Theme Speed Guide · Updated March 2026

Empire Theme Slow? Here's How to Fix It

Empire by Pixel Union is built for high-volume stores with large catalogs. Its Amazon-style filtering and comparison features come with significant JavaScript overhead. Here's how to optimize it for maximum speed without sacrificing functionality.

Running the Empire theme? Test your store's speed score for free →

Empire Theme Overview

Developer

Pixel Union

Price

$350

Speed Score: Before vs After Optimization

Default (Unoptimized)

44-56

PageSpeed Mobile Score

After Optimization

68-82

PageSpeed Mobile Score

These scores represent typical ranges we see across Empire stores. Your actual score depends on your specific configuration: how many products you display, which apps you've installed, your image sizes, and how many theme sections you use. A store with 5 installed apps will always be slower than one with 2 — regardless of theme choice.

Important context: Shopify's platform itself adds a baseline of JavaScript and CSS that you can't remove. This means no Shopify store will ever score a perfect 100. The scores above represent realistic, achievable targets for a well-optimized Empire store with a reasonable number of apps installed.

Common Speed Issues with Empire

Every Shopify theme has its own performance characteristics. Here are the speed issues we most commonly see on Empire stores, along with why each one matters:

Amazon-inspired layout with heavy product filtering JavaScript

This is typically the largest contributor to slow Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) scores on Empire stores. LCP measures how long it takes for the main visual content to appear — and it's a Core Web Vital that directly affects your Google rankings.

Sidebar filters and faceted search adding significant script overhead

Third-party scripts and render-blocking resources prevent the browser from displaying your page until they've downloaded and executed. This increases both First Contentful Paint (FCP) and Time to Interactive (TTI).

Product comparison features loading extra JavaScript on collection pages

Loading too many resources eagerly (before the user scrolls to them) wastes bandwidth and competes with critical above-the-fold content for network and CPU resources.

Large product grids with many items per page

Excess DOM elements and JavaScript increase the browser's rendering workload, leading to slower interaction responsiveness (measured by Interaction to Next Paint / INP).

Step-by-Step: How to Speed Up Empire

Follow these optimization steps in order — they're arranged from highest impact to lowest. Each tip is specific to the Empire theme and based on patterns we see across hundreds of Empire stores.

Reduce products per page to 20-24 — Empire defaults to showing many products

Disable the product comparison feature if customers don't use it

Simplify sidebar filters to 4-5 essential filter types maximum

Use pagination instead of infinite scroll on collection pages

Compress product thumbnails aggressively — Empire shows many per page

Disable category-specific promotional banners on collection pages if not essential

🔍 SEO bonus: Optimizing your Empire theme's speed doesn't just improve user experience — it directly impacts your Google search rankings. Stores that pass Core Web Vitals rank higher. Speed optimization is the highest-ROI SEO investment for most Shopify stores.

The #1 Speed Factor Most Empire Store Owners Miss

Here's what most speed guides won't tell you: your theme is probably not the main reason your store is slow.

The average Shopify store has 15-25 installed apps, and each one can inject JavaScript and CSS into your storefront. Review apps, email popups, chat widgets, analytics trackers, upsell tools — they all add up. On a typical Empire store, third-party app scripts account for 60-80% of total JavaScript execution time.

You can optimize your Empire images and settings all day, but if you have a heavy review app loading 200KB of JavaScript and a chat widget initializing a WebSocket connection on every page load, your speed score will still suffer.

This is exactly why we built Thunder. Instead of generic speed tips, Thunder scans every installed app on your store, measures each one's actual speed impact, and shows you exactly what's slowing you down. Then it automatically optimizes how those scripts load — deferring non-essential ones, reducing blocking time, and prioritizing critical functionality.

⚡ Optimize Your Empire Store in 60 Seconds

Thunder automatically identifies which apps are slowing your Empire store and fixes them — no code changes required. See your speed report instantly.

Install Thunder Free →

Free plan available · No theme code changes · Works with Empire

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my Empire theme slow on Shopify?

The Empire theme typically scores 44-56 on PageSpeed Insights out of the box. Common causes of slowness include amazon-inspired layout with heavy product filtering javascript and sidebar filters and faceted search adding significant script overhead. However, the biggest speed killer for most Empire stores is third-party app scripts — review widgets, email popups, and analytics tools that load heavy JavaScript on every page. Optimizing images and deferring non-essential scripts can improve your score to 68-82.

What is a good speed score for a Empire Shopify store?

For a Empire store, a realistic optimized PageSpeed score is 68-82 on mobile and even higher on desktop. The default unoptimized score is typically 44-56. Don't aim for a perfect 100 — that's nearly impossible with Shopify's platform overhead and any third-party apps. A score above 80 on mobile is considered good, and anything above 90 is excellent.

How do I speed up Empire without breaking my store?

Start with safe, high-impact optimizations: compress all images to WebP format, remove unused apps, and enable lazy loading in your Empire theme settings. Avoid editing theme code directly unless you're comfortable with Liquid. A speed optimization app like Thunder can automatically defer third-party scripts and optimize loading order without touching your theme files — it's the safest way to improve speed.

Is Empire a fast Shopify theme?

Empire is a premium theme by Pixel Union priced at $350. Premium themes tend to be slower than free themes because they include more features, animations, and styling options. Empire typically scores 44-56 on mobile PageSpeed out of the box, but with proper optimization, you can improve that to 68-82.