Shopify Brooklyn Theme Review

Is this free theme any good, or is it buggy and useless like many free themes?

I have reviewed many Shopify themes already, and I decided to write this honest Shopify Brooklyn theme review in order to help you know if this theme is any different, when to use it, and when to avoid it.

Without further ado, let’s jump in!

Brooklyn Theme Review Summary

• Name: Shopify Brooklyn Theme
• Website: www.themes.shopify.com/themes/brooklyn/styles/classic
• Founders: Shopify
• Quality & Support: 9 of 10
• Features & Ease of Use: 8.5 of 10
• Design & Flexibility: 8 of 10
• Value for Money: 10 of 10
• Testimonials: 9 of 10
• Price: $0.
• Recommended? Yes

Overall EcomCents.com Rating: 8.9 of 10

Summary: Brooklyn is a nice Shopify theme for small to medium catalog stores and brands, and it helps you create a clean store with clear CTA elements and some nice features that can help your store’s conversions.

3 Great Things I Like about Brooklyn Shopify Theme

Free themes are usually buggy and don’t get regular updates, but Brooklyn theme is a different theme for these main three reasons:

Brooklyn Was Created by Shopify itself

free theme that is created by the platform itself, Shopify.

What could be better?

This means that the theme gets regular updates in order to stay compliant with Shopify’s infrastructure and to keep your store functioning properly.

Brooklyn Has Some Useful Features

Most of free themes come with the very basic features, but Brooklyn by Shopify comes with some good features that can help your brand and your store’s conversions, as you will see below.

Brooklyn Is a Clean Theme That Focuses on The Product

Most third-party themes are noisy and full of bills and whistles that sometimes become distracting to the shopper.

But Brooklyn is a clean theme that focuses on the products with large images and videos and focuses on the experience, which helps in boosting conversions.

Top Brooklyn Theme Features to Help You Succeed

Buy-it-Now, Direct-to-Checkout Button

This button on the product page allows the customer to add the product to their cart and redirects them to the checkout page immediately in one click only.

This makes the purchasing journey shorter and faster, which helps in increasing conversions, like it is with the 1-click buy button on Amazon.

Large Images & Product Video

Video creates engagement on your Shopify store and shows the customer how the product works or looks in real life.

And along with large product images that show product details, this feature of Brooklyn helps in getting the shopper feel comfortable purchasing your products instead of going to look for reviews online and then buy it from somewhere else.

Slideout Cart

This Brooklyn Shopify theme feature allows the shopper to browse their cart and edit it without having to go to the actual cart page.

Simply, they click the cart icon on the top menu, and the cart will appear on the right side of the screen.

They can either edit it, close it to continue shopping, or go to the checkout page to complete their purchase.

Special Instructions Box

This feature, seen in the same screenshot above, allows the customer to give you specific instructions on their order without having to send a separate email that would get you confused and waste your time trying to find the associated order.

For example, if the buyer is buying your product as a gift to someone, they might want to ask you not to include a voucher in the box.

Newsletter Signup

Email marketing is an effective method of getting free traffic to your Shopify store, and it allows you to re-advertise to people who have visited your store and you know that they are your target audience.

And Brooklyn theme makes it easier for you to collect your store’s visitors’ emails by setting up a signup form where you invite them to join your list in exchange of a one-time discount or some perk.

Home Page Video

This Brooklyn feature helps in increasing the engagement on your store and in using the storytelling method for creating a connection between the visitor and your brand.

Image Slideshow

A nice feature that adds interaction on your Shopify store by allowing the visitor to slide through different images on the top of your store’s homepage, which also helps in branding and storytelling, like the previous feature.

Social Media Buttons

These social media buttons from Brooklyn theme exist on two places:

1. On product pages under the CTA buttons, to allow the shopper share the product they liked on their social media accounts, which gives your store free exposure and advertising.
2. On the button of any page in the footer, to link to your business’s social media accounts so that your audience follows you there, and you get to reach out to them later in order to keep theme loyal and buy from your store again.

