The hero section is the single piece of content on your store that every visitor sees, without exception — before they scroll, before they browse, before they've read a single word of copy. Research consistently shows that users form a visual impression of a website in under 50 milliseconds, and for ecommerce stores that impression almost always comes from the hero. What your hero communicates in that window — your brand quality, your product category, your value proposition — directly influences whether a visitor engages or bounces.
The problem is that Shopify's default hero options across most themes are severely limited. The standard "Image Banner" section gives you a full-width image, a heading, a subheading, and a button. That's it. Want a split layout with product imagery on one side and copy on the other? Not available. A centred minimal layout with a lifestyle photo? Locked behind layout constraints. Separate images for mobile and desktop so your banner doesn't awkwardly crop on phones? Only available in a handful of themes, and rarely customisable without touching code.
Merchants who want a hero section that actually reflects their brand — rather than a generic banner that looks identical to every other Dawn-theme store — are routinely left with two options: hire a developer, or accept the limitation. Section Store is a third option, and it's considerably faster and cheaper than either.
HOW TO ADD A CUSTOM HERO SECTION TO YOUR SHOPIFY STORE
Follow these simple steps to install and customise a custom hero Section on your Shopify store using Section Store.
Install the Section Store App
If you haven't already, install the Section Store app from the Shopify App Store. It's free to install — you only pay $9 for each Section you choose to add to your store.
Browse the Hero Section Library
Inside the app, search for "Hero" to explore the full library of over 50 designs. You'll find everything from full-bleed cinematic layouts and split image-and-text designs to minimal centred compositions and slideshow-style multi-panel heroes.
Purchase Your Chosen Section
Click on the hero Section design that fits your brand and complete the one-time $9 purchase. It's yours permanently — no subscription, no renewal — and you can install it across multiple themes within your store without paying again.
Install the Section to Your Theme
Navigate to My Sections within the Section Store app. Click the Install button next to your chosen hero Section and select the theme you'd like to add it to. Section Store installs the .liquid file directly into your theme — no code copying, no file editing, no risk of breaking anything.
Open the Shopify Theme Editor
In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes and click Customize on your live theme to open the Theme Editor.
Navigate to Your Homepage
Use the page selector at the top of the Theme Editor to make sure you're viewing your homepage template. This is where your hero Section will sit — at the very top of the page, above everything else.
Add Your New Hero Section
Click Add Section in the left-hand sidebar and search for "ss - Hero". Your purchased Section will appear in the results — all Section Store Sections are prefixed with "SS" (for example, "ss - Hero #24"), making them easy to identify. Click it to add it to the page.
Move It to the Top of the Page
Drag your new hero Section to the very top of the section list in the sidebar so it sits in the first position on the page. You can also use the eye icon to hide your theme's existing default image banner section rather than deleting it — this lets you switch back easily if needed.
Customise Your Hero Content
Click on the Section in the sidebar to open its settings. Upload your hero image — ideally at least 1920px wide for desktop clarity — and add a separate mobile image if your design supports it (all Section Store hero Sections do, which eliminates the awkward cropping issue common with default theme banners). Set your heading, subheading, button label, and button link. Adjust colours, text alignment, and overlay settings directly in the Theme Editor. Changes preview live as you make them.
Check Mobile and Save
Before saving, toggle the preview to mobile view using the device icon at the top of the Theme Editor. Confirm your hero looks clean on smaller screens — text is readable, the image isn't cropped in a distracting way, and the CTA button is large enough to tap comfortably. When you're satisfied, click Save to make it live.
WHO IS THIS MOST USEFUL FOR?
A custom hero Section makes the biggest difference for stores where visual brand presentation has a direct impact on purchase intent. Fashion, beauty, homeware, and lifestyle brands all fall into this category — categories where a shopper's first reaction to the aesthetic of a store tells them whether this is a brand they'd buy from before they've even read the product titles. It's also particularly valuable for newer stores that are still establishing brand credibility and need every element of their storefront working as hard as possible.
If you've recently switched Shopify themes and found that your new theme's default banner doesn't match the look you had before, a $9 Section is a significantly faster fix than rebuilding the whole page design around an existing template. Browse all 50+ hero Section designs alongside 730+ other Sections at Section Store — one-time purchase, works on all Online Store 2.0 themes, fully customisable in the Shopify Theme Editor.
