The Narrative theme is one that comes with three versions.
What sets it apart from the rest of the free themes from Shopify is that you can use videos for your sliders.
It is called Narrative because the theme was designed to tell a story.
All three versions allow you to put a lot of huge photos on several sections of your home page.
This design is great if the products you sell are visually appealing because you can build a series of photos that highlight your brand and products.
What Is The Narrative Theme?
The three versions of the narrative theme are Warm, Light, and Cold. Although they have feature similarities, there are slight differences that you cannot find in other versions.
For all three styles, the name of your brand is in the upper middle section of the home page. On the left is a menu button, and on the right is a shopping cart. All three styles have a slider that occupies the entire width of the screen.
Warm Theme Style
This style does not let you upload a video on the slider. However, you can put a carousel of menus on the slider itself.
Whenever a website visitor clicks on that menu, he will have the option to explore that page. The carousel, however, does not rotate on its own. A customer has to swipe them.
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Below the slider, you can place a photo with text. This is best used to highlight what you offer, or what your business is about. Put a picture there, like coffee beans, and then provide an explanation of why they are the best beans out there.
You can also place a product here, such as the newest in your collection, but you cannot put a price that automatically changes as you adjust your price ranges in your admin page. It also will not reflect any sale or discount unless you type it manually.
Below this is a section where you can embed a video. Upon clicking, this video will occupy the customer’s entire screen and play, and then it will go back to its original position after the customer starts scrolling again.
This is followed by more photos, and finally, a section where one side is made of scrollable pictures.
Light Theme Style
In this style, you can put a video on the slider, which will automatically play again and again. In that video slider, you can place a button that will take a customer to a page that you want. You can also put a permanent text on top of this video.
Below this is a series of sections where you can upload more photos and texts like the one in the Warm style. In some sections, you can add button on the text area.
It also has a section where the right side is scrollable.
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Cold Theme Style
The cold theme is similar to the Light theme in terms of slider capabilities, but the photo with the text occupies the entire width of the screen.
Pretty much, the rest of the home page is made of sections where you can put photos, but there is a part here where you can upload collections.
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Shopify Narrative Theme Features
Unlike other themes, this one is built for small businesses that sell only a few products. It is best used by entrepreneurs who are selling less than ten items.
The Narrative theme was designed to feature a product and highlight all of its benefits and features on a single page. This is not to say that you cannot add more. You can, but it is best for single products that are meant to make a difference.
For example, if you invented a new exercise gadget, then the Narrative theme is probably the best theme if you want to build a Shopify store.
Here are the features of the theme.
Hero Video
This is the section where you can upload a video that consistently plays on top of your page. It is programmed to play in wide mode, so it is also great for viewing in mobile devices.
Visual Storytelling
The design was made to slowly take your customers from start to finish of a demonstration. If you are selling bikes, you can use the different sections to upload a zoomed picture of the bike’s parts, and then say something about each of them.
Fixed Navigation
There is a menu button on the upper left side of the home page. All the styles have this, and you can only put the navigation links or buttons there. You cannot put them in the middle area or the bottom area.
Vertical Slideshow
This is the bottom part of the home page where the left side is a big picture, and at the right side of that, customers can scroll through several products. If they like one, they just have to click on the View button, and they will be taken to that product page.
Wide Layout
Most, if not all of the photos, take the entire screen space. Some themes do not let you do this, and you can only put small photos on them.
Benefits When Using The Narrative Theme
Apart from the features, Shopify included some things that will make your site better and a lot more functional.
Here are the benefits of using the theme.
Custom Content
If there are some sections on the home page that you do not like, you can remove them. For example, you can choose to remove some photo areas that have text beside them.
Mobile-Friendly
If a customer visits your store using a mobile device, the page will automatically change into a mobile-compatible website. Customers will have an easy time navigating your site and will be more likely to buy.
Footer and Social Media
The theme lets you create a footer page where you can add links to important documents such as your terms of service, refund policy, and others.
In your admin panel, you can add your social media links. On the web site, the customer can launch your social media site by clicking any of the icons at the bottom of the screen.
Since they are launching your social media page while they are logged in to their account, they can also share your page with their friends.
The footer area also allows you to activate an email subscription. If you can convince your customers to give you their email address, you can send them marketing materials to increase your sales.
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Free Photos
Since the theme was made to show a lot of photos, you will have access to free pictures from Shopify’s partner, Burst. Here, you can download as many professional photos as you want, and use them in your store.
Blog
You can have a blog page where you can upload helpful tips for your consumers. You can also use this blog to write about things that will boost your online presence and increase your web traffic.
A bog page is an important part of a business because search engines like to index pages that are rich in content. Make sure you use this for search engine optimization, or for adding value to your customer’s experience.
Final Thoughts On The Narrative Theme Review
The theme is currently at a 73% rating. This is pretty high compared to other Shopify themes.
We will rate it 4.5 out of 5 stars. It is functional, and there are very few issues that customers complain about. The only common complaint is that the image is cropped on mobile devices.
If you use this site, you will have a store that really looks professional. The design kind of reminds us of the first website where the iPhone or Mac was sold.
The web page has very minimal clutter. Everything that you place on this website is important as if every part of it is convincing the customer to may a purchase.