Home > Articles > Shopify Expanse Theme Deep-Dive: Does It Fit Your Store?

Shopify Expanse Theme Deep-Dive: Does It Fit Your Store?

November 30, 2023
Written and researched by experts at AvadaLearn more about our methodology

By Sam Nguyen

CEO Avada Commerce

In this article, we will take a deep dive into the Expanse theme, exploring its unique design features and potential functionalities that could upgrade your store.

Key Takeaways

  • The Expanse Shopify theme provides a clean and versatile design for large inventories, making it ideal for drop shippers and high-volume stores.
  • The theme provides key features such as mega menu, promo banners, high-resolution images, etc., to create a compelling online presence that stands out in the competitive e-commerce landscape.

What is the Expanse Shopify Theme?

Expanse Shopify Theme

The Expanse theme is a premium Shopify theme and feature-rich template specifically created for drop shippers and physical and high-volume Shopify online stores. 

The theme provides an elegant and polished look, incorporating clean layouts, large visuals, and modern typography to create a professional and visually appealing online store.

Expanse comes with critical features, such as mega menus, cross-selling points, built-in blog modules, sticky headers, etc., that enhance user experiences.

Expanse Theme Shopify Pricing

The Shopify Expanse theme has a one-time payment of $350 USD. After you buy the theme, you can use it forever. You’ll also get all future updates and help from the developers.

The Expanse theme offers an UNLIMITED free trial, allowing you to fully assess the theme and determine whether it meets your needs and expectations before committing to a purchase. You only have to pay for the theme if you publish it.

Where To Purchase The Expanse Shopify Theme?

There are two ways for you to get the Expanse theme for your store:

  • From the Shopify website or your admin dashboard, you can directly visit the Shopify theme store and then find Expanse to try it.
  • You can easily find it on the Archetype Themes website, which is the developer of Expanse. Clicking “Try for free” will take you to the theme’s page in the Shopify theme store.

Shopify Theme Expanse: Pros and Cons

ProsCons
  • User-friendly navigation
  • Modern and versatile design
  • Diverse customizable options
  • Built-in features
  • Great customer support
  • Well-organized layout
  • High price tag
  • Lack of live chat support
  • Need regular updates
  • 3 Presets of Shopify Expanse Theme

    The Shopify Expanse theme offers three distinct presets, each with a unique vibe and visual appeal. They are Classic, Modern, and Contemporary.

    Classic

    Classic

    The Classic preset exudes a timeless and elegant vibe reminiscent of traditional aesthetics. It features refined layouts, classic typography, and a balanced color palette.

    • A mega menu simply categorizes the items in an extensive inventory.
    • Lookbook-style UI drives an exceptional store experience.
    • The high-resolution images with promotional pop-ups turn a customer into a loyal brand consumer.

    This preset is well-suited for businesses that exude sophistication and cater to a more traditional audience. For example, they are luxury brands, high-end fashion, jewelry stores, or upscale home decor.

    Modern

    Modern

    The Modern preset is more complicated, offering a sleek and streamlined vibe. It incorporates clean lines, a variety of layouts, and a lot of visual appeal with diverse design elements and outstanding visuals.

    • Promo tiles attract customers to browse the products
    • The ability to showcase your custom promotion regardless of whether the slideshow options lead to conversions
    • The tags feature in the blog field facilitates customers in finding information

    This preset is suitable for businesses seeking a fresh and modern look,  making it a great fit for tech gadgets, innovative products, minimalist fashion, modern lifestyle brands, etc.

    Contemporary

    Contemporary

    Contemporary, with unique layouts and creative typography, is the most versatile style that can be tweaked to meet any business need, especially food and beverage online stores.

    • Under the Shopify 2.0 features support, use the image banner to highlight your store’s content.
    • Do more promotions with the top-searched products bars
    • Advertising your top products with in-menu promo functionality

    10 Shopify Expanse Features That Will Elevate Your Store

    In-store pickups

    For businesses with both online and physical stores, the “In-store Pickups” feature allows customers to buy online and pick up items from the store. This can simplify logistics and inventory management, as businesses don’t have to worry about packing and shipping items. This is particularly helpful for high-volume stores, where efficient operations are crucial for success.

    By offering in-store pickups, you encourage online customers to visit your physical store, increasing foot traffic. Once in the store, they may make additional unplanned purchases, increasing sales volume.

    Offering in-store pickups provides additional flexibility to customers, allowing them to choose the most convenient way to receive their purchases. This enhances customer satisfaction and can encourage repeat business.

    Mega Menu and Product Filtering

    The Mega Menu feature in the Shopify Expanse Theme helps dropshippers and high-volume stores by organizing and displaying a large number of products in a user-friendly way. Mega menus can also highlight promotions, new products, or top-selling items to attract customers and increase sales.

    Product filtering is another useful feature that allows customers to refine their search based on specific attributes such as price, color, size, and brand. This is especially helpful for stores with a wide selection of products, preventing customers from feeling overwhelmed. With product filtering, customers can easily narrow down their choices and find exactly what they need.

    Mega Menu

    Support for High-resolution images and videos

    With the support of high-resolution visuals, merchants can present their products in great detail, showcasing every feature and aspect. High-quality visuals can also boost customers’ trust in the product quality and in the store itself, which can be especially beneficial for high-volume stores.

    High-resolution images

    Promo Banners and Pop-Ups

    The Shopify Expanse theme includes built-in features for promotional banners and pop-ups, allowing users to highlight special offers, discounts, or new product launches. Strategically placing these eye-catching banners and pop-ups can grab the attention of customers and entice them to make a purchase.

    Shipping/delivery information

    The theme provides dedicated sections to display shipping or delivery information, including estimated delivery times, shipping methods, and any additional policies. This feature is helpful for all types of stores, especially dropshipping stores, as it ensures that customers have clear and transparent information about shipping processes and delivery options.

