The theme market is probably the widest; thus, selecting the right theme is arduous. However, feature-wise, most top and best-selling themes are nearly similar. All of them are responsive, all of them have page builders included, all of them have some premium plugins included, all of the themes are highly customizable and have elegant looks, all of them allow ‘one-click demo install, and lastly, all of them sell well and have a minimum rating of 4!
So, in the midst of all the theme vendors trying to sell you, how would you decide the right one for your store. I myself have spent a good amount of time in deciding a theme for an upcoming online store of my company.
I needed to find a theme for a website selling digital products. You will face several uncertainties when you try to find a theme to suit your products. Check out this article on choosing the right theme for your WooCommerce store.
I shall present here a list of the shortlisted themes based on the following criteria:
- SEO friendliness.
- Page builder. I would go for a theme that includes a popular page builder rather than the ones having their own page builder.
- Multi-vendor compatibility.
- Demo site availability. I would like to reduce the time spent on developing the site. So, if I find an available demo site that resembles my choice to some extent, the theme would instantly get some brownie points.
- Included and compatible plugins. For instance, contact form, Mailchimp, ajax search plugin, WPML.
- The availability of some marketing automation tools would be a plus
So, I am here to enlighten you with my findings and guide you in selecting the right theme for your digital marketplace.
1. XStore
The best thing about this theme is that it has 80+ demos, which justifies its tagline as a multi-purpose theme. It has 200+ PSD files included! Its demo Hosting convinced me to add it to my shortlisted sites because it somewhat matched the layout I had in mind. It includes the Visual Composer page builder. It is WooCommerce Product Vendor compatible, too. XStore theme has some of the best product page layouts. It includes powerful plugins like ‘Revolution Slider,’ ‘Catalog Mode.’ The reason for selecting this theme would be a large number of demos and templates, support, and customization options. It is an accepted fact that 8themes is an expert in the field of creating quality themes. Legenda, Royal, and Classico are some of those.
2. Martfury
This one is like the ‘new kid in the block’! Compared to all the themes mentioned here, this one has been very recently launched yet managed to compete with the likes of XStore, Flatsome, etc. Being a new theme, there are fewer demo sites. Yet, the ones available would be right for selling digital products. It’s specifically built to work with the top multi-vendor plugins like Dokan, WC Vendors, and WC Marketplace. It includes the powerful WPBakery page builder. It has the AJAX search filter. Its marketing automation features are worth mentioning. For instance, it can show the sales countdown timer, recently viewed products, trending items, daily discounts, etc. Moreover, it is compatible with some of the ‘must-have’ plugins like ‘Mailchimp,’ ‘YITH Wishlist,’ ‘YITH Compare,’ ‘WooCommerce Currency Switcher,’ ‘Contact Form 7’.
3. Electro Electronic Store
As the name suggests, this theme is primarily meant for electronic products. So undoubtedly, this should go well for selling digital products, too. This theme also includes Visual Composer page builder. Electro Electronic Store theme can make your store look like the kinds of Flipkart, Amazon, and other top e-commerce sites. Needless to say, this theme is suitable for a multi-vendor store, too. This theme integrates well with Slider Revolution, WooCommerce Wishlist, and WooCompare. Some of its features worth mentioning are advanced live search, advanced vertical menu, advanced product specifications, store directory, etc.
4. Porto
Porto is one of the most widely used themes and has been there for a long time now. 16,150 sales with 1452 customer ratings, the numbers speak for themselves. Porto has managed to secure its position among the best-selling Woocommerce themes for several consecutive years. This, too, is a multipurpose theme with many demos waiting to be imported. This tool uses Visual Composer. The theme comes with 25 unique pre-designed templates for home pages. Choosing between a dark and light color scheme is just one click away. Porto is compatible with various top WordPress plugins like MailPoet, BuddyPress, BBPress, WooCommerce Currency Switcher, WooCommerce Product Filter, Post View Counter, AJAX Search, Wishlist, Badge Management, etc. Moreover, Porto comes with 33+ custom elements for Visual Composer.
Concluding Thoughts
Even though there are myriad themes available, once you have an online store in mind and start searching for that perfect theme to give your store a look you desire, you would face a number of confusions. Hope this article helps you in selecting a theme for your digital marketplace.