The Benefits of Starting Custom Shopify Development with a Base Theme
When it comes to customizing your online Shopify store, starting with a base theme can be a strategic choice that saves time, effort, and resources. In this blog post, we'll explore the benefits of beginning your custom Shopify development project with a base theme.
Time & Development Efficiency: Utilizing a base theme as a starting point for custom development allows you to leverage pre-built components, layout structures and styling. This foundation significantly reduces the time required to set up your store's basic structure, since you don't have to start from scratch. By minimizing the initial development phase, you can spend more time refining and enhancing the unique aspects of your store.
Cost-Effectiveness: Building a custom Shopify theme from scratch is typically more complex and costly since it involves extensive coding and design work. However, by starting with a base theme, you can save on development (and design) costs. Base themes often come equipped with a range of standard features and functionalities, reducing the need for extensive custom coding. This approach allows you to allocate your budget towards more specialized customization tailored to your brand's unique requirements.
Leveraging those pre-built components is important. Starting with a base theme will give you many options (via content sections) that might later come in handy when you're ready to extend your site. We've had many conversations with clients who were on scratch built custom themes who wanted to know why their development hadn't included a certain feature. We told them they probably hadn't asked for it and it wasn't anticipated. It's like giving someone a picture and asking them to build you a specific car. They may build the car exactly to your specifications, but did you specify everything? Do the windows roll down?
Flexibility and Customizability: Although you're starting with a base theme, it doesn't mean your store will lack originality. If you want to keep it simple, base themes are designed to be flexible and highly customizable, enabling you to mold them according to your brand's aesthetics and requirements. You can customize the layout, color scheme, typography, and more, giving your store a distinct look and feel that aligns with your brand identity. The flexibility offered by base themes empowers you to create a truly unique and personalized shopping experience for your customers.
If your needs are more complex and you're truly using the theme as a jumping off point for more custom development, it will give you a terrific foundation for customizing features that are important to you or your brand.
Stability and Reliability: Themes available in the Shopify Theme Store undergo rigorous testing and follow best practices, ensuring stability and reliability. These themes are built to be responsive and optimized for different devices, delivering a seamless browsing experience across desktops, tablets, and smartphones. We only recommend using Shopify themes that are vetted and available from the Shopify Theme Store.
Beginning your custom Shopify development with a base theme provides numerous benefits, including time efficiency, cost-effectiveness, flexibility, stability, and ongoing support. It allows you to build a unique online store while saving resources and ensuring a reliable foundation. Whether you're a small business owner or an established e-commerce brand, starting with a base theme sets you on the path to a highly customized Shopify store that meets your specific needs.
At Free State, we're happy to help clients small and large with their theme needs. For those that want something simple, we can help with theme selection, set up and training. For those with more complex requirements, we can assist with creating a functionality matrix, selecting a base theme as a foundation and then custom developing exactly what is needed so the site does precisely what they want.
