Aurora Shopify theme Review: Features, Pros, Cons & Verdict

Being a Shopify Plus development agency that builds and optimizes 200+ stores, our team has closely watched the Aurora Shopify theme since its launch. After we applied it to many clients and tested all its features, we present this no-filter review of the premium theme for 2024.

In this guide, the team covers everything from Aurora’s four main styles and key features to performance metrics gathered from operational stores. We’ll discuss:

• The available customization options
• Provide a detailed installation procedure
• Present alternatives in case other options might be a better fit than Aurora.
• An ultimate verdict of whether the $340 price suits your business needs.

Read more!

What is the Aurora Shopify theme?

The Aurora theme is a premium, flexible and feature-rich theme to express your unique style, presented by Getsitecontrol in 2023. This is an elegant theme indeed. Just imagine running an online store with a theme that feels like a premium one and delivers everything included to impress your customers. Sounds pretty cool?

Where Aurora really shines is in the flexibility of design. Everything from custom mega menu layouts to color palette adjustments can be changed to ultimate precision for your brand feeling. That level of control means your store will look good and create a seamless, unforgettable experience for anyone visiting it.

Besides, the Aurora theme Shopify features a customized mega menu as part of its advanced navigation system to enhance the customer experience.

This menu supports the integration of images, products, etc. When customers have this easy-to-understand navigation, they’ll find it much easier to explore products and collections.

Aurora Shopify theme: 4 elegant styles to choose

Pure

• Style: Clean, minimalistic approach focused on organic and earthy tones combined in simple layouts.
• Best theme for beauty brands, organic, natural, sustainable products and wellness, or home decor.
• Design elements: whitespace, pastel color scheme, and modern typography.
• Notable features: Large hero images, product grid layouts, and subtle animations.

Modern

• Style: Bold, modern look with attractive typography and high contrast in color palettes.
• Ideal for: Art and science of life, fashion, tech, and others with sleek, forward aesthetics.
• Design elements: Striking hero sections, clean lines, and dynamic product displays.
• Notable features: Full-width banner sections, animation transitions, and interactive product zooms.

Sheer

• Style: Evocative of a more formal, gentle style emphasizing artificial textures and bold, legible imagery.
• Perfect for: Fashion store, theme for jewelry, and lifestyle products such as those highlighted by romance and femininity.
• Design elements: Delicate typography, pastel color palettes, dreamy and ethereal visuals.
• Notable features: Parallax scrolling, product image carousel layouts, gentle hover animations, and before-and-after displays.

Radiant

• Style: Vibrant and neutral with calm, pastel colors and a focus on minimalism.
• Best for: Wellness, beauty, and lifestyle brands geared toward health and spiritual-minded consumers.
• Design elements: Vivid hero sections, natural textures, and a calming atmosphere.
• Notable features: Parallax backgrounds, fit color schemes for your brand/image, and an easy navigation system.

Pricing

Is Shopify Aurora theme free download? No, It is priced at $340/lifetime license. It includes an unlimited free trial. Merchants must only pay if they decide to publish the theme in their store.

Who is the Aurora Shopify theme best for?

1. Visual-heavy brands

• Best for: Brands that care about high-quality imagery, like photographers, artists, or fashion retailers.
• Why: Because the Aurora theme is optimized for high-resolution images and videos. So, it’s perfect for product displays or portfolios that are visually striking.

2. Fashion and apparel stores

• Best for: Clothing, accessories, or footwear retailers.
• Why: Aurora helps with product visibility and builds customer confidence through advanced product discovery tools, size guides, and custom color swatches.

3. Luxury or high-end brands

• Best for: Premium product categories include jewelry, watches, and luxury items.
• Why: The sleek and sophisticated design, combined with merchandising features like animations and product videos, conveys sophistication.

4. Brands running seasonal campaigns

• Best for: Stores focusing on holiday promotions, sales, or events.
• Why: Promotional banners, countdown timers, and customizable contact forms are all features to increase engagement during particular campaigns.

5. Brands focused on storytelling

• Who: SMB businesses, startups, or environmentally conscious brands with compelling stories.
• Why: The theme’s visual storytelling capabilities, like before/after sliders and animations. They help brands connect emotionally with their customers.

6. Lifestyle and home goods

• Best for: Stores selling furniture, home décor, or lifestyle products.
• Why: The Aurora theme is designed for visual storytelling and dynamic galleries. It’s ideal for showcasing lifestyle settings and inspiring customers.

