Shopify Plus Stores Design: 7+ Best Practices In 2025

As eCommerce continues to evolve, brands looking to scale and maintain enterprise-level storefronts increasingly turn to Shopify Plus — the premium Shopify plan designed for high-volume merchants. But having the right subscription is only one part of success. A well-crafted Shopify Plus store design is essential to enhancing user experience, boosting conversions, and supporting brand identity.

This guide explores what Shopify Plus store design entails, why it matters, and the best practices every store owner should implement in 2025 to stay competitive.

What Is Shopify Plus Stores Design?

Shopify Plus is an advanced version of Shopify designed for fast-growing businesses that require more flexibility, scalability, and support. It's built for brands handling high sales volumes, typically with $1M+ in annual revenue. The platform's tiered pricing is based on a business's size and revenue, with plans starting at approximately $2,300 per month for a 3-year term. Unlike standard plans, Shopify Plus allows for significant customization of the checkout process, multi-channel selling, and advanced analytics.

Examples of successful Shopify Plus stores include well-known brands like Allbirds, Brooklinen, and Gymshark. These businesses leverage Shopify Plus's capabilities to handle millions of visitors during peak sales events, expand into new markets with multiple expansion stores, and create unique, branded shopping experiences that boost customer engagement and loyalty.

Why Shopify Plus Store Design Matters

A well-designed Shopify Plus store offers a range of key benefits that directly impact a business's performance:

• Enhanced Customer Experience: A clean, intuitive design makes it easy for customers to navigate, find products, and complete their purchases, leading to higher satisfaction and repeat business.

• Increased Conversion Rates: A strategic design, with clear calls-to-action and a frictionless checkout process, can significantly increase the percentage of visitors who make a purchase.

• Stronger Brand Identity: A custom design allows a brand to express its unique personality through its website, building a cohesive and memorable online presence that resonates with its target audience.

• Improved Scalability and Performance: The design, when built on a solid Shopify Plus foundation, can handle high traffic and large product catalogs without compromising on speed or user experience. This is crucial during major sales events.

One example of a theme's implementation is using a premium, customizable theme that allows for deep modifications. With access to Liquid code and APIs, Shopify Plus users can alter layouts, add custom features, and create a shopping experience that perfectly aligns with their brand.

7+ Best Practices To An Attractive Shopify Plus Stores Design

Prioritize Mobile-First Design

Mobile-first design means designing the Shopify Plus store primarily for mobile devices before scaling up to desktop. With over 70% of eCommerce traffic projected to come from smartphones and tablets in 2025, this approach is critical for success. 

A truly mobile-first approach goes beyond simply making a website responsive; it means crafting the user experience, content, and functionality for a small screen first, and then scaling up for larger devices.

For a Shopify Plus store, this involves several key considerations:

• Responsive Layout: The store's layout must fluidly adapt to different screen sizes. This means using a grid-based system where elements stack or resize proportionally to ensure readability and usability.

• Touch-Friendly Elements: Buttons, links, and forms should be large enough and have enough spacing to be easily tapped with a finger, preventing misclicks.

• Simplified Navigation: Mobile screens have limited space. Condense your navigation menu into a "hamburger" or similar icon to save screen real estate. The mobile menu should be clear, concise, and easy to access from any page.

• Optimized Images: Mobile devices have varying network speeds. Use compressed, optimized images to ensure fast loading times without sacrificing quality. Shopify Plus themes and apps can often handle this automatically.

• One-Handed Usability: Design your site with one-handed use in mind. Place crucial elements like the "Add to Cart" button or search bar within easy reach of the thumb, typically at the bottom or sides of the screen.

Use High-Quality Visuals and Product Photography

Visuals are the lifeblood of an e-commerce store. They are your primary tool for convincing customers to buy your products. High-quality visuals, including product photos, videos, and lifestyle imagery, are essential for a Shopify Plus store because they create a professional, trustworthy, and engaging brand image.

