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Expanse Theme Shopify Review: Features, Pricing & Tips

June 24, 2024
Written and researched by experts at AvadaLearn more about our methodology

By Sam Nguyen

CEO Avada Commerce

Tired of your Shopify store getting lost in the crowd? Want to create a shopping experience that’s both visually stunning and incredibly efficient? The Expanse theme might be the game-changer you’ve been waiting for.

Read on to discover how this powerful theme can elevate your brand, streamline your store, and supercharge your sales.

Avada’s Verdict
Pros:
  • User-friendly navigation
  • Modern and versatile design
  • Diverse customizable options
  • Built-in features
  • Great customer support
  • Well-organized layout
Cons:
  • High price tag
  • Lack of live chat support
  • Need regular updates
Rating: 4.7/5⭐
Best For
Dropshipping merchants, Multi-channel retailers, High-volume stores with large catalogs, Promotional-focused clothing/fitness/beauty stores

What is the Expanse Theme Shopify?

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. 

Expanse Shopify Theme

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.

Theme Features

In-store pickups

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.

In-store pickups

Moreover, 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.

Mega Menu and Product Filtering

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.

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

Promotional banners/ 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.

Promotional banners/ Pop-Ups

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.

Shipping/delivery information

Upselling and Cross-selling

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.

Upselling and Cross-selling

They also help Shopify stores effectively showcase their extensive inventory by displaying relevant product recommendations based on customer preferences and browsing history. 

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.

Countdown Timer

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

The Shopify Expanse theme ensures that online stores can adapt and display beautifully across various screen sizes and resolutions, allowing customers to easily browse, navigate, and make purchases on their smartphones or tablets.

Mobile Responsive

This enhances the overall accessibility and usability of the online store, attracting and engaging customers and ultimately driving more conversions and revenue.

Multiple Languages & Currencies

Expanse supports multiple languages & currencies, 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.

Multiple Languages & Currencies

Pricing

The Shopify Expanse theme has a one-time payment of $380 USD on the Shopify theme marketplace and $360 at the Archetype Themes website. After you buy the theme, you can use it forever. You’ll also get all future updates and help from the developers.

Pricing

The Expanse Shopify theme offers an UNLIMITED free trial (an Expanse theme Shopify free download & usage version), 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.

With a price tag of $380, Expanse falls within the higher end of paid Shopify themes. However, it’s still competitively priced, considering its extensive feature set and premium design aesthetics. While there are cheaper themes available, they often lack the advanced functionality and customization options that Expanse offers.

User Reviews and Testimonials

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

User Reviews and Testimonials

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.

Presets Options

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

Classic

Classic preset

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 preset

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 preset

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 product bars
  • Advertising your top products with in-menu promo functionality

How to Customize the Theme

1. Accessing the Theme Editor:

To start customizing your Expanse theme, log into your Shopify admin and navigate to the “Online Store” section. Within the “Themes” tab, you’ll find the Expanse theme listed. Click on the “Customize” button to enter the theme editor, your gateway to transforming your store’s appearance.

Accessing the Theme Editor

2. Header Customization:

The header is the first thing your customers see, so make it count. In the theme editor, locate the header section where you can easily add your brand’s logo, creating a strong visual identity. Adjust the menu settings to ensure smooth navigation for your customers, and don’t forget to customize the colors to match your brand’s unique aesthetic.

Header Customization

3. Homepage Sections:

Your homepage is your digital storefront, so let’s make it shine. Expanse offers a variety of pre-designed sections like slideshows, featured collections, and text blocks. Mix and match these sections, rearranging them or adding new ones to create a layout that best showcases your products and brand story. With a little creativity, you can craft a homepage that truly captivates your audience.

Homepage Sections

4. Product Pages:

Product pages are the heart of your online store, where customers make their purchasing decisions. Optimize them by choosing the ideal layout to display your products, adding high-quality images or videos for a closer look, and configuring product options like size or color. Make sure the “Add to Cart” button is prominent and easy to find, encouraging customers to take action.

Product Pages

5. Footer Customization:

The footer might seem like an afterthought, but it’s a valuable space for providing essential information and building trust. Add links to your contact page, shipping policy, or FAQ section. Include social media icons to encourage engagement and showcase any awards or certifications your business has earned. A well-designed footer can reassure customers and leave a lasting impression.

Footer Customization

6. Theme Settings:

You can customize the theme settings to fine-tune the overall look and feel of your store. Here, you can adjust fonts, colors, button styles, and other visual elements to create a cohesive and visually appealing experience for your customers. Experiment with different combinations until you find the perfect balance that reflects your brand’s unique personality.

Theme Settings

Who Is Shopify Expanse Theme For?

The Shopify Expanse theme is designed to be suitable for:

  • Dropshipping Shopify merchants: Expanse’s streamlined interface and focus on product presentation make it easy to showcase a wide range of items without overwhelming customers.
  • Shopify stores with multiple brick-and-mortar stores: Expanse’s multi-channel integration capabilities allow seamless management of both online and offline inventory and sales.
  • High-volume Shopify merchants with large catalog sizes: The theme’s advanced filtering and search options, along with quick view features, help customers navigate large product catalogs efficiently.
  • Clothing, fitness, and beauty Shopify businesses run many promotion campaigns: Expanse’s promotion tiles, announcement bars, and collection-specific banners provide ample space for showcasing promotions and sales.

Where to Buy?

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” (but it is not the Expanse Shopify theme free download since you still need to pay to use it officially) will take you to the theme’s page in the Shopify theme store.
Where to Buy?

Examples of Websites Using the 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

4 Tips to Get the Most Out of the Theme

1. Optimize Product Filtering and Sorting:
Expanse Shopify theme’s advanced filtering and sorting options are a major asset for stores with large inventories. Take the time to categorize your products thoughtfully, ensuring customers can easily find what they’re looking for. The quicker they find the perfect item, the more likely they are to buy, boosting your sales.

2. Showcase High-Quality Visuals:
Expanse’s design shines with high-resolution images and videos. Make sure your product photos are top-notch, well-lit, and professionally edited. Consider using lifestyle shots to show how your products fit into your customers’ lives. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words, and with Expanse Shopify theme, your visuals are your best salespeople.

3. Utilize Promotional Tools Strategically:
Expanse offers various promotional tools like banners, collection features, and pop-ups. Don’t bombard your customers with constant sales pitches, but strategically use these tools to highlight new arrivals, seasonal promotions, or limited-time offers. This creates a sense of urgency and excitement, enticing customers to make a purchase.

4. Optimize for SEO:
While Expanse is already optimized for search engines, there’s always room for improvement. Ensure your product titles, descriptions, and meta tags are filled with relevant keywords. Craft compelling meta descriptions that entice clicks from search engine results. A well-optimized store is more likely to rank higher in search results, leading to increased organic traffic and potential sales.

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

Expanse Shopify theme is more than just a pretty face; it’s a powerhouse of customizable features that can transform your online store into an engaging shopping destination. With its seamless integration of third-party apps, Expanse opens up a world of possibilities, allowing you to create a truly tailored e-commerce experience for your customers.

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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.