By Rajendra Bhochalya
As a long-term website developer myself, I know how difficult it can be for ecommerce companies to choose the right site theme.
That’s particularly true for Shopify merchants, who have hundreds of options to explore both on, and off the Shopify theme marketplace.
The Atlantic theme for Shopify is definitely one of the more popular options I’ve seen, earning a 97% positive rating on the Theme store – but is it the best option for you?
The only way to find out is with an in-depth test. I created a demo store with the Atlantic theme, so I could share all the insights you need to make the right choice.
Quick Verdict, Pros and Cons
The Atlantic theme is a minimalistic and modern theme ideal for companies in search of something straightforward, elegant, and conversion focused.
While it’s not as advanced as some of the other premium themes I’ve tried, it’s very good at ensuring you can showcase your products in the right light.
Unfortunately, it’s not ideal for companies with larger product catalogs.
Pros:
- Attractive, minimalistic design, ideal for a range of stores
- Plenty of style options to choose from
- Good conversion features, such as a quick-buy function
- Mega menu included
- Great for product discovery
Cons:
- Missing tag filtering options
- No color swatch options
- Expensive pricing
The Atlantic Theme Shopify: Overview and Pricing
The Atlantic theme is a premium Shopify theme, designed by Pixel Union. You might be familiar with this company for it’s other popular theme choices, like the “Launch” or “Pacific” themes.
I’ve actually encountered them before a few times when designing Shopify storefronts.
Like most approved themes available on Shopify’s Theme Marketplace, Atlantic is compatible with Online Store 2.0, and has been speed-tested and approved by Shopify experts.
Plus, it comes with free theme updates for life, which is pretty important considering its hefty price tag.
This theme costs $280 for a lifetime license. That means it’s not the most expensive theme Shopify’s marketplace offers, but it’s far from the cheapest too.
The good news is that you can trial the theme for free for as long as you like. If you test it out yourself and you’re not happy, then there’s nothing stopping you from choosing something different.
With it’s larger price tag, you might assume this theme is targeted at more established Shopify merchants, but I actually think it’s likely to be a better option for smaller stores, as it lacks a few important features, like parallax scrolling.
The Atlantic Theme Styles
One thing I do like about the Atlantic theme is that it comes with plenty of different theme styles to explore.
Additionally, unlike most Shopify themes with styles that look pretty similar to each other (aside from a few color changes), the Atlantic styles are very different.
Chic
The Chic theme style is one of the simplest offered by the Atlantic theme. It takes advantage of all the space on the screen to create room for wider sections and larger product images.
There’s a menu bar on the top, left-hand-side, next to a space for a logo.
This style has a nice blend of white background and pastel colors that creates a very relaxed, laidback, and yet sophisticated aesthetic.
I think it’d be a good pick for stores selling accessories, perfumes, feminine products, and jewelry.
Modern
Like the Chic theme, the Modern theme includes plenty of white space and subtle colors, however it doesn’t use up the full “width” of the screen with its sections.
The menu is still placed within the top left-hand corner, next to your logo, with plenty of space for social media icons to the right.
This is a slightly more luxurious looking theme in my opinion, particularly when you consider the contemporary font choices.
I’d probably choose this theme for a company selling high-end products, like luxury furniture or designer bags.
Light
The Light theme style definitely lives up to its name, with plenty of bright, white space. In this theme, your menu items will be moved to the middle of the screen, and your logo gets a section to itself in the header – that’s ideal if you have a slightly more complex logo.
Light, like Chic, takes advantage of the full width of the screen, giving you plenty of room to play with dynamic carousels and product banners.
I think this theme has a lot of character, making it a great choice for brands selling products that tell a story, such as hand-crafted leather accessories.
Organic
The Organic theme style balances somewhere between Chic and Modern in terms of appearance. You still get the menu items on the left, but there’s a central space for your logo.
Plus, you’ll also get a design that takes full advantage of the user’s screen width are any device.
