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Shopify Debut Theme Review: Is it the right theme for Shopify stores?

Last updated: November 20 2024

Written and researched by experts at Avada Learn more about our methodology

If you have a debut shop at Shopify, do you know about the Shopify Debut theme? This article will give you lots of useful information so you can consider selecting it for your store.

It’s believed that the theme is the face of a website. Therefore, if you want your website to attract more people to visit, it should definitely have a nice face, right? Customers will easily overlook your website if everything looks cluttered or too sparkling.

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Fortunately, the Debut theme is a great choice. It looks simple but still splendid and enchanting. Take a view of below Shopify Debut Theme Review: Is it the right theme for Shopify stores? to learn more about it now.

About the Shopify Debut theme

What is the Shopify Debut theme?

When we hear the name, we certainly understand that the Debut theme is very suitable for businessmen and stores that have just launched in the online world, especially the great e-commerce platform Shopify.

One thing that is extremely appealing about this theme, which is also one of the biggest reasons it is suitable for debut stores, is that it is completely free. Especially, compared to free themes, the Debut theme is more than expected. It stands out and excels among the countless themes available at the Shopify store. The debut theme has an elegant appearance. Although the design is very simple, it makes viewers feel professional and unique. Certainly, when customers browse your website, they will feel comfortable with the clean and clean of this theme.

What is the Shopify Debut theme
What is the Shopify Debut theme

In my personal opinion, the fact that the Debut theme is totally free is really a bargain for newly launched stores. However, because it is a free theme, it may not have been thoroughly invested in terms of technology. Some classes cannot be supported by the grid system unless you add them yourself. There are still some issues with responsive and updating this theme is not often taken care of. According to some people who have used the Debut theme, they said that there were times when the slideshow photo was not displayed correctly.

With the Debut theme, you are provided with two different layouts including the Default layout and the Light layout so you can choose to use it for your store. Both of these layouts provide an aesthetic look for your website. It’s hard to deny that the sharpness and pop out of the Default layout will make your store appealing to the viewer at first sight.

Otherwise, the Light layout can work perfectly with any store to create a graceful and gentle beauty. You can be confident that your product will stand out and be more attractive when using these layouts. Debut themes will definitely be a pretty good choice for you to show off your great products to customers.

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Styles of Shopify Debut theme

As mentioned above, the Debut theme has two types of styles: the Default and the Light. In this section, I will talk in more detail about each type.

The Default Theme Style

Shopify Debut theme: Default style

As you can see, the Default theme style has no banner on top. You can absolutely put your brand name in the upper left. Alternatively, you can place links that will take viewers to your site in the middle of the top of the screen.

Below the slider is where you can place some item images along with prices. Or else, you can replace them with ordinary photos to help you further enhance your brand.

You can include more images to cover the width of the screen further down. In particular, remember to add specific collections for your products to help customers easily track related products. This will help you increase sales significantly.

The Light Theme Style

Shopify Debut theme: Light style

Unlike the Default style, this style allows you to place a notification or a small banner on the top of the page. Thanks to this, you can inform your customers about an attractive offer such as a discount for a certain period of time or free delivery. Customers will quickly capture the promotion information and be encouraged to shop at your site.

Below is where you can add a section to showcase products belonging to certain collections or specific products you want customers to see. This helps you promote the sale of products that are on the trend or solve inventory worries.

Next, a new set of sliders can be added to showcase products with eye-catching and attractive images. Besides, an embedded video will be a smart decision. It will play on your site whenever someone browses through it. If this is a video tutorial, it will be extremely helpful to help your customers. Or it could also be an inspirational video for customers.

The last place will be where you display different beautiful collections for customers to see.

Features of Shopify Debut theme

With search predictions, you allow customers to find products or information that best suit their desires. The prediction is shown to customers based on many factors such as the customer’s search history, by their connection or activity, or the popularity of the search term. These predictions are often quick links that help customers search to the product page quickly.

Slideshow

This is a unique feature that not only allows users to create slideshows from their images but also has beautiful and professional motion effects. Take advantage of this feature to have a fascinating slideshow on your home page.

Customer testimonials

Customer testimonials help marketers ”fix all unsupported marketing requirements that may appear on your site. The purpose of a testimonial is to add evidence to support all of the marketing claims we make all the time. ” In simple terms, customer testimonials are a powerful weapon for you to effectively market your products, in order to boost customer trust in your products and the store.

Product filtering

With hundreds of products posted on the website, each of which has different colors, sizes, prices, how can you manage and find products quickly? This not only makes it difficult for yourself and other salespeople but also a big nuisance for customers. If customers cannot filter or find products of the same size or manufacturer, surely shoppers will quickly become discouraged and will not continue shopping at your website anymore. Therefore, this feature is essential for your store. Your customers can easily filter products by the type they want to buy. Besides, they can also filter by bestseller or price on the collection page.

Homepage video

You can prepare an engaging video to tell your story. This contributes to your brand communication and attracts more customers to your website. You can do this by featuring Vimeo or Youtube videos. Those videos can be promotional videos that can be good short film genres, TVC commercials, etc. Based on the content and purpose of the product, the brand you want to reach customers in the most appropriate way.

