What Media Shopify Stores Actually Use
The themes and apps of Media stores in our dataset of 3,500,000+ Shopify stores — from live scan data, refreshed daily.
Media Shopify stores in our dataset run a distinct mix of themes and apps. Below are the most-used themes, the most-installed apps, and the average app-stack size for Media stores — all from live storefront detection, not self-reported data.
Media stores by the numbers
Media is mostly books. Most of the stores here sell books, with magazines, printables and music filling out the rest, and their customers buy on content and recommendation rather than a product photo. A reader is choosing a story or an idea, so reviews, ratings and word of mouth carry more weight than they do almost anywhere else. It is also a launch-driven category. New releases, pre-orders and backlist promotion shape the calendar, and an author or publisher lives on a direct relationship with readers.
That shapes what these stores run. The themes below are clean and content-forward, built to make covers, blurbs and reviews easy to scan, and often paired with a landing-page builder for release and pre-order pages. The app stack leans hard on email and reviews, with subscription and bundle tools showing up more than a typical store. That matches book clubs, box sets and series that sell on repeat. Everything here is drawn from live detection across thousands of real media stores, not opinion, so it reflects what publishers and authors actually use to turn a reader's interest into a sale.
Reviews sell the story: Judge.me and Loox both rank near the top, because a reader buys on ratings and recommendation more than on a cover shot. Visible reviews and star ratings do the convincing a product photo cannot.
Email runs the launches: Klaviyo leads the stack by a wide margin, reflecting how much book selling runs on newsletters, pre-orders and release-day pushes. The direct list to readers is the most valuable asset an author or publisher builds.
Built for clubs and box sets: Subscription and bundle tools rank higher here than average, matching book clubs, series box sets and subscription boxes. Much of the category sells on repeat rather than a one-time buy.
Landing pages carry the release: Page builders like GemPages and PageFly show up strongly, because a new title or pre-order often needs a dedicated launch page that the standard product template cannot give it.
Most popular Shopify themes for media stores
| # | Theme | % of stores | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dawn |
16.5% | |
| 2 | Shrine PRO |
7.5% | |
| 3 | Horizon |
6.6% | |
| 4 | Prestige |
2.8% | |
| 5 | Impact |
2.8% | |
| 6 | Elixir |
1.9% | |
| 7 | Impulse |
1.9% | |
| 8 | Refresh |
1.8% | |
| 9 | Sense |
1.6% | |
| 10 | Shrine |
1.5% |
Most installed Shopify apps on media stores
| # | App | % of stores | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Klaviyo
Email Marketing |
40.8% | |
| 2 |
 Judge.me Product Reviews App
Product reviews |
32.3% | |
| 3 |
 Loox ‑ Product Reviews App
Product reviews |
27.3% | |
| 4 |
 Countdown Timer
Countdown timer |
17.9% | |
| 5 |
 Recharge
Subscriptions |
17.7% | |
| 6 |
 Yotpo
Product reviews |
14.4% | |
| 7 |
 Kaching Bundles
Product bundles |
12.9% | |
| 8 |
 Triplewhale
Analytics |
12.4% | |
| 9 |
 GemPages Landing Page Builder
Page builder |
10.9% | |
| 10 |
 Rebuy Personalization Engine
Checkout - Other |
10.3% |
What media stores sell
- Books 73.1%
- Magazines & Newspapers 6.4%
- Printables 4.3%
- Music & Sound Recordings 1.3%
- Videos 1.1%
- Online Courses 0.5%
- Sheet Music 0%
How media stores operate
- Subscription 19%
- Multichannel & Marketplaces 4.7%
- Dropshipping 4.3%
- Print on Demand 3.8%
- Wholesale / B2B 2.9%
How this data works
Every figure comes from live detection: we scan Shopify storefronts, read the theme and apps each one actually runs, and classify the store by product category and business model. We report what is currently detected, not historical installs or Theme Store download counts.
Independent by design: rankings are determined solely by live detection data. Affiliate relationships never affect what ranks or how stores are counted. Read the full methodology →
