In this article, we will talk about Magento 2 theme basic challenges:
- features of any theme
- common design mistakes
- a new theme installation
Also, we will show you 8 Magento 2 themes that will give your online business possibilities.
Basic features every Magento theme offers
As Magento is an open-source platform that means you can freely customize by using CSS, there are multiple custom themes. But all of them have several same features:
- Responsive design. Your store will be flawlessly rendered on any screen of any size and any device. Responsive page elements ensure crisp and pleasant browsing experience for the entire device range that your audience employs.
- Simplified installation process. Literally anybody can install, customize, and operate TemplateMonster’s Magento designs with the help of explicit and detailed documentation that is shipped with every layout. Feel like a tech expert with detailed step by step installation guidelines.
- Advanced product presentation features. Allow your customers to select between List and Grid category views. Spice it up with a responsive (touch-friendly) product carousel.
- Multi-language support. All of TemplateMonster’s Magento website layouts are translated into 4 languages: English, German, Spanish and Russian. This way you can cater to a wider international audience.
But here we have Magento 2 themes. They are more advanced, offer vast functionality, and more possibilities. Note that the more features a theme has the more likely it can degrade site performance. How does using different Magento themes affect the store speed? We tested the most popular Magento 2 templates to show you the difference.
Design mistakes to avoid
Trying to stay trendy, store owners make design mistakes that can scare users away. Here are the 6 most common issues:
- too visual website design;
- creepy personalization;
- concentration on mobile-first only;
- too many colors in one design;
- international features;
- too interactive design.
Also, the design should be easy to use. If users can’t reach the navigation or if your interface is confusing, it can increase the bounce rate of your website. Pay attention to the following pages:
- Home page;
- Catalog and product page;
- Shopping cart and the checkout.
To improve user experience and retain more visitors, think about why users need this or that functions or information, and offer the solution that will suit their needs.
Read 12 tips from our Head of Design Team.
How to install Magento 2 Theme
Magento 2 allows the installation of one or multiple themes for different stores or websites in a project. There are three options for how you can set-up a third-party theme:
- via Composer;
- manually through uploading files;
- via Web Setup Wizard.
To install themes via Composer, you need to use the same algorithm as for any other third-party extension. Here are the general steps you should complete:
- Go to your Magento root directory and enter the command:
composer require <vendor>/<name>:<version>;
- Then, enter the following commands:
git add -A && git commit -m "Add theme" git push origin <branch name>.
- Next, navigate to Content>Design>Themes and check the theme is displayed as available.
Read the step-by-step guide to learn other installation tips.
Now, when you know all the technical details, let’s move on to the themes themselves.
8 Magento 2 themes for different goals
Shiney
This Magento 2 template is an e-commerce-ready theme that you can use for building an efficient online store for your business. It is very flexible and includes options that make website development an easy task. This theme has a fluid and fully responsive layout design that make sure that your visitors will have an awesome user-experience. You can also use this theme for various types of online stores like clothing, fashion, accessories, watches, jewelry, shoes, auto parts, etc. Shiney’s advanced theme options panel makes it possible for you to change the look of your e-commerce site.
Sexy Lingerie
Buying this theme you get 5 fully functional designs for the price of one. Magento 2 is more geared towards store managers and people, who don’t usually spend their time going over the code. Magetique stays true to that spirit with a great variety of editing tools that accompany the theme. With Magetique you have all of the necessary documentation and installation procedures laid out for you.
Jewelry
This Magento 2 Jewelry theme is equipped with Megamenu, an amazing extension used for creating beautiful, customized menus for your site. The unique catalog and product page allow you to present your items beautifully. You can place your custom slides with promos, new products, or any other things you need to highlight into the slider.
Fashionable Clothes
This theme is a perfect option for fashion clothing stores. It includes Megamenu, Ajax compare, Ajax filter, Unique product page, Unique catalog page, Configurable swatches, etc. Theme’s header is sticky. You can place your best offers into the slider. The theme is cross browser compatible. PSD source files are included in the template’s package.
Spice Store
You can showcase a great number of products with a gallery right on the home page. The presentation will look organized and smart, which is important as lots of customers are reluctant to dig deeper than the home page of your store, especially when it looks confusing. Product zoom extension allows to show the professional zoom effect on your product detail page. With this tool, visitors will be able to enlarge products and view them to minor details.
See top 30 food & restaurant Magento themes.
Tools Store
The theme comes with a blog. Your company blog roll can be displayed on the main page of the site. This would not only help keep the audience engaged but would also provide high SEO rankings and seamless visitor experience. Newsletter popup will let you easily subscribe your visitors to your newsletter.
Designer Clothing
F2 is a trendy and stylish Designer Boutique Magento 2 Theme that was developed in compliance with the latest web tendencies. It has a card-based layout, cutting-edge slider, a set of product banners, and featured items. The header features a fixed MegaMenu, whereas the fixed right sidebar provides quick access to the live search, settings, shopping cart, and a user’s account.
Swimwear
This lingerie theme has a sweet, eye-candy design. This may sound incredible, but you save $265 buying it. This happens thanks to the TM Modules included in the template price. You can use badges on your eCommerce website to indicate the status and value of the product. Being small yet attention-grabbing in their nature, these UI elements provide more effective promotion of e-store merchandise.
Electronics Shop
This e-shop is provided with configurable swatches. Creating Color Swatches on your eCommerce website can be time-consuming, but it pays off with higher sales. You are more likely to make an online sale when options are right there on the product page. You will miss out on sales if you count solely on ‘related products’. Making individual products for each variation in color, fabric, and size can be a maintenance nightmare.
Bonus: Amasty Jet theme
What poses a challenge for Magento store owners when choosing a custom theme?
Sure, lack of compatibility with all the pre-installed extensions. This can even provoke the necessity to seek extra development services.
We’ve decided to eliminate the problem and are getting ready to release Amasty’s Custom Theme for Magento 2. Learn more about the features and subscribe for the release!
