With 80 premium WordPress templates currently in the company’s catalog, Elegant Themes founder Nick Roach has gone a long way to prove that a yearly, all-inclusive membership plan can work in an open WordPress theme marketplace. There are more than 160,000 subscribers to the service (which costs $39 per year for access to all 80 themes); a number that grows by several thousand each month.
StyleShop For e-Commerce Sites
Plans for theme #81, called StyleShop, are now underway. The new offering will focus on the needs of online retail sites. In a January 23rd blog post, the Elegant Themes CEO announced the upcoming premium download and requested feedback.
“We have a shiny new theme sneak-peek for you today,” Roach exclaimed. “It has been quite a while since we released our last eCommerce theme, and I am excited to start working on what I hope to be our best one yet. WooCommerce integration, responsive design and a sleek, refined style are just a few of the things you can expect from StyleShop. I am hope that you like what you see in the preview.”
Why e-Commerce?
Now that WordPress developers have moved well beyond blogging and discovered pre-designed methods for taking care of very specific needs, setting up a virtual Point of Sale no longer requires weeks of expert coding and thousands of dollars of programming talent. Online storefront templates nowadays come ready-made and only require content insertion in order to come to life. This has predictably resulted in more e-Commerce sites becoming profitable as the back-end maintenance time is reduced.
There is also the WooCommerce Management System equation. For more than a year, the signature software behind WooThemes has become a staple in the community while the site itself has evolved into the “go to” destination for those looking to utilize a well-rounded e-Commerce template.
StyleShop by Elegant Themes will be fully integrated with the WooCommerce plugin, which means Shopping Cart capabilities, Features & Testimonials modules, and well laid out merchandise category pages are guaranteed.
Unique, Responsive Design
The new StyleShop theme will come with a responsive design which will automatically modify the form of your website’s content in accordance with each visitor’s screen size. Regardless of whether a page is being viewed from a large desktop monitor or smart phone, front-end users will be able to enjoy the experience without excessive thumb-scrolling and pinching.
Taking a closer look at the pages that were revealed in the recent Elegant Themes blog entry, we can determine that the homepage will boast at least two optional rotating modules beginning with the Featured Content Slider located just below the navigational region.
There will also be an option to include your Merchandise Feed on the homepage and split them up into four column categorized layouts that will allow webmasters to promote “New,” “Hot,” “On Sale,” and “Most Popular” items.
Elegant Themes Member Feedback
As of late Friday morning Eastern Time, the official StyleShop Sneak Peek blog entry has received 156 Facebook Likes, 97 Tweets, and 85 Comments. The first reply was posted by user Jessie who typed, “This theme looks amazing! My friend has been looking to create an eCommerce page for his clothing store and I will definitely have him take a look at this theme before he goes another route. Thanks elegant themes you guys rock.”
StyleShop WordPress Theme Review
Luke added that he “really can’t wait for this theme. Love your work and support so far and this e-commerce theme will come in really useful. Nick and time are definitely the best value for money on the market at the moment.”
Chris remarked that “it would be great when it will be possible to use your ecommerce themes with the wpShopGermany-plugin. Why this plugin? Because it is the common plugin which one can use in Germany (perhaps Europe) without working against the law.”
Although no exact date has been set for the official release of StyleShop, most Elegant Themes templates are released 2-4 weeks after their “Sneak Peek” is posted.
