a top-notch site template gives you a leg up. Learn about eCommerce growth and stay on top of emerging eCommerce trends in 2021 by reading our comprehensive guide.
eCommerce Growth Spiked During COVID-19
The eCommerce sector has grown at an unprecedented rate during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the United States, consumers spent $861 billion online in 2020, up 44% from 2019, according to the latest Digital Commerce 360 analysis. Online spending represented 21% of total retail sales last year, compared with 15% from 2019.
A global report by the UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) reveals that as lockdowns became the new normal, businesses and consumers went digital.
The eCommerce share of global retail trade went up from 14% in 2019 to 17% in 2020, UNCTAD reported. And this trend will continue throughout the recovery from COVID-19.
So, if you're planning on launching your online shop or renewing your eCommerce store, this article is for you. This post is packed with resources! We've hand-picked some of the best eCommerce website templates from ThemeForest. And if you're not sure how to select the best eCommerce platform , we've got you covered with a section about it. Here's a quick navigation menu for you:
- 5+ Shopify eCommerce Website Templates
- 5+ WooCommerce eCommerce Website Templates
- 5 Magento eCommerce Website Templates
- 5+ OpenCart and PrestaShop eCommerce Website Templates
- How To Choose The Best eCommerce Platform For Your Needs
Where to Find Effective eCommerce Themes With a Great Design
When shopping for an eCommerce website template, you should keep an eye out for some important features to make sure you're delivering the best possible experience to your visitors. These features include:
- A responsive and mobile friendly design.
- A template that allows for featured product images.
- A cart that automatically updates.
- Customizable design options.
- Product variation features.
- Customer support included.
You can find all of these features packed into our eCommerce website templates on Themeforest, our single-purchase marketplace.
In this post, we showcase the best eCommerce website themes for 2021 and beyond.
Best eCommerce Website Templates for 2021
Here are the best premium eCommerce themes perfectly suited for eCommerce stores. They have the features you need to get your online store (or that of your client’s) set up quickly with a great design. So, you can start featuring your products and generating sales online!
5+ Shopify eCommerce Website Templates
1. Porto - Responsive Shopify eCommerce Theme
Porto is one of our best-selling Shopify eCommerce templates. This eCommerce theme features a clean and modern design and the best: is packed with endless customization options! See what you'll get:
- 20 homepage layouts
- Unlimited color options
- Lots of product detail page variations
- Light and dark versions
- Super fast and responsive theme
- 300+ Admin functions
Customers have given it a five-stars rating. User superherobyday said:
Beautiful theme with an overwhelming amount of options and customizability. Apparently this is the most (or one of the most) popular Shopify themes on the market. I can see why.
2. Shella - Multipurpose Shopify Theme
Shella is another popular eCommerce theme and one of the best retail website templates we've got. Users love it because this eCommerce template has a stunning design and tons of great features:
- 99+ pre-designed pages
- 10+ ready-to-use skins
- Multi currency support
- Optimized UI elements
- Mega menu builder
- Product filter
- Dynamic checkout buttons
User gaukum07 gave Shella a five-stars rating and said:
This theme has amazing features, great looks and most importantly the amount of customizable features they have provided inbuilt into their theme is simply mind-blowing.
3. Wokiee - Multipurpose Shopify Theme
Wokiee offers great flexibility and design tools that give buyers total control over their eCommerce website. Support forums and video tutorials to help with setup are extremely popular with anyone who purchases Wokiee, and have helped it earn a solid 5.0 rating.
This premium eCommerce themes like this includes a host of bonus apps, which would ordinarily cost hundreds of dollars:
- Megamenu
- Instagram shop/feed
- Wishlist
- Compare
- Related products
- Special Price Countdown
- Quick view
- And many more!
4. Gecko - Responsive Shopify Theme
It’s testament to the Shopify platform that so many of the top eCommerce themes on Themeforest are Shopify themes. Gecko is one such example, and with thousands of sales to its name and a near-perfect rating.
This business eCommerce theme is ideal for online fashion stores, handmade and craft products, organic produce, furniture, and much more. It offers 15+ homepage layouts, 8+ shop layouts, and a wide range of product page layouts, all of which work superbly on mobile too.
