The Craft theme is a popular Shopify theme and for good reason. The design is great, it’s mobile responsive with advanced customization options. But should you use it for your e-commerce store?
In this article, I’ll provide you with some examples of successful stores that are currently using the Craft theme. This will give you realistic expectations as to how the Craft theme will look for your store.
Is Craft a Free Shopify Theme?
Craft is a free Shopify theme, does that mean it will save you money, not necessarily. It really depends on the type of store you’re planning to run and the features you will require.
A free theme such as Craft will come with basic features and customization options. This is adequate if you’re building a very basic Shopify store, however, most people will require additional options to make their store unique from its competitors.
Because free themes come with basic functionality, ofter you will require purchasing several Shopify apps that will cost monthly fees. These costs can add up and will end up costing you more money in the long run.
Take this into consideration when looking for themes. A good example of this is the Booster theme which costs $398 for lifetime access, however, it comes with a multitude of built-in features that add up to $280 per month in fees.
Is Craft a Good Theme for Shopify?
All the free Shopify themes are good themes that are more than capable of running a successful e-commerce business and the Craft theme is no exception. Craft comes with all the same basic features as the other free Shopify themes and your decision really comes down to how much you like the design of the Craft theme.
The layout and design options are the only real differences between the free Shopify themes. This is why it’s important to see some real live stores before deciding on the Craft theme.
As with other free themes, Craft is easy to use and designing your store can be done within a few hours. The main reason it’s easy is simply due to the limited amount of design and customization options. Whilst this sounds like a negative, if you are not tech-savvy and only need a basic store design, this can be an advantage.
Overall, Craft theme is mobile responsive, it’s fast, it comes with basic Shopify support and it comes with features such as mega menu and sticky header. My recommendation is if you have a limited budget, you like the design of Craft and you’re after a minimal theme without all the bells and whistles, then Craft may be the right Shopify theme for you.
I have some store examples of the debut theme you can see here which is another free Shopify theme.
Click here for a FREE Shopify trial and 3 months of Shopify for Only $1
1. Sneaker Binge
Sneaker Binge is a shoe store selling premium brand shoes including Nike Air, Adidas and Yeezy. You know a theme looks good if they’re showcasing high-end brands. Sneaker Binge has hundreds of products and utilizes a mega menu to help visitors navigate their store and easily find the shoes their searching for.
The store has minimal a color scheme which really helps the product pop and be the star of the show. The Craft product pages are minimal without unnecessary clutter which adds to the branded feel of the store.
My related article I think you’ll love:
2. Farmgirl Frosting
Farmgirl Frosting is a Shopify that stocks apparel and jewelry products. Judging by the color scheme and design of the store, Farmgirl Frosting is going for a fun and relaxed vibe to appeal to its target audience.
They’ve used the Craft theme effectively by using the home page to help promote their brand as they are a physical store as well as an online store.
3. The Charging Docks
The Charging Docks stocks a small number of electronics products with the main focus being the charging stations. This has been a popular product online in recent years so it makes sense to center a store around this product.
As you can tell, the Craft theme has a minimal but practical product page with several images showing how the product operates. The homepage shows the product’s best sellers with social proof to help build trust.
4. Luxury Lane
Luxury Lane is primarily a men’s and women’s fashion store with a little home decor and jewelry. They have hundreds of products from different niches showing how versatile the Craft theme can be.
Luxury Lane has utilized the mega menu as well as several Shopify apps including Zen Desk for customer support, judge.me for customer reviews and Loox for email marketing.
5. Dala Decor
Dala Decor is a Canadian-based furniture and home decor Shopify store stocking thousands of high-end products. Another store that has used the mega menu to help search through a large inventory faster and easier for customers.
The store is basic as the store is a physical store which would be their primary focus. Overall, Dala Decor has used the Craft theme successfully with the product images doing most of the selling for them.
6. American Crafts
American Crafts is my favorite store from this list using the Shopify Craft theme. With a large inventory of thousands of products, they have given several options to help navigate through their vast product selection.
The branding and color scheme are perfect and aligns with the niche and audience they’re targeting. This is an example of how you can use the Craft theme and make a store look very professional and trustworthy.
Leave a Reply