    Upselling and Cross-selling With Product Reviews and Recommendations

    These features enable dropshippers and high-volume stores to maximize their sales by suggesting related or complementary products to customers during the purchase process. This prompts customers to consider additional items, increasing the average order value. They also help Shopify stores effectively showcase their extensive inventory by displaying relevant product recommendations based on customer preferences and browsing history. 

    This personalization creates a tailored shopping experience, boosting customer satisfaction and increasing the likelihood of repeat purchases. 

    Quick Buy

    This feature is handy for high-volume stores and dropshipping businesses with a large inventory, as customers can quickly add multiple products from various categories without having to navigate back and forth between product pages and the shopping cart. By streamlining the purchasing process, “Quick Buy” can reduce the chances of customers abandoning their carts, leading to an increase in conversion rates.

    Countdown Timer

    A countdown timer of the Shopify Expanse theme creates a sense of urgency for limited-time promotions or sales events, helping drive customer engagement and prompt, timely purchasing decisions.

    Additionally, the feature can help manage inventory by highlighting when certain products are running low or when a specific promotion is about to end, allowing dropshippers and high-volume stores to effectively plan their stock and sales strategies. 

    Mobile Responsive

    With an increasing number of customers using mobile devices for online shopping, it is crucial for businesses to provide a seamless and optimized mobile experience. The Shopify Expanse theme ensures that the website adapts and displays beautifully across various screen sizes and resolutions, allowing customers to easily browse, navigate, and make purchases on their smartphones or tablets. This enhances the overall accessibility and usability of the online store, attracting and engaging customers, and ultimately driving more conversions and revenue.

    Mobile Responsive

    Multiple Language Translation

    Expanse supports multiple language translations, driving a localized shopping experience for customers in different regions. This feature is advantageous for drop shippers and large stores targeting international markets, enabling them to cater to a broader customer base and enhance accessibility.

    Who Is Shopify Expanse Theme For?

    The Shopify Expanse theme is designed to be suitable for:

    • Dropshipping Shopify merchants
    • Shopify stores with multiple brick-and-mortar stores
    • High volume Shopify merchants with large catalog sizes
    • Clothing, fitness, and beauty Shopify businesses who run many promotion campaigns

    What Do Users Say About The Shopify Expanse Theme?

    The Expanse theme has a total of 178 reviews on the Shopify marketplace. Out of these, 95% are positive. 

    Most customers appreciate the clean and modern look with excellent design capabilities, customizable options, mobile responsiveness, ease of installation, and good customer support.

    However, some customers had trouble configuring specific features and experienced longer response times from the support team.

    Expanse Shopify Theme: Customer Support

    Customer Support Channels:

    • Up-to-date documentation
    • FAQ pages address common queries and provide solutions to common issues.
    • Ticket Support, where users can request assistance by filling out a form or submitting a support ticket.

    3 Successful Stores Using Shopify Expanse Theme

    Chloe + Lois

    Chloe + Lois is a contemporary fashion brand that offers a wide range of stylish and high-quality accessories for women. 

    Chloe + Lois

    Their online store, built with the Classic preset of the Shopify Expanse theme, ideally reflects their contemporary and stylish brand image. A promo banner is visually appealing at the top to attract shoppers to the arrival. It also showcases the store’s accessories in an organized manner, making it easy for visitors to browse and find the products they’re interested in.

    Overall, a simple and organized layout with a cutting-edge vibe and a pink tone drive a good shopping experience for their target customer.

    MJ Lifestyle

    MJ Lifestyle is a lifestyle brand that caters to individuals who appreciate the fusion of comfort, style, and sustainability.

    MJ Lifestyle

    MJ’s online store template incorporates a clean and intuitive layout, making it easy for visitors to navigate different product categories. It showcases the products in a visually appealing manner, with high-quality images and detailed product descriptions.

    Combining style, sustainability, and convenience, the template strives to provide an enjoyable shopping experience for customers who prioritize conscious living and appreciate eco-friendly products.

    Southern store living

    Southern Living Store is a destination for those seeking the charm, hospitality, and timeless elegance of the Southern lifestyle.

    Southern store living

    The online store theme captures the essence of Southern living through its design layout. Clear and intuitive menus and search functionality help streamline the shopping experience. Using elegant typography and curated imagery can further enhance the overall aesthetic, resonating with the brand’s commitment to quality and sophistication.

    Overall, the theme endeavors to bring the spirit of Southern living to customers worldwide

    Shopify Expanse Theme: FAQs

    Yes, the Expanse theme is designed to be flexible and adaptable, making it suitable for various types of online stores. Whether you’re selling fashion, electronics, or handmade products, the Expanse theme can be customized to fit your specific business needs. However, it may be the most effective of the types mentioned above in the article.
    Absolutely! The Expanse theme is compatible with various third-party apps available on the Shopify App Store. You can integrate apps for social media marketing, inventory management, customer support, and much more to enhance the functionality of your store.
    No, the Expanse theme purchased from the Shopify Theme Store is licensed exclusively for the store you bought it for. Using it for another store requires the purchase of one theme license for each storefront URL in use. You can contact Shopify Support for more details.

    Ending Words

    Exploring the Expanse Shopify theme opens up a world of possibilities for your online store. With its modern design, extensive customization options, and seamless integration with third-party apps, Expanse empowers you to create a visually stunning and highly functional e-commerce platform.

    Related Posts:

    
    

    Sam Nguyen is the CEO and founder of Avada Commerce, an e-commerce solution provider headquartered in Singapore. He is an expert on the Shopify e-commerce platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems. Sam loves talking about e-commerce and he aims to help over a million online businesses grow and thrive.