5. iOne: Drag & Drop Minimal Shopify Theme
iOne is a massive business eCommerce theme, considering its minimalistic nature! More than 12 specific demos and too many layout variants to list, Instagram integration, AJAX cart and wishlist, Flexslider, autocomplete search, grid and list layout toggle, quick view popup, layered navigation–jump in and see for yourself. Take advantage of the eCommerce growth trend and try this one!
6. Ella: Responsive Shopify Template (Sections Ready)
Ella is a beautiful Shopify template with real heritage. Originally created in 2014, Ella has been maintained and updated ever since, racking up thousands of sales in the meantime! This business eCommerce theme features large banners which can showcase your most popular products to instantly catch the attention of your visitors.
Ella includes a special category module to display all categories, filterable products, integration with Google Fonts, unlimited color and style options, custom links and icons for social media, the ability to display payment options, product variations, and support for Google Rich Snippets.
On top of this, Ella comes with a related products slider as well as a slider for recently viewed products, which are guaranteed to boost your conversion rates. Without a doubt, this is one of our best premium eCommerce themes.
5+ WooCommerce eCommerce Website Templates
7. Wanium - A Elegant Multi-Concept Theme
Another highly rated WordPress eCommerce theme, Wanium has scored an average of 4.79 out of 5 stars—not bad! With plenty of demos to choose from, you can see how this eCommerce template can be adapted based on the wares you're looking to sell.
The Shop Clothes demo for example is a strong theme that effortlessly combines video with static imagery. The video header is the perfect spot to bring to life new collections and begin to tell your brand’s story.
8. Pearl - Corporate Business WordPress Theme
If you have a wide product catalogue and want users to find relevant products quickly and easily, then this is a great option for you. As you can see from the Store demo, products are separated according to men’s, women’s, children’s, and accessories.
You only need to briefly head to the reviews section of this theme to see how highly praised it is for topics including customizability, design quality, and flexibility.
The business eCommerce theme also come with the custom Pearl slider, aimed at effortlessly creating and managing responsive slideshows with seamless transitions.
9. Gioia - Modern Fashion WordPress eCommerce Theme
Luxurious sliders and full-width imagery give this eCommerce template an elegant feel. The ability to layer photography behind text also adds to its unique feel.
The WordPress eCommerce theme has everything you’d expect from the eCommerce website templates—from an email sign up box, to a blog, to subtle visual cues like mini ‘sold’ signs on products, plus the ability to favorite the product without leaving the homepage. Features like these all help to make the user experience as seamless as possible.
10. Arredo - Clean Furniture Store
If you’re looking for cool and design-focused, then this is one of the best online store templates out there! You just have to cast your eye on the Arredo template for a few seconds to see how well it would work for chic homeware or uniquely styled products.
This is one of our top premium eCommerce themes. And here's why. This business eCommerce theme that removes any unnecessary features to product on the number one priority of eCommerce websites: its products.
11. Depot - Business eCommerce Theme
Another versatile template that screams cool, Depot’s various templates feature furniture and homeware. However, its effortless simplicity mean it could work for a whole host of other products too.
A great feature of this WordPress eCommerce theme is its ability to combine imagery with content blocks reserved for headlines or further text without it losing its minimal aesthetic. Subtle movements when users scroll over imagery also help to bring the site to life.
12. Suprema - Multipurpose eCommerce Theme
This is one of the best web templates for eCommerce—in part due to its customizability!
There are lots of distinct demos to choose from so you have the freedom to find the best fit, but they all come with useful features like variable products so users can pick their product color, size, style, etc. Plus, there’s a wishlist functionality and an optional top header. Let your creativity run wild with premium eCommerce themes like this!
5 Magento eCommerce Website Templates
13. Supro - Minimalist AJAX Magento 2 Theme
Supro is a relatively new theme on the scene, created by seasoned Magento developers ArrowHiTech. Featuring some really slick and varied design options, Supro is a superb way to show off your product range.
Built on Magento’s default theme, combined with Front-end CMS Page Builder, with 36+ block elements and MGS Theme Settings, Supro is highly compatible with third party extensions. This is one the best online store templates out there.