• Professional Product Photography: Invest in professional, high-resolution photos that showcase your products from multiple angles. This includes clear, well-lit shots on a clean background, as well as close-ups that highlight textures and details.

• Lifestyle Imagery: Don't just show the product; show it in use. Lifestyle shots help customers visualize how the product will fit into their lives, creating an emotional connection and increasing its perceived value.

• 360-Degree Views and Videos: For products where detail is crucial, consider using 360-degree spins or short product videos. This provides a more immersive experience, answering questions customers might have about the product without them having to ask.

• Consistent Visuals: Maintain a consistent style, color scheme, and lighting across all your product visuals. This helps build a cohesive brand identity and makes your store feel more professional and curated.

Simplify Navigation for Better User Experience

A user-friendly navigation system is the backbone of a successful e-commerce store. If customers can't easily find what they're looking for, they will quickly leave. Simplifying navigation on a Shopify Plus store means creating a logical, intuitive path for every user, regardless of their browsing habits.

• Logical Categories: Group your products into clear, descriptive categories. Avoid jargon or overly technical terms. Think about how your customers search for products and structure your categories accordingly.

• Intuitive Menus: Your main menu should be easily accessible from every page and should clearly guide users through your product hierarchy. For large catalogs, consider using a mega menu with subcategories and links to key pages.

• Breadcrumbs: Implement a breadcrumb trail on product and collection pages. This helps users understand their location within the site and makes it easy for them to navigate back to previous categories.

• Clear Calls-to-Action (CTAs): Use clear, action-oriented text on buttons like "Shop Now," "Add to Cart," and "Checkout." The design and placement of these buttons should make them stand out and guide the user toward the next step in their journey.

Create a Clean and Consistent Layout

A clean and consistent design layout is crucial for building trust and a strong brand identity. A cluttered or inconsistent website can confuse visitors and make your business appear unprofessional. A well-organized layout on a Shopify Plus store helps visitors focus on the products and information that matter most.

• White Space: Use ample white space (or negative space) to break up content and make your design feel less cluttered. White space improves readability and helps guide the user's eye to important elements.

• Grid System: Use a consistent grid system to align all your design elements. This creates a sense of order and balance, making your store look more professional and visually appealing.

• Consistent Typography and Color Palette: Choose a primary font and a few accent fonts, and stick to a defined color palette. Consistency in these elements reinforces your brand identity and makes your site feel cohesive.

• Standardized Elements: Ensure that elements like product cards, buttons, and banners look and behave the same way across all pages. This reduces cognitive load for the user and creates a predictable and comfortable browsing experience.

Implement Fast Load Times and Performance Optimization

Website speed is a critical factor for both user experience and search engine optimization (SEO). A slow-loading website frustrates users, leads to higher bounce rates, and can negatively impact your search rankings. Shopify Plus offers a high-performance infrastructure, but you still need to optimize your store's design and assets to take full advantage of it.

• Optimize Images: This is the biggest factor affecting page speed. Use tools to compress images without significant loss of quality. Use formats like WebP where possible.

• Minimize App Usage: While Shopify apps are powerful, having too many can slow down your site. Audit your apps regularly and remove any that are not essential.

• Clean Up Code: For custom themes, ensure your code is clean and efficient. Remove unnecessary scripts and use asynchronous loading for non-critical elements.

• Leverage a Content Delivery Network (CDN): Shopify Plus automatically uses a CDN, which stores copies of your site's content on servers around the world. This ensures that users are served content from a server closest to their location, dramatically reducing load times.

Showcase Social Proof and Reviews

In the modern e-commerce world, consumers trust other consumers more than they trust brands. Social proof, in the form of reviews, ratings, and testimonials, is a powerful tool for building credibility and encouraging conversions.

• Display Product Reviews Prominently: Feature star ratings and written reviews on product pages. This helps potential customers make informed decisions and reduces their hesitation.

