Bringing a Splash of Shein to Our Shopify: Revamping Categories for Mobile Magic

There it was, that intriguing digital marketplace conundrum staring us down like the final boss in a retro video game. Our Shopify store's layout: a maze of multicolumn madness and pagination puzzles, bearing only a distant resemblance to the smooth, scrollable style of Shein. Ah, the thrilling adventure of online store design, reminiscent of the time we decided to reorganize our closets and ended up finding that lost sock—and, just like that sock, our solution was waiting to be unraveled.

Why, you might ask? Because like that sock, it was hiding in plain sight, requiring just a touch of reimagining and inspiration from Shein’s mobile-first ethos. So grab your coffee—and maybe that stray sock—as we dive into this tapestry of tech, craft, and gentle chaos.

1. Setting the Scene: Our Mission to Modify

Just last week, as we sipped lukewarm coffee contemplating our website’s layout, we knew something had to change. We longed for our categories to pop like Shein’s do—a sleek five-column layout sans the endless pagination drag. More scroll, less click, right? That's the modern mantra. But our inner webmaster was tangled in dilemmas of divs and CSS. We had to find a way, and oh, did we find it—a solution that’s as satisfying as solving a complex puzzle.

Navigation Over Pagination

Our journey began with the might of adjusting the Shopify multicolumn section. To see the shift in motion, we followed these guiding stars.

{% comment %}
  This was all about tweaking that multicolumn grid.
{% endcomment %}
{% schema %}
  {
    "name": "Multicolumn",
    "settings": [
      {
        "type": "number",
        "id": "columns",
        "label": "Columns",
        "default": 5,
        "min": 1,
        "max": 5
      }
    ]
  }
{% endschema %}

This simple snippet did wonder. We upped our columns, granting our shop the spatial splendor it so rightly deserved. No more drudging through endless pages; instead, a graceful glide across our virtual fashion lineup.

2. Crafting the Smooth Slide: Swipe Left, Right, Repeat

As our multicolumn strategy blossomed, the slide sans pagination beckoned us. We envisioned a world where users swipe through categories, their navigation unencumbered by relentless page numbers—the digital equivalent of an endless library conveyor belt. With a touch of creativity and code, we made it happen.

.slider {
  display: flex;
  overflow-x: auto;
  scroll-snap-type: x mandatory;
  -webkit-overflow-scrolling: touch;
}

.slide {
  scroll-snap-align: start;
  flex: 0 0 auto;
  width: calc(100% / 5);
}

With this CSS wizardry—and more than a few adjustments to get it just so—our store morphed into a swipeable sanctuary. The endearing imperfection of human craftsmanship met the sharp precision of digital design.

3. Keeping It Mobile: Less Desktop, More Pocket-Sized Perfection

Remembering Tommy from accounting—that time he tried to use our site on his phone and accidentally bought a year’s supply of assorted socks—that’s why we steered hard into mobile optimization. Less double tapping, more double-tapping? You get it.

Here, we ensured our sliders were kinder to smaller screens without sacrificing style. Chunky thumbs need their space, too, you know!

@media only screen and (max-width: 600px) {
  .slide {
    width: calc(100% / 2.5);
  }
}

This tweak ensured that those perusing on smaller devices felt every bit as swanky as if they were browsing Shein in a king-size bed of ecommerce delight.

4. The Shein-Inspired Epilogue

Together, we embarked on a quest—an expedition of sorts—into the depths of Shopify's multicolumn settings and CSS intricacies. We emerged not only with a visually pleasing and user-friendly store redesign, but with the digital equivalent of a high-five from our inner design geek.

In revamping our store with that sprinkle of Shein flair, we didn't just settle for what was—we reimagined what could be. And that, dear reader, feels just like reuniting a long-lost sock with its partner: ever so right. Let’s raise our mugs or mismatched socks, or whatever floats your style, to more such adventures in digital wonderland. Cheers!