14. Porto: Ultimate eCommerce Magento Theme
Porto is a responsive Magento template featuring 18 different homepage layouts including a full-width layout. Your products can be displayed in a variety of grid column sizes; from two to eight and individual category pages can draw your visitors in with a gorgeous slideshow or a parallax background.
Other features include unlimited color options, integration with Google Fonts, unlimited header types, product pages which include product variations, custom design blocks, and more than 300 customization options in the admin panel. You can easily import sample data into Porto so you can get your online store up and running as quickly as possible.
15. Fastest: Magento 2.2.0 Themes & Magento 1 Theme
Fastest is a Magento site template created to not only look great, but also to load fast. The business eCommerce theme includes 10 uniquely designed demo websites and multiple layouts for category and product pages.
With Fastest, you can display various promo banners and testimonials to wow potential customers with gorgeous sliders. Other features include unlimited colors and fonts, a portfolio page, social sharing, a responsive design, configurable product grids, vertical mega-menu, a price filter, and more.
16. Market: Premium Responsive Magento 2 and 1.9 Store Theme
Market is a responsive multipurpose Magento theme which is fully customizable and suitable for any store. The business eCommerce theme integrates with various Magento extensions such as SM Camera Slider, Vertical Mega Menu, SM Tab Listing, SM Categories and others.
Market offers eight different homepage layouts, various color and font options, four header styles, stunning slideshows and quick product views, Rich Snippet support, highly customizable static blocks, and a powerful search box which allows your customers to quickly find products by entering directly the product name, description, price, and SKU.
5+ OpenCart and PrestaShop eCommerce Website Templates
17. Journal: Advanced OpenCart Theme
Updated to version 3, Journal is an OpenCart template with more than 2,000 editable options to give you total control over your store. It’s a versatile template that can adapt to both simple and complex shops, depending on your needs.
Journal includes multiple-level menus which let you build complex navigation with unlimited sub-categories, responsive design, full-screen backgrounds which can also be tweaked to include slideshows, the ability to create your own custom product sections as well as using the standard sections such as Featured, Specials, and Bestsellers. This template also includes unlimited color options, the option to modify any of the pre-existing skins and save your own, and much more.
18. Fastor: Multipurpose Modern OpenCart Theme
Fastor is a modern, powerful OpenCart template with tons of options. Included modules and demo content allow you to create your store in just a few clicks. What sets Fastor apart is the ability to manage multiple stores from one admin panel. Fastor was built on the Bootstrap framework ensuring responsive design across all devices.
Other notable features include advanced settings panel which allows you to change the type of each module for your store, multiple color schemes, unlimited font combinations, 67 pre-made skins, custom hover effects, auto-update price on product pages, cloud zoom on product images, and much more.
19. Sellegance - Responsive and Clean OpenCart Theme
If you're looking for the best retail website templates for OpenCart, Sellegance is a great option. This is one of our best-selling eCommerce themes.
This eCommerce template is entirely customizable and can work for all types of online stores. A five-stars rating says customers love this eCommerce theme
User Skull_515 said:
I want to highlight this template from many others! The ability to scroll through product cards is a rare opportunity. Powerful slider module. Flexible settings. Very beautiful design and functionality!
20. Shoppica – Premium OpenCart Theme
Shoppica is a fully responsive and multipurpose OpenCart eCommerce template. You can customize this eCommerce theme for any type of business and enjoy its features:
- Drang and Drop interface
- 40+ custom blocks
- Fully responsive design
- Multistore ready
- Multilingual support
- No coding required
21. Warehouse: Responsive PrestaShop 1.6 & 1.7 Theme
Warehouse is a clean and responsive Prestashop theme which takes advantage of many advanced modules and modifications like rollover images, clean cart, sliders, and more. Warehouse is based on the Bootstrap framework which means your store will look good no matter what device your visitors are using.
Other features include a theme editor which gives you advanced control over the design of your store, the ability to view individual product pages without the need to reload the page, autocomplete search, a blog module, countdown modules, product labels, and more.
22. MegaShop - PrestaShop eCommerce Theme
MegaShop is nice, simple eCommerce template for PrestaShop. If you need an eCommerce theme to get the job done, this is a good option.