• Highlight Testimonials: Use a dedicated section on your homepage or a dedicated page to showcase glowing testimonials from satisfied customers.

• Integrate User-Generated Content (UGC): Encourage customers to share photos of your products on social media using a specific hashtag. Use an app to pull these posts and display them on your product pages or a dedicated gallery.

• Show Trust Badges: Display trust badges and security seals (e.g., SSL certificate, secure payment icons) in the footer and during the checkout process to reassure customers that their information is safe.

Use Customizable and Scalable Themes

The right theme is the foundation of your Shopify Plus store's design. While standard Shopify themes are great for basic stores, Shopify Plus demands a theme that is both highly customizable and scalable to support enterprise-level operations.

• Premium Themes: Invest in a premium theme from a reputable developer. These themes are often better coded, more customizable, and come with dedicated support.

• Headless Commerce: For ultimate flexibility and scalability, Shopify Plus supports headless commerce. This separates the front-end (what the customer sees) from the back-end (Shopify's platform). This allows you to build a completely custom front-end with technologies like React or Vue, providing a truly unique and highly optimized experience.

• Built for Performance: Choose a theme that is optimized for speed and performance from the start. Look for themes with good reviews regarding load times and mobile responsiveness.

Incorporate Smart Search and Filtering Options

For stores with large and diverse product catalogs, a basic search bar won't cut it. Customers need to be able to quickly and accurately find exactly what they're looking for without endless scrolling.

• Live Search (Search-as-you-type): As a user types in the search bar, provide instant suggestions and results. This saves time and guides the user toward the right product.

• Advanced Filtering: Allow customers to filter products by multiple attributes, such as color, size, material, price range, and brand. The filtering options should be intuitive and easy to use.

• Synonym and Typo Tolerance: Your search function should be smart enough to understand common synonyms and misspellings. For example, a search for "sneakers" should also return results for "running shoes" and "trainers."

Align Design With Brand Storytelling

Your Shopify Plus store is an opportunity to tell your brand's story. The design should not just be about aesthetics; it should communicate your mission, values, and unique identity.

• Visual Narrative: Use your hero images, banner graphics, and lifestyle shots to create a visual narrative. For example, if your brand is eco-friendly, use natural colors and images of your products in a natural setting.

• Brand Voice in Copy: The language used in product descriptions, about us pages, and marketing copy should reflect your brand's voice—whether it's playful, professional, or inspirational.

• "About Us" Page: Dedicate a well-designed page to your brand's story. Tell customers who you are, what you stand for, and what makes your products special. This builds a deeper connection with your audience.

Optimize Checkout Flow for Conversions

The checkout process is the final and most critical stage of the customer journey. Even the most beautifully designed store can fail if the checkout is complicated or confusing. With Shopify Plus, you have unprecedented control over this process.

• Single-Page Checkout: Streamline the checkout process by putting all the necessary fields on a single page. This reduces the number of clicks and steps required to complete a purchase.

• Progress Indicators: Use a progress bar or other visual cues to show customers where they are in the checkout process. This helps them feel in control and reduces the likelihood of them abandoning their cart.

• Guest Checkout: Always offer a guest checkout option. Forcing customers to create an account before they can purchase can lead to a significant number of abandoned carts.

• Multiple Payment Options: Provide a variety of payment options, including major credit cards, digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, and buy-now-pay-later services like Affirm or Klarna.

• Clear Shipping and Tax Information: Be transparent about shipping costs and taxes early in the checkout process. Hidden fees are a major cause of cart abandonment.

Conclusion

A well-designed Shopify Plus store is a powerful asset for any enterprise-level business. By focusing on mobile-first design, high-quality visuals, and a seamless user experience, brands can create a digital storefront that not only looks great but also drives significant growth and revenue. The right design, combined with Shopify Plus's robust features, can truly set a business apart in the competitive e-commerce landscape.

Frequently Asked Questions