Product recommendations

This theme allows you to show your great products on product pages to motivate customers to make purchases. These products can be on-trend, bestseller, or products being promoted, etc. The display of these products will boost sales and gain more profits. In particular, it can help customers save time to choose products. Note that these products should have clear and eye-catching images to attract your clients.

Built for small catalogs

One of the benefits debut stores can take advantage of is this feature. It is extremely ideal for them because often when they first launch, the store only has a small number of products.

Promotional banner

You can use this feature to display advertising banners or promotions. This feature is now widely applied to appeal to customers. These banners are often of different sizes, with images or videos, sometimes animations, conveying the message and meaning of a business to the viewer. It has a great impact on the development of the business. Thanks to this, you can build your brand, target customers and increase sales. It provides you with a long-term, flexible and effective tool to market your store.

Why is the Shopify Debut theme a good choice for Shopify stores?

As a newly launched store owner, are you worried that your product is not being purchased or that there are few products that do not attract customers? A useful theme like the Debut theme can be a powerful tool to help you with this worry. Your store will look great even if you only have a few products to display. Besides, it will still be fine even if your store has a large inventory. In addition, I will give you a few other reasons why Debut themes are a good choice for Shopify stores.

Magnifying glass

This is one of the features that contributes extremely important in the purchase decision of customers. They are meticulous people so when shopping, they want to see the product image more clearly. In particular, there are customers who can identify whether the material of a product is good or not through the use of this feature. Not to mention that you can sell items that are small in size or have lots of details like crafts or art. It may seem like a simple feature, but it works great for both you and the customer.

You can look at an example below to see how a non-zoomed product would look vague to customers. The location of a magnifier is usually on the homepage where you can add details and prices.

Why choose Shopify Debut theme: Magnifying glass

And this is when the product can be zoomed in when a customer hovers over it. It would be a lot better to see the product in more detail, right?

Why choose Shopify Debut theme: Magnifying glass

Mobile-friendly

Why choose Shopify Debut theme: Mobile-friendly
Debut theme interface on Mobile

Most of us know that these days, every store should have a mobile-friendly theme. This will not only help you reach more customers, but also avoid getting penalized by Google. Because Google usually reviews stores that are responsive and mobile-friendly to rank stores higher. For non-such stores, Google may impose fines on them. So, this is a smart feature that you can take advantage of.

Debut themes can recognize when a customer is using a mobile phone and automatically switch to mobile mode. With the Debut theme, your customers can now eliminate the hassle of being redirected to the browser.

Social media icons

Why choose Shopify Debut theme: Social media icons

Displaying a social network icon will help visitors follow you faster, and this is also the fastest and most convenient way. Since it does not take up too much space on the website, you can place it anywhere you like without affecting your layout. You can use this feature easily and do not spend too much time. Adding social media icons to your website is a great way to increase engagement and brand recognition.

Blog

Why choose Shopify Debut theme: Blog

On the homepage, you can set standout blog entries or up to three unique stories to give your customers some guidance or share some tips and inspirational stories. Blogs contribute a big part in your effective marketing. You will be overwhelmed by the number of customers coming to your store if you prepare engaging content. Note that the maximum number of entries you can display on the homepage is three.

Map

Why choose Shopify Debut theme: Map

This feature allows you to upload a map to let customers know your store location if it is a physical store. It is useful for customers who can visit your physical store easily based on the map. If your customers are meticulous and love the real shopping experience, they will definitely love this great map feature. In addition to improving customer experience, this feature also contributes to increasing customer trust.

Examples of Shopify stores using the Debut theme

We have learned about the Debut theme through detailed content. Surely you can’t wait to see what it looks like when used. Here are some typical stores that have taken advantage of the beauty of the Debut theme to become the face of their store.

Newton Supply Co.

Examples of Shopify stores using the Debut theme: Newton Supply Co.

Visit Newton Supply Co. now. The products they are selling are bags made with durable and high-quality materials. This store is currently in Austin, TX.

Bullie and Co.

Examples of Shopify stores using the Debut theme: Bullie and Co.

Click to go to Bullie and Co. now. This store sells luxurious dog chains, making your dogs aristocratic and eye-catching. In particular, these products are very suitable for pit bulls.

Toy Depot Store

Examples of Shopify stores using the Debut theme: Toy Depot Store

Let take a view of Toy Depot Store now.

Welwyn Watch Parts

Examples of Shopify stores using the Debut theme: Welwyn Watch Parts

Visit Welwyn Watch Parts now.

Chatham Candy Manor

Examples of Shopify stores using the Debut theme: Chatham Candy Manor

Look at Chatham Candy Manor.

Final thoughts

These are reviews of Shopify’s Debut theme. In Shopify’s store, this topic is rated 47%. Although this is an elegant and beautiful theme, as mentioned, it also has some limitations in the technical section, especially for the mobile view. In some cases, you will find that the image is not displayed exactly as you and the customer expected. This can create a bad experience for some customers. However, we all know the price so you can benefit from this Debut theme is free. Therefore, if you have a new store and have not had too much capital, you should try this theme.

I do hope this post is helpful to you. Thanks for reading and see you in another article.

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Sam Nguyen is the CEO and founder of Avada Commerce, an e-commerce solution provider headquartered in Singapore. He is an expert on the Shopify e-commerce platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems. Sam loves talking about e-commerce and he aims to help over a million online businesses grow and thrive.