It features: blog module, product review, Ajax search function, vertical mega menu and an optimized page performance for speed.
23. Optima - Multipurpose Responsive PrestaShop 1.7 Theme
Optima is another great eCommerce theme for PrestaShop. It's an All-in-One multipurpose eCommerce template.
Optima comes with 91+ useful prebuilt homepages which are designed colorfully and elegantly. You can easily customize the homepage slideshow and all the elements with its drag and drop feature.
24. Alysum - Premium PrestaShop AMP Theme
Alysum is among the best web templates for eCommerce we've got. This PrestaShop eCommerce template is a crowd favorite with over 6,000 sales.
Users love this eCommerce theme because its minimalist design and its features:
- 8 unique homepages
- Google AMP integration
- SEO friendly
- Easy-to-use page builder
- Revoultion slider
- Product comparison
- Multilingual and RTL ready
- Social media live chat widgets (2021's design trend!)
User Dreamdirty said:
5/5 stars. Nice design, easy to navigate the back-office settings. Page builder working amazing and an arsenal of different small touches makes this theme an easy winner.
How to Choose the Best eCommerce Platform for Your Needs
There are thousands of eCommerce website templates available in our marketplaces. And you know the eCommerce growth trend is happening. So, it's important that you know how to choose the best eCommerce platform for your business.
Let's talk about the most popular eCommerce platforms and their main features:
1. Shopify
Shopify is powering more than one million online stores worldwide, which makes it one of the most popular eCommerce options. Contrary to WordPress, Shopify is a self-hosted solution (with a monthly fee).
This means you don’t have to worry about finding a web host and then adding Shopify. If you have little technical skills, or if you're setting up your first online store, Shopify is the easiest to use platform.
2. WooCommerce
WooCommerce has become a crowd-favorite eCommerce option. This is a free plugin for WordPress, which means you need a WordPress website (and pay a hosting fee), install the WooCommerce plugin, and then create your online store.
But, if you already have an existing WordPress website, setting up WooCommerce is an easy process. Hence the reason of its popularity. WooCommerce is a good option because it gives you a nice mix of custom flexibility and user friendliness.
3. Magento
Magento is the most used eCommerce platform in the world, powering 20% of all online stores worldwide. That's a lot.
Magento is also the eCommerce platform preferred by developers, because is open source and it's the most expandable and flexible.
This is the best option for big companies and global brands because they can pay the high annual fees, and take advantage of the powerful features of this professional eCommerce platform.
4. OpenCart
OpenCart is an entirely free, open source eCommerce platform. It's free to download, you find your own hosting and upgrade without any payments.
OpenCart is a good online store builder if you're looking to keep your costs low and still have customization options. However, the trick here is that you require coding knowledge.
5. PrestaShop
Created in 2008, PrestaShop is an open source eCommerce platform. What's different about this option is its freemium model.
PrestaShop has a marketplace where users buy add-ons for their stores. The eCommerce platform has grown over the years and is currently used by 300,000 online stores worldwide.
9 Quick Tips on Best eCommerce Practices
When building an eCommerce website, it’s important to follow best practices to ensure your online store will be a successful venture. Here are some of the tips to follow to get you started on the right path.
1. Include a FAQ Section
No matter how simple your store is or how clear your copy, there will always be customer questions that arise over and over again. Make sure to take note of these questions and include them on a page or a section in your store, then add it into your main navigation.
2. Add a Live Chat Widget
A Live Chat option can help turn reluctant visitors into guaranteed buyers by helping them make a decision and answer their immediate questions.
3. Clearly Label Your Sale Section
Recent studies have shown that a large portion of online shoppers are looking for a separate section of products on sale. Give yourself a head start and group all your on-sale products together in one section which is easily to find on your homepage.
4. Include a Search Box
Make it easy for your visitors to find what they are looking for. If you can incorporate autocomplete suggestions in your search bar like in the case of Warehouse, or a give them the ability to search not only by category but by product name, SKU, description, or price like in Market, even better.
5. Use Customer Browsing History for Personalization
Creating a personalized customer experience is extremely important in eCommerce. Metrics such as location, traffic sources, what customers bought, and what pages they viewed can greatly improve your customer service, foster loyalty, and improve sales.