Shopify Brooklyn Theme Styles & Demo Stores

Brooklyn theme for Shopify come with two built-in templates or styles that you can choose to add to your store, and then customize based on your brand and products.

This helps save you time and effort instead of starting from the scratch.

These two styles of Brooklyn theme are:

• Classic: Customized for stores selling apparel.
• Playful: Customized for stores selling sweats.

You can choose the template you want to explore from the Brooklyn download page on Shopify’s theme store, and click the “View Demo Store” to open a demo Shopify store with Brooklyn theme.

Brooklyn Theme Example Shopify Stores

There are many Shopify themes that use the Brooklyn theme, such as Boco.de that sells wines in the German market, and Valka Yoga Shop that sells yoga accessories.

I visited both stores, and they both look clean and professional, which is impressive when it comes to having a free Shopify theme installed on them.

Shopify Brooklyn Theme User Reviews

There are many user reviews on the Brooklyn theme from real Shopify store owners, and you can read them to see what they like or dislike about the theme.

Many are happy with the clean design and ease of use, while some complain about the functionality of the slideshow on mobile phones.

I have visited the demo stores and real stores that use the Brooklyn theme, and they all look professional and clean.

The overall rating of Brooklyn on the Shopify theme store is high compared to other free themes like Debut Shopify theme for example, which is also a great free theme.

Brooklyn Theme Price & Free Download

The Brooklyn Shopify theme is a free theme and you can download it anytime from Shopify’s theme store, and you get free updates with it.

Brooklyn is very good when it comes to the design and the available features, and especially because it was created, and is supported by Shopify itself, and it gets regular updates.

But in case that you want a theme that has more features, or more customizability in design, then the following section of this Brooklyn Shopify theme review is for you.

3 Top Alternatives to Brooklyn Theme for Shopify

Free Theme – Debutify

Debutify is a premium theme that costs a monthly payment if you want to get all of its add-on’s and features, but they have a free plan that offers some of the very useful features, and you can use is for as long as you want.

Check out my Debutify theme review in order to see where you can download the free version.

Paid with Free Updates – eCom Turbo by Franklin

This alternative costs some money, but you pay once, and you get lifetime updates for free.

It also comes with many sales-boosting features.

The disadvantage compared to Brooklyn theme is that it doesn’t have any built-in styles, but that’s not a big deal.

You can know more about this nice them in my eCom Turbo Shopify theme review.

#1 Brooklyn Them Alternative – Flex

The number one alternative to Brooklyn and all other Shopify themes is Flex theme from Out of the Sandbox.

It’s a bit pricey, but it is worth the money because it is created and maintained by a company that is owned by Shopify, which ensures the highest possible quality.

Also, it comes with fee lifetime updates, a 14-day money back guarantee, and more than 12 built-in styles to start with.

You can know more about this Brooklyn alternative in my Flex review and discount code.

Brooklyn Theme Pro’s & Con’s

Pros:

• Created by Shopify.
• Free updates.
• High rating compared to other free Shopify themes.
• Clean design that is brand-focused and product-focused.
• Has some useful features that can help your store’s success.
• Built-in styles to help you start faster.

Cons:

• No very customizable.
• Only few features are available.

Who Is Brooklyn Theme for?

Brooklyn theme can be a good choice for Shopify store owners who are getting started and want a clean theme that is easy to work with, with large imagery that focus on products and on the brand, with a minimal number of useful features.

Brooklyn Shopify Theme Support

The Brooklyn theme has some good documentation on how to work with it, and you can find it through the “Support and Documentation” tab on the download page on Shopify’s theme store.

Conclusion – Is The Brooklyn Theme Any Good?

Yes.

Brooklyn is a nice and clean free Shopify theme that is easy to use, and it has some basic features that can help boost sales and speak about your brand.

If this is what you are looking for, then go ahead and use it.

But if you are looking for a theme with more features or customizability, then the alternatives I mentioned earlier are for you.

I hope that my unbiased Shopify Brooklyn theme review was helpful and insightful for you.

If you have a question about anything I mentioned here, then please, feel free to ask me in the comments’ section below, and I will do my best to help you out 🙂

Sharing is caring!