A good web design for WooCommerce is extremely important. It determines whether your visitors stay in the online store. And whether they actually complete the purchase. What do you need to look out for when choosing your WooCommerce theme? And what are the most important themes? Our guide has the answers.

A theme for WordPress or WooCommerce is a type of design template. It determines how your portal looks. It's not that easy to choose the right theme for your online store. Or, as an agency, to advise your customers on a specific template. This article will guide you step by step through the selection process.

There are basically two options when using themes:

1. You have a completely independent theme and design developed.
2. You buy a ready-made theme and customize it to your needs. For example, by adapting the colors to the appearance of your brand, changing the logo and background graphics, etc.

The first option makes your store unique - but for this you also need very good web designers or a suitable agency. The costs for this can run into the mid five-figure range if you go for quality. On the other hand, there are also high-quality templates in the WooCommerce environment that are flexible enough. And which you can use to launch your online store in particular. More on this later.

Selection of the theme

You often only realize after a relaunch that the new theme wasn't such a good choice after all. The design cannot be customized as desired? Important updates fail to appear, so that parts of the webshop no longer work? And then the support leaves a lot to be desired? If your portal's turnover depends on it, this can be really annoying.

This makes it all the more important to test a theme well in advance. And it is essential that you do this on your own test system. You can only trust the manufacturer's specifications and demo pages to a limited extent: When interacting with your plugins for WordPress and WooCommerce, it is not uncommon for problems to arise that were not visible beforehand.

Here are the most important tips for finding a suitable provider or theme:

Compatibility with WooCommerce

Make sure that your theme is optimized for WooCommerce. Only such themes ensure that shop-specific elements are displayed correctly. For example, the product overview, the additional information, the shopping cart or the purchase process or checkout. Templates that are specially developed for WooCommerce also ensure compatibility with new versions of the store software. This is because WooCommerce changes its processes from time to time. With a pure WordPress theme, you would have to have this laboriously changed every time.

Ideally, you should choose a provider that specializes in WooCommerce. They will usually incorporate critical changes into their products more quickly. They will also be more familiar with typical WooCommerce extensions in case they cause problems with the design. I'll introduce you to a few special themes for the store system in a moment.

Mobile optimization

It is now an absolute must that your theme is optimized for different mobile devices. Only then will it look equally good on desktop, tablet and smartphone. And only then will important elements such as the store navigation or the shopping cart work.

For many online stores, 80 percent or more of visits are made via mobile devices. Using Google Analytics and similar tools, you can see how high this percentage is for your own portal. With a theme that has not been properly developed, you will annoy and lose 80 percent of your target group. In addition, Google mercilessly punishes those portals that are sloppy when it comes to mobile optimization.

Every theme manufacturer now labels their products as mobile-optimized or responsive. But there are big differences in quality - how individually are the individual end devices actually supported? At ami.responsivedesign.is you will find an online tool that you can use to roughly check how a website is displayed on different formats:

However, this is only a first point of reference for your research. It does not replace the actual live check by you, on as many different end devices as possible and in different browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari). You should also check the function of buttons, menus, checkboxes, forms, sliders, etc. manually.

Paid or free theme

There are also themes for WooCommerce that are freely available. If you run an online store, you do this professionally. That's why you should opt for a professional theme. Especially if you don't have the technical knowledge to correct the source code if necessary.

The annual license costs are manageable, usually less than 100 euros. I'll tell you what a typical WooCommerce store costs in total in the article Benefits of WooCommerce. Here are the reasons to choose a Pro theme:

• They are usually maintained more frequently. This is particularly important for WordPress and WooCommerce updates.
• With free templates, it can quickly happen that the developers can no longer develop them further. You then have to do this yourself or change the theme. This risk is lower with paid solutions.
• Good pro themes provide you with comprehensive support. Make sure that this is provided in your native language and during your business hours if possible.
• Very good source code quality should be a matter of course for a professional theme. This ensures security and good performance. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Freelancers or agencies in the WordPress environment can assess the quality for you.

Overall, professional solutions minimize your business risk. Nevertheless, check the providers of pro themes, not all of them work equally well. Ask other store owners which developers they have had good experiences with.

Industry leader or underdog?

Popular templates - which are bought or downloaded very often - have an advantage: they are supported more intensively by their developers. You are also more likely to get answers to questions about a more popular theme in forums and in the community. If you leave the technology to an agency, they can familiarize themselves more quickly with a theme with which they have experience. Even if the developers can no longer or no longer want to maintain their theme: With a lucrative template, there is a much greater chance that others will take over the maintenance.

On the other hand, there are designs that you will encounter in what feels like every second WooCommerce store. Your store should be based on the layout and structural appearance of very well-known and large web stores. Then your customers will find their way around as quickly as possible. This is also known as the Amazon effect.

