What Is Shopify 2.0 (Online Store 2.0)?

Who it is for

Store owners on older themes

Time needed

4 minutes to read

What you need

Access to your theme editor

Shopify Online Store 2.0, usually shortened to Shopify 2.0, is the theme architecture Shopify announced at Shopify Unite 2021. It lets merchants add and reorder sections on almost every page, connect custom data to theme settings, and add apps as blocks, all from the theme editor and without editing code.

It isn't a new plan or a separate version of Shopify. It is a way themes are built. I still meet stores on vintage themes that miss out on all of it. The details below were checked on shopify.dev on 7 November 2026.

How Online Store 2.0 works

Everything rests on JSON templates. In a vintage theme, a page type such as the product page was one Liquid file with the layout written into it. In a 2.0 theme, the template is a JSON file that only lists which sections appear and in what order:

{
  "sections": {
    "main": {
      "type": "product",
      "settings": { "show_vendor": true }
    },
    "recommendations": {
      "type": "product-recommendations"
    }
  },
  "order": ["main", "recommendations"]
}

When you drag a section in the theme editor, Shopify rewrites this file for you. The design code lives in the section files, written in Liquid. A JSON template can render up to 25 sections, each section can hold up to 50 blocks, and a theme can have up to 1,000 JSON templates.

What changed from vintage themes

The app change matters as much as the layout change. With app blocks, an app's content sits in a section like any other block, and when you uninstall the app its code goes with it. Dynamic sources let you link a text or image setting to a metafield, so each product can show its own care guide in the same section.

How to tell if your theme is 2.0

1. Open the theme editor. Go to Online Store > Themes and click Customize.
2. Switch to a product page using the page selector at the top.
3. Look for Add section. If you can add sections to the product template, the theme is 2.0. If you can only edit fixed settings there, it is probably vintage.

Developers can check in Edit code: a templates/product.json file means 2.0, while templates/product.liquid points to a vintage theme. The free Shopify theme detector tells you which theme any store runs.

When a store owner needs to care

• You want different layouts for different products, using alternate templates.
• You add and remove apps often and want a clean theme.
• You plan to use metafields or metaobjects for product details.
• Your theme is no longer updated by its developer.

Shopify says upgrading is optional, and a vintage theme that meets your needs can stay. Moving to 2.0 means migrating the theme, converting Liquid templates to JSON and moving code into sections, or switching to a newer theme.

Common misconceptions

• "Shopify 2.0 is a new plan." It is a theme architecture. It works on every plan.
• "Updating my theme upgrades it to 2.0." A vintage theme stays vintage. You need a 2.0 version of the theme, and customizations don't carry over on their own.
• "2.0 themes are always faster." The architecture helps, but speed still depends on images, apps and code quality.

Related terms

• JSON template: a template file that lists sections and their settings.
• App blocks: app content merchants add to sections in the editor.
• Theme app extension: the part of an app that provides app blocks and app embeds.
• Vintage theme: Shopify's name for themes built before Online Store 2.0.

What to do next

1. Check your theme with the three steps above.
2. Learn what sections can do in my guide to Online Store 2.0 sections.
3. Plan a move if you're on vintage: list the customizations and apps you rely on first.
4. Get help with the switch. Store design and development starts from $300, and every project gets a fixed quote after a free review.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Online Store 2.0, Shopify.dev
2. JSON templates, Shopify.dev
3. Theme architecture, Shopify.dev

Related services and work

Written by Ashraf Siddik

I'm a Shopify developer and CRO specialist. I have built and improved Shopify stores since 2018, completed more than 1,000 projects, and hold a 4.96 average rating across 719 client reviews.

About me · Client reviews