6. Add Big and Beautiful Images
Images are a big part of eCommerce. Make sure your template has the ability to show big product images, display product galleries, and consider giving them the option to zoom in or view your product in a 360-degree view like in the Ultimo or Fastor eCommerce website templates.
7. Insert Clear and Compelling Call to Actions
Your product images are just one part of a bigger puzzle. Great calls to action are the other part. Make sure each product is accompanied by a call-to-action that clearly states what the user should do next.
8. Incorporate Customer Reviews
It’s basic human nature to see what others are saying about a product before we make a purchasing decision. If you have customer reviews, don’t be afraid to show them. However, they don’t have to be displayed front and center. You can safely place them lower on your product pages to leave enough space for a product description and your call to action.
9. Have a Clear Shipping and Return Policy
Your customers like to know all the details before making the final decision about purchasing, this includes your shipping and return policy. Don’t leave them in the dark. Have a section on your website that clearly outlines your shipping and return policies as well as your contact and customer support information. Give them confidence to purchase from you.
5 eCommerce Design Trends For 2021
1. Accessibility
Not only is it the right thing to do, but more and more, we’re seeing a move towards people designing with accessibility in mind. By following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, you’ll make your website as easy as possible for people with disabilities to access it. This will include ensuring you use bold contrasting colors to make text as easy as possible to read for people who are hard of sight (amongst many other things).
Take a look at our Web Accessibility: the Complete Learning Guide or dig into the following recommended article to see why accessibility matters:
2. Minimalism
This trend has been around for some time, but it shows no sign of disappearing. Especially within the context of eCommerce, the best retail WordPress themes will ensure users can find relevant content quickly and easily. Selecting a simple theme with minimal distractions can often be a sensible way to go.
3. Bold Colors and Fonts
Bright color schemes against minimal design are predicted to be the go-to for web design in 2021. Many of the best eCommerce templates provide the option to adapt color schemes and font sizes so your site can evolve with the trends!
4. Motion Design
Many of the eCommerce templates outlined include the option to add video—a handy feature as motion design is predicted to continue to make waves into 2021. Whether it’s adding GIFs to your website or incorporating a video into the header of your website, they can help to bring your products to life.
5. Split Screen Content
This couldn’t be more useful for eCommerce websites as it enables you to give equal weighting to two product types. Predicted to be a force to be reckoned with in 2021, if you want to feature both men’s and women’s products on your homepage for example, you could pick an eCommerce template that follows this developing trend.
Discover More eCommerce Templates And Resources
I hope you've enjoyed the hand-picked selection of the eCommerce website templates we've got. After the tips and trends above, all is left to do is sharing with you more awesome eCommerce themes and resources, like this Beginners Course to Using WooCommerce
- eCommerceHow to Start Your Own Online Store (Beginner Guide)
- eCommerceWooCommerce vs. Shopify: How to Choose the Best eCommerce Platform for You?
- Shopify12 Best Multipurpose Shopify Themes 2021
- Shopify25 Best Shopify Themes for Clothing and Fashion
- Shopify20 Best Shopify Templates for Your Online Store (Updated for 2021)
- WordPress22+ Best WooCommerce Themes for Fashion and Clothing Stores (Free and Premium)
- WooCommerce30 Best WooCommerce Themes: To Make a Better Online Store
- WooCommerce15 Best WooCommerce Technology Themes for Computers and Electronics
- WordPressHow to Build a WooCommerce Store With Elementor
- WooCommerceTop 10 Tips for a Better WooCommerce Store
Are You Ready to Launch an eCommerce Site?
Running an eCommerce site is not for the faint hearted. There are a lot of things that can go wrong if you’re not careful. However, with well-chosen eCommerce themes from one of our best-selling eCommerce templates and the above tips in hand, your online store is sure to start out on the right foot.
This content originally appeared on Envato Tuts+ Tutorials and was authored by Brenda Barron
Brenda Barron | Sciencx (2021-04-22T09:08:58+00:00) 24 Best eCommerce Website Templates: Updated for 2021. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2021/04/22/25-best-ecommerce-website-templates-updated-for-2021/
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