And yet it is important to have individual design elements that are unmistakable. Then your visitors will hopefully know immediately on their second visit: "I've been here before" - an important prerequisite for generating regular customers. A memorable layout that has such unique selling points makes your online marketing much more efficient.

At the latest when your store grows, you should consider having your own theme and design developed. If this is done well, it will fit in particularly well with your brand. Especially in terms of layout, color scheme, typography, product world and imagery. This can significantly increase the conversion rate (the percentage of sales from page visits).

My recommendation: Hire professionals for this. This is the more expensive but more sustainable strategy. With good support, it is even more cost-effective in the long term.

Range of functions for WooCommerce

WooCommerce takes care of most of the functions of your online store itself. The theme then only provides the right appearance. However, some template manufacturers rely on additional components. For example, their products include:

• Drag & Drop PageBuilder, with which you can change the appearance of the store at the click of a mouse. But be careful: such PageBuilders also have some disadvantages.
• Integrated sliders for product presentation or so-called mega menus that contain icons, images and other elements. Or more extensive modules for customer reviews than WooCommerce provides as standard.
• Wish lists that allow your visitors to remember individual products and save them for later purchase.
• Custom widgets to populate the sidebar, header or footer with content according to your ideas. Advanced filter or search functions to make it easier for your customers to select and sort products.
• A user-friendly but at the same time legally compliant design of the "Checkout" and "Customer account" areas.
• A mini shopping cart that is displayed on all pages. For example, in the menu of your online store. Pay attention to the legal requirements of your country here too.

I can tell you more about legal regulations in Germany and Europe in the blog post Making WooCommerce legally compliant. WooCommerce is geared towards the US market as standard.

You shouldn't use a theme that contains countless functions that you don't need. This is because some of these little helpers come at the expense of your store's performance. Page builders in particular are controversial here: they look stylish and allow flexibility. However, if they are not developed properly, they will slow down your system. If you want to find out more about page builders for WooCommerce, read the following articles:

• Page Builder: Curse or blessing for the WordPress world? (Pascal Prohl)
• WooCommerce with Pagebuilder (Harald Frey)

WooCommerce Child Theme

Ideally, your theme should support so-called child themes. This allows you to create several sub-designs based on one and the same theme. This is particularly important if you want to operate several online stores with slightly different designs without having to use a new theme each time.

For agencies: Even if you want to distribute individual templates based on an existing theme, you should pay attention to this feature. Well-structured CSS is also very helpful in this context. You can find a guide to WordPress child themes on Marco Linke's blog.

Also make sure that your theme is optimized for the "new" editor Gutenberg from WordPress. This will also play an increasingly important role for WooCommerce. If the theme offers its own Gutenberg blocks, you should be careful. The content may no longer work when you switch to another theme.

License & scope of delivery

If you opt for a paid theme, you should keep an eye on the costs. As already mentioned, these are usually not very high. Nevertheless, check the following points:

• How long does the license for the theme run for? Is it valid indefinitely, even if you continue to develop the files yourself, or does it have to be renewed after a certain period of time?
• Are you allowed to extend the theme yourself? This is normally guaranteed in the WordPress open source environment. Clarify the question anyway.
• For how long will you receive updates and support? Are certain support and response times guaranteed?
• Is the license only valid for one domain or for several? This is important if you need child themes for other stores.
• If you change your domain or your project, will the license remain valid?

Equally important: Are background images etc. included in the scope of the theme? Can these be used freely? Who has the rights to them? Do you receive the files in reusable formats, such as for Photoshop? You should definitely clarify the image rights here to minimize the risk of a warning.

Do you work in an agency or as a freelancer? Then you should pay particular attention to the extent to which you are allowed to use the theme. And who ultimately holds the license and to what extent. After all, you are dependent on handing over the project to your customers as smoothly as possible after development. See our tips on the efficiency and operation of WordPress and WooCommerce.

The most important themes for WooCommerce

There are several themes and providers for WooCommerce that are well-known in the WordPress scene. You can therefore easily find support for these from freelancers or an agency. However, please note the disadvantages described above that such widespread templates entail. Here are a few "flagships":

Flatsome for WooCommerce

Flatsome is one of the best-known themes for WooCommerce. According to the developers, it is the best-selling theme for WordPress stores. Flatsome is also very popular in German-speaking countries, although support is provided in English.

Simple questions about the theme are often answered in the most important WooCommerce forums. For larger tasks, you will usually still need external developers.

