Shopify homepage design

Design for the people who actually arrive

Your analytics show how many sessions start on the homepage and where those visitors go next. Typical homepage visitors include people who typed your store name after seeing you elsewhere, returning customers and visitors from links that point to the root address. They need to understand what you sell quickly and find the right part of the range in one or two taps.

If most homepage visitors go straight to the menu, the homepage itself may not be helping them.

Homepage sections and what each is for

The first screen on a phone

On a phone, a large hero image can fill the whole first screen with no text and no obvious next step. A better first screen tells visitors what the store sells and offers one or two clear routes, such as shopping a main category or seeing new arrivals. Many themes let you set different hero images or crops for mobile, which keeps products visible on small screens.

Use evidence to choose sections

Common homepage problems

• Slideshows nobody waits for

  Later slides are rarely seen; one clear message usually works better.

• Everything featured

  When every collection is promoted, none stands out.

• Out-of-date offers

  A banner for a sale that ended undermines trust immediately.

• Heavy media

  Large autoplay videos slow the first view on phones.

Plan for seasonal changes

The homepage is the page that changes most often: new ranges, gift guides, sales and seasonal campaigns. Designing it with sections your team can update in the theme editor means a seasonal swap is an afternoon's work, not a development request. A short guide to which image sizes and text lengths work best keeps the homepage looking consistent through each change.

Shopify's documentation describes JSON templates as letting merchants add, remove and reorder sections in the theme editor, which is what makes this kind of self-service possible.

Keep it light

Each homepage section adds images and sometimes scripts. Before adding another, ask whether it helps visitors choose where to go. Compressed images at sensible sizes, few or no autoplay videos and only the apps that need to appear on the homepage keep the first view fast, which matters most for visitors on phones.

Returning customers

Returning customers use the homepage differently from new visitors. They often want what is new, what is back in stock or a quick route to the account page to reorder. A new arrivals section near the top and a clearly visible account link serve them without getting in the way of first-time visitors, who need the broader routes into the range.