Story: Discovering the possibility of a free theme

This is the second time testing for the Shopify free theme. Narrative has an interesting pre-template design, product feature. If you are capable to prepare the png, no background image, Narrative may work for you.

At this point, I already checked 3 free templates, Brooklyn, Narrative and Debut. CMS/pre-made design is almost same, especially Brooklyn and Debut. If you don’t have a bunch of products, these 3 themes will be a good start for your project.

Problem: I developed a few Shopify eCommerce site, but I need to practice more
Goal: Understand what I can do, I cannot do with a free theme

Shopify

– Free for 90 days (normally 14 days/2 weeks). Extended only now, because of coronavirus.
– US$29/mo for the basic plan. You have to sell more than US$29(net, not gross). Otherwise, your business is in deficit.
– Price range, US$29, $79 and $299/mo. It costs you forever.
– The Shopify site insists it’s easy. You may be able to develop a Shopify website, but sales are never easy.
– You don’t know until try.

Website: Start Shopify 14 days free trial

Shopify Theme – Narrative

Narrative receives good reviews. Compare to Debut or Brooklyn, Narrative is a little unique theme. If you can use photoshop, play with the image, this is enough theme for your 1st store on Shopify. I checked it On YouTube, but people don’t talk much about Narrative. I don’t know why?

You need to prepare before the development below as same as the Brooklyn theme.

1. Shop name(Hello XXX, Mr. XXX, etc)
2. Product and image
3. Color palette, typeface
4. Nav Menu: Home, Product(Catalog), Blog, Media, About, Contact
5. Footer: Search(necessarily?), Shipping and Return Policy, Terms of Services, Contact(Address & Phone)
6. Contents/Section

©Alicia Rafiei: The Best Free Shopify Themes For Beginners – Shopify Theme Review

She recommends 3 free themes. Exactly the same with me. I think the hero section gives a consumer a good impression. She talks Narrative after Brooklyn. I checked her site as a reference, but it was under construction…

If you start eCommerce with a small amount of product, Narrative fits you.

Shopify Theme – Narrative(Development)

The default theme is set with Debut. You can install different themes from the theme library. According to my experience, you don’t have to go paid theme first. The free theme is enough.

When you start to customize Narrative, please check Add Section first. You can see what you can add. If you look for a specific section design that the Narrative does not have, you may be better to choose another theme or need to hire a developer.

Very bottom, you can see the Edit Code. Shopify somehow expects you need Edit Code?

Add section
BLOG
– Blog posts

COLLECTION
– Collection list
– Featured collection

IMAGE
– Gallery
– Highlights
– Image with text
– Image with text overlay
– Slideshow

PRODUCT
– Featured product

PROMOTIONAL
– Newsletter signup

VIDEO
– Video

ADVANCED LAYOUT
– Custom HTML
– Featured slider

There are many pre-templates compared to Brooklyn and Debut relatively.

Theme settings
– Colors
– Typography
– Cart drawer
– Social media
– Favicon
– Checkout

You have many choices. Therefore, you may need some help if you are completely no graphic design background.

Dashboard
Home
Orders
Products
Customers
Analytics
Marketing
Discounts
Apps

SALES CHANNELS
– Online Store
– Themes
– Blog posts
– Pages
– Navigation
– Domains
– Preferences

Shopify Theme – Narrative(Result)

I develop above as a test. I felt Narrative has enough uniqueness. You may find other Shopify shop which uses Narrative. The point is how to add uniqueness, differentiate, even free theme. If you need some ideas, please check paid theme. I will make it real with a fellow developers.

Overall, the site looks okay as well as Brooklyn.

Brooklyn/Debut or Narrative

I used Brooklyn, Debut and Narrative. I think that Brooklyn and Debut are not much different. Those 2 themes or narratives will be my choice. When I work with the client, I have to expect for customization somehow. The pre-made template is not flexible. If a client has a strong desire, I have to work with a programmer.

Reference:

Shopify: Narrative
*Shopify should follow Webflow. The text tutorial does not user-friendly.

YouTube: Shopify Help Center
*Robot voice makes me sleep.