Theme Speed Guide · Updated February 2026
Impulse Speed Optimization — How to Make Impulse Faster
Impulse is a feature-rich premium theme by Archetype Themes, popular for high-volume stores. Its extensive features come with a performance cost. Here's how to optimize it for maximum speed without sacrificing functionality.
Impulse Theme Overview
Developer
Archetype Themes
Price
$380
Category
Premium
Default Speed
45-58
The Impulse theme by Archetype Themes is a premium ($380) Shopify theme. Impulse is a feature-rich premium theme by Archetype Themes, popular for high-volume stores. Its extensive features come with a performance cost. Out of the box, Impulse stores typically score 45-58 on Google PageSpeed Insights (mobile). That's below average and needs optimization work. The good news? With the right optimizations, you can push that score to 72-85 — a significant improvement that translates to faster load times, better SEO rankings, and higher conversion rates.
Speed Score: Before vs After Optimization
Default (Unoptimized)
45-58
PageSpeed Mobile Score
After Optimization
72-85
PageSpeed Mobile Score
These scores represent typical ranges we see across Impulse 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 Impulse store with a reasonable number of apps installed.
Common Speed Issues with Impulse
Every Shopify theme has its own performance characteristics. Here are the speed issues we most commonly see on Impulse stores, along with why each one matters:
Heavy animation libraries (AOS, GSAP) loading on every page
This is typically the largest contributor to slow Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) scores on Impulse 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.
Multiple JavaScript bundles for advanced features like predictive search and quick-buy
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).
Large CSS payload from extensive styling options and section variations
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.
Video backgrounds and auto-playing media increasing LCP dramatically
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 Impulse
Follow these optimization steps in order — they're arranged from highest impact to lowest. Each tip is specific to the Impulse theme and based on patterns we see across hundreds of Impulse stores.
Disable animations in theme settings — this removes the AOS library entirely (saves ~15KB)
Turn off video backgrounds on mobile — they destroy mobile speed scores
Use Impulse's built-in lazy loading and verify it's enabled for all image sections
Limit the number of featured collections on the homepage to 3-4
Disable quick-buy if you don't use it — it preloads modal scripts on every page
Compress hero images aggressively — Impulse's full-bleed layouts make image size critical
🔍 SEO bonus: Optimizing your Impulse 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 Impulse 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 Impulse store, third-party app scripts account for 60-80% of total JavaScript execution time.
You can optimize your Impulse 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 Impulse Store in 60 Seconds
Thunder automatically identifies which apps are slowing your Impulse store and fixes them — no code changes required. See your speed report instantly.
Free plan available · No theme code changes · Works with Impulse
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my Impulse theme slow on Shopify?
The Impulse theme typically scores 45-58 on PageSpeed Insights out of the box. Common causes of slowness include heavy animation libraries (aos, gsap) loading on every page and multiple javascript bundles for advanced features like predictive search and quick-buy. However, the biggest speed killer for most Impulse 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 72-85.
What is a good speed score for a Impulse Shopify store?
For a Impulse store, a realistic optimized PageSpeed score is 72-85 on mobile and even higher on desktop. The default unoptimized score is typically 45-58. 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 Impulse 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 Impulse 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 Impulse a fast Shopify theme?
Impulse is a premium theme by Archetype Themes priced at $380. Premium themes tend to be slower than free themes because they include more features, animations, and styling options. Impulse typically scores 45-58 on mobile PageSpeed out of the box, but with proper optimization, you can improve that to 72-85.
Other Shopify Theme Speed Guides
Score: 75-85 → 90-98
Debut Speed Guide →Score: 60-72 → 82-92
Prestige Speed Guide →Score: 42-55 → 70-83
Warehouse Speed Guide →Score: 48-60 → 73-86
Turbo Speed Guide →Score: 50-65 → 75-88
Refresh Speed Guide →Score: 70-80 → 88-96