The sections on this theme are a little shorter than they are in Modern and Chic, however, creating a better sense of balance between different components on each web page.
Personally, this is my favorite option in terms of layout, color, and overall user experience.
Plush
The Plus theme style is certainly a lot bolder than its counterparts, with plenty of bright colors, and textured elements.
Again, you get a huge central section at the top of the page for showing off your latest products, or telling your brand’s story, and the Atlantic theme keeps your logo central too.
Like the Organic theme style, this option has slightly shorter sections, which I like, and it’s well organized for easy navigation.
I’d probably recommend this theme for online toy stores, or companies specializing in luxurious products.
The Atlantic Theme Shopify: The Core Features
I’ve tried out dozens of themes available on the Shopify Marketplace, ThemeForest, and other third-party sites, and the Atlantic theme lags behind a little in terms of features.
You do get most of the basic capabilities you need to run an effective store, but advanced options for things like product reviews and lookbooks are missing.
Cart and Checkout Features
Atlantic keeps things basic with its cart and checkout features. You’ll have access to cart notes, just like you do with most premium themes.
There’s also a handy “Quick Buy” option, which I consider essential to giving users a straightforward user-experience.
I also like the slide-out cart, which makes it easy for customers to double-check what they’ve added to their basket as they browse through other pages.
Plus, there’s a handy in-store collection option for omnichannel retailers. I would have liked to see a sticky cart function too, though.
Marketing and Conversion
Once again, all the basic marketing and conversion features I’ve seen on most premium Shopify themes are included with Atlantic.
You can add badges to products to promote sales, create promo banners, and there are options for adding FAQs and blogs to your site.
Unfortunately, some of the features I like most on other Shopify themes are missing here. You can’t show off trust badges or reviews, or add in-menu promos into the mix.
There’s no “recently viewed” section either, although you can showcase recommended products. On the plus side, you can add a stock counter to your page, to help increase a sense of urgency in your buyers.
Merchandising
Atlantic is a pretty good theme for overall visual merchandising. The modular sections and options for adding high-resolution images to your pages make it easy to showcase your items from multiple angles.
You can also create product videos and slideshows, as well as image galleries.
There are image rollover animations, and image zoom options, as well as product tabs for companies that want to add extra details to their pages.
For fashion companies, however, there are no “lookbook” options, or color swatches, which is a bit of a downside.
Product Discovery
Although the Atlantic theme is a bit lackluster in some areas, it does make site navigation easy. There’s a handy “back to top” button for customers who don’t want to scroll, plus you get a mega menu built-in, which is great if you sell a lot of products in different categories.
You also get integrated product filtering and sorting tools, and an enhanced search function, to help users track down the exact items they want.
I would have liked to see infinite scroll and collection page navigation options too, however.
Performance and Merchant Reviews
Performance can be difficult to test with Shopify themes, even with a demo store.
There are various factors that can affect how quickly your pages load, including how much content you’re sharing, and what kind of device your customer uses.
Based on Google PageSpeed Insights, my demo store (using the Organic style), earned an overall performance score of around 62 on mobile – which isn’t excellent.
When I switched to the desktop version, the score increased to 95, which is much better.
Despite a slightly unimpressive performance score on mobile, however, the Atlantic theme does have a good reputation.
It’s earned more than 220 reviews on the Shopify theme marketplace, and most of them are extremely popular. People seem to love how convenient and flexible the theme is.
Plus, there were some great comments about the customer support offered. That’s a huge bonus in my opinion, as it can be difficult to access support from a lot of theme developers.
Atlantic Shopify Theme Review: The Verdict
Overall, the Atlantic theme for Shopify is a decent choice if you’re looking for a straightforward, minimalistic, and versatile theme.
It’s definitely not the most advanced theme I’ve used, nor does it offer the best performance, but it’s still a reliable choice for many merchants.
This theme is great for showcasing your products in a unique light, and it’s very easy for customers to navigate. Just keep in mind, you can find more feature-rich alternatives for a similar price.
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