Flatsome is not without controversy in the community. Some praise it, others reject it as oversized. On the one hand, Flatsome's page builder is very flexible. It provides countless elements out of the box without the need for additional plugins. For example, various content levels, sliders, a wish list, live search, boxes, product filters, etc.

On the other hand, this quickly makes your system confusing. If you enter your content in special areas of the page builder that only the page builder provides, this makes it much more difficult to switch to another theme. This is not future-proof.

With a website builder like Flatsome, you can click together a design that differs significantly from the original appearance - without much programming knowledge. This compensates for the widespread use of the theme. However, this process can quickly make your store look inconsistent and "thrown together". It is therefore always worth hiring freelancers or an agency that is familiar with web design.

WooCommerce Storefront

WooCommerce also has its own official theme: Storefront. Similar instructions apply to the Storefront package as for "Flatsome". It is a comprehensive tool that needs to be set up carefully. A first store with Storefront is quickly created. But the devil is in the detail. If you want to use all the functions of the theme and its add-ons, you need to know your way around.

Especially as the template requires a proper configuration and suitable image material. Because the basic version looks pretty simple and straightforward - you could even say boring:

The big advantage of the bundle: It comes from the creators of WooCommerce themselves. The development team therefore generally ensures good compatibility. When a new version of the store software is released, an update of Storefront usually follows quickly.

Neither Storefront nor Flatsome are suitable for use in the German-speaking market. You should also check this for other EU countries. However, the tools mentioned in our article Legal security for WooCommerce work with the most important themes. However, clarify this in advance, otherwise it will quickly become expensive.

There are numerous extensions for Storefront, from WooCommerce but also from third-party providers. For example, for the following purposes:

• A component called "Powerpack" that you need to graphically customize various areas of the online store with a click of the mouse
• Internal product advertising spaces and landing pages
• Mega menus
• Extended customer ratings and price tables
• Connection to social networks

Many of them are subject to a fee. Even those with manageable benefits. You should keep an eye on your expenses here. They quickly add up to a tidy sum for each package. Because then the running costs are no longer necessarily much cheaper than with a self-developed theme.

Atomion WooCommerce Theme for Germany, Austria and Switzerland

Atomion is a smaller and still quite new theme. We have included it because it is one of the few WooCommerce templates for the market in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (D/A/CH). This means that support is provided in German throughout and during German support hours. The design is clear and structured so that the focus is on your products:

MarketPress, the manufacturer of German Market and B2B Market, is behind Atomion. If you are looking for a complete package that takes into account the restrictive legal requirements in the countries mentioned, it is worth taking a look at the theme. According to the developers, all three components are coordinated with each other.

The WooCommerce theme offers, among other things:

• Support for the WordPress editor Gutenberg
• A customizer to adapt the design in various places
• Integrated systems for customer ratings and a wish list
• A mini shopping cart, which should also comply with the legislation
• Optional preloader function (your store is only displayed when it is fully loaded)
• An optimized search function for WooCommerce

A fully designed blog area is also included - in addition to the online store. You should always pay attention to this with all themes.

Astra Theme

Astra is not just a shopping theme. You can also use it to implement other projects. Nevertheless, it is used quite frequently in the WooCommerce environment. The creators present some of them on their portal.

The developers of Astra offer a free trial version. You should definitely try it out: Some store owners get on well with the theme, others don't find it suitable for their purposes. The ready-made design templates don't suit everyone's taste either.

In particular, test additional plugins for legal security if you use them. Some do not support themes that are not 100% designed for WooCommerce.

WooCommerce Themes at TemplateMonster

You can also find numerous templates for WooCommerce at our partner TemplateMonster. For example, the multifunctional WooCommerce theme Woostroid. It has exciting functions such as a "LookBook". This allows your buyers to navigate through various products that are displayed in a graphic:

Woostroid includes Elementor, a WordPress page builder that allows you to create different layouts without any coding knowledge. It includes 25 content modules and a flexible layout grid to customize the look of existing pages. Woostroid was not primarily designed for the German-speaking market, so you should also try it out in advance.

My conclusion

You should test a shortlist of themes well before deciding on your favorite. Use the live data of your store and answer the following questions for yourself:

• Does the design match my products, especially the product images?
• Is the theme fast enough? See our tips on performance optimization. But also: Is your WordPress hosting fast enough? Special tariffs for WooCommerce will help you here.
• Is your online store easy to use? Are key elements easy to understand?
• Does the shopping cart work on all systems (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, Android)?
• Is mobile optimization consistently available for all important end devices?

Ideally, you should have important customers or acquaintances try out your new store design. This is the only way to discover central weaknesses that are detrimental to your conversion.

You can find more tips on WooCommerce in our 70+ page e-book WooCommerce for professionals. It is aimed at freelancers, agencies, WP professionals and beginners.