Shopify responsive image markup and the Core Web Vitals

Fixed-source <img> (74.9%), srcset and sizes (96.0%), and <picture> elements (29.1%): how responsive image markup across the page moves Largest Contentful Paint.

Field data PhoneDesktopAll Scope All sites October 2026 edition · Phone field outcomes · Shopify sites only
Shopify Scoped to 8,248 sites out of 203,892 analyzed (cms) Compare with all sites →

96.0% of Shopify sites use srcset and sizes responsive image markup, and 95% of those sites have a good LCP, against 95% of all Shopify sites.

The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · Shopify: 8,246 crawled sites · 5,825 with phone field data · 8,223 sites with responsive image markupBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
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LCP pass rate

Sites with srcset and sizes responsive image markup have a good LCP most often: 95%, against 95% of all Shopify sites. Sites with fixed-source <img> responsive markup have it least often, at 94%.

SitesGood, needs improvement, poor LCPMedian
All Shopify sites5,82595%1.4s
<img srcset="..."> 96.0%5,58495%1.4s
<picture> with <source> 29.1%1,75895%1.4s
Fixed-source <img> (no srcset) 74.9%4,48894%1.4s
GoodNeeds improvementPoorSites: with Chrome field data
The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · Shopify: 8,246 crawled sites · 5,825 with phone field data · 8,223 sites with responsive image markupBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
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Responsive image markup usage

Srcset and sizes is the most used: 96.0% of Shopify sites.

Sites using each option (sites can use more than one) 8,223 sites
<img srcset="..."> 96.0% Fixed-source <img> (no srcset) 74.9% <picture> with <source> 29.1%
<img srcset="..."> 96.0% Fixed-source <img> (no srcset) 74.9% <picture> with <source> 29.1%
The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · Shopify: 8,246 crawled sites · 5,825 with phone field data · 8,223 sites with responsive image markupBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
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Where responsive image markup saves time: the four LCP phases

Across the four LCP sub-parts in Chrome's field data, the largest gap between srcset and sizes and fixed-source <img> sits in resource load delay: 590 ms median for srcset and sizes against 627 ms for fixed-source <img>. Overall median field LCP is 1.4s for srcset and sizes (TTFB 401 ms, load delay 590 ms, load duration 206 ms, render delay 311 ms) versus 1.4s for fixed-source <img>.

Median LCP phase breakdown (Chrome field p75) Load delay Median LCP
Shopify sites with responsive image markup 5,038402 ms590 ms206 ms312 ms590 mslab 596 ms1.4s
<img srcset="..."> 4,853401 ms590 ms206 ms311 ms590 mslab 596 ms1.4s
Fixed-source <img> (no srcset) 3,920411 ms627 ms204 ms339 ms627 mslab 631 ms1.4s
<picture> with <source> 1,563413 ms629 ms191 ms360 ms629 mslab 634 ms1.4s
TTFB Resource load delay Resource load time Element render delay
The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · Shopify: 8,246 crawled sites · 5,825 with phone field data · 8,223 sites with responsive image markupBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
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Responsive image markup per framework

Vue sets the responsive image markup to srcset and sizes on 97% of its sites, and 94% of Vue sites have a good LCP, against 95% of all sites.

FrameworkResponsive image markup on its sitesGood LCP
Shopify sites with responsive image markup 8,223 sites<img srcset="..."> 96%Fixed-source <img> (no srcset) 75%<picture> with <source> 29%95%
Vue 933 sites<img srcset="..."> 97%Fixed-source <img> (no srcset) 85%<picture> with <source> 31%94%
jQuery 3,144 sites<img srcset="..."> 92%Fixed-source <img> (no srcset) 85%<picture> with <source> 32%93%
<img srcset="..."> Fixed-source <img> (no srcset) <picture> with <source>
The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · Shopify: 8,246 crawled sites · 5,825 with phone field data · 8,223 sites with responsive image markupBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
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Responsive image markup or the framework

Does the framework explain the responsive image markup difference?

On jQuery, 93% of sites with srcset and sizes responsive image markup have a good LCP, against 92% of jQuery sites with fixed-source <img>. Within jQuery, sites with srcset and sizes and fixed-source <img> have a good LCP about equally often. On Vue, 95% of sites with srcset and sizes responsive image markup have a good LCP, against 94% of Vue sites with fixed-source <img>. Within Vue, sites with srcset and sizes and fixed-source <img> have a good LCP about equally often.

How srcset and <picture> select candidate URLs during preload scanning

Chromium's preload scanner evaluates <source media="..." type="..."> and <img srcset="..." sizes="..."> before the main parser builds the DOM. Sites that serve responsive <picture> elements (29.1% of sites) achieve 95% good LCP (1.4s median LCP), compared with 95% on sites using <img srcset> (96.0%) and 94% across sites with fixed-source images (74.9%).

The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · Shopify: 8,246 crawled sites · 5,825 with phone field data · 8,223 sites with responsive image markupBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
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Understanding responsive image markup

Use <img srcset sizes> for multi-width content images and <picture> when serving mobile-specific crops or modern formats with fallbacks. Nearly every site (74.9%) has at least one fixed-source <img> for UI icons or logos, while 96.0% use <img srcset> on content images (95% good LCP) and 29.1% deploy <picture> elements (95% good LCP). Always pair srcset with an accurate sizes attribute so mobile browsers do not download desktop-width candidates.

The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · Shopify: 8,246 crawled sites · 5,825 with phone field data · 8,223 sites with responsive image markupBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
Related signals Stylesheet origin (1P/3P) → DOM size → Image format mix → Media source → By Arjen Karel · 8,246 crawled Shopify sites (5,825 with phone Chrome field data, 8,223 sites with responsive image markup, October 2026) · How we measured