How to Use a Third Party Theme on Shopify

There are a few disadvantages to third party themes. However, many of them are very minor. One to look out for is the support that is given to your website. Shopify won’t support any problems with the theme that has not been bought through the Shopify theme store. If you’re not technically minded and don’t have good support from the developer, this can cause a problem.

While third-party themes can offer unique benefits, they may come with some risks. According to Shopify theme statistics, only 0.97% of Shopify users have a custom theme. This low percentage might be due to the fact that themes not sold on Shopify require more trust in the developers to maintain security and can be more challenging to install. However, these third-party themes often come with more features, which can potentially save store owners thousands of dollars per month on apps.

Adding a third party theme to your Shopify store is relatively easy. Here are the instructions.

Log into your Shopify store using your credentials.

From your admin area, go to the ‘Online Store’ option and then click on the ‘Themes’ option. This is also where you can check what Shopify theme you’re currently using, which can be helpful if you’re considering a change.

In the ‘Theme Library’ section, you need to find and click on the ‘Upload Theme’ option. This will allow you to select the ‘Choose File’ and then you need to find the .zip file of the theme on your computer or another storage device. When found, click on the ‘Upload’ button and it will be saved onto your store and added to the ‘Themes’ page.

After uploading, you’ll have the option to preview the new theme before making it live. This is an important step in the process to change a Shopify theme, allowing you to ensure everything looks and functions as expected before applying it to your live store.