7. Brands with complex product catalogs

• Best for: Stores sell products in different categories (e.g., department stores or multi-category shops).
• Why: Advanced filtering, sorting options, and mega menus help customers find products quickly and discover new ones.

Aurora Shopify theme review: Core features

• In-menu promos

Instead of standard text links, you can create stunning visual promos inside your navigation. Add eye-catching product images and videos, highlight your featured collections, or showcase multiple collections in an organized list. This turns your menu from a simple navigation tool into a powerful way to showcase your best products.

• Collage

Visual storytelling is at the heart of modern eCommerce, and Aurora’s collage feature gives you the creative freedom you need. Mix and match different elements – from product cards and collection features to customer testimonials and rich text – to create compelling visual narratives.

Each block type is fully adjustable. It lets you craft precisely the look you want. Add videos, showcase products, or highlight customer feedback – endless possibilities exist.

• Image with text

Unlike basic image layouts, the image with text allows you to make really striking collage-style displays where images elegantly overlap. This artistic arrangement adds depth and visual interest to your product presentations. It’s perfect for showing off fashion collections & lifestyle products or telling your brand story more engagingly.

• Featured navigation

Shoppers will see a nice scrolling preview with thumbnail images and quick-action buttons when hovering over the menu items. They help shoppers find what they’re looking for more quickly and make finding your store more intuitive.

• Multi-color swatches

Creating multicolor product options is so easy now. You can easily create a swatch with multiple colors, ideal for patterns or items with mixed colors. Simply combine color codes or names in your theme settings or product admin.

• Free shipping bar (with a countdown)

There’s nothing like seeing how close you are to earning free shipping to motivate another purchase. Aurora’s free shipping bar does precisely that with an engaging countdown feature.

As customers add items to their cart, they can watch in real-time as they get closer to the free shipping threshold.

• Visual filter swatches

Gone are the days of endless scrolling through irrelevant items. Aurora’s smart filters help customers find exactly what they want in seconds. Whether they’re searching by color, size, brand, or any other parameter you set up, your customers can narrow down their options effortlessly.

This intuitive filtering system doesn’t just help customers – it turns browsers into buyers by removing friction from the shopping experience.

• Product siblings

Aurora theme Shopify introduces a clever way to handle large product catalogs with its product siblings feature. Instead of scattering related products across your store, you can link them as variants on a single product page.

This makes it easier for customers to discover product alternatives and strengthens your SEO by creating meaningful connections between related items.

• Popup teasers

We’ve all been there – a customer closes a popup without reading the offer, potentially missing out on a great deal. That’s why Aurora includes smart popup teasers that stick around even after the main popup is closed. These subtle but effective reminders let customers reopen offers they might have dismissed too quickly.

• Quick view & quick buy

Sometimes, less clicking means more buying. Aurora’s Quick View feature lets customers preview products from the collection page. Therefore, it saves them countless clicks and page loads.

Besides, Quick Buy lets customers skip right to the checkout if they’re ready to purchase. That’s all about removing those minor friction points that can make the difference between a sale and an abandoned cart.

• In-cart discount codes

Shopify Aurora makes using discount codes effortless with in-cart promo banners that include one-click copyable discount codes. Pair this with countdown timers, and you’ve got a powerful combination that creates just the right amount of urgency.

Pros & Cons of Aurora Shopify theme – Omni Themes’ Verdict.

Pros:

• Stand out with distinctive features and creative animations that bring your store to life and keep customers engaged
• Emphasize high-resolution images and engaging videos. That’s why it’s ideal for brands that tell compelling visual stories
• Provide extensive customization options with four distinct styles to give their store a look more aligned with their brand identity.
• Use in-menu promotions, countdown timers, and promo banners to run your promotions without needing any other app.
• Enhance the shopping experience through advanced filtering options, mega menus, and quick-view features.
• Highly responsive to ensure that the store is good-looking and functional everywhere, on desktops, tablets, and smartphones.

Cons:

• The theme has lots of features and ways to customize it. New users might experience a learning curve when setting up and configuring the theme.
• The price is $340, which could be a hefty price for small businesses or startups.
• Heavy animations and effects can slow down page loading.
• The mobile loading speed score is relatively low owing to the many features, just 66.2%. On desktop, it fares a little better at 73.2%. Sometimes, these can significantly affect your customer’s buying journey.
• Documentation could be more comprehensive.
• Limited direct developer support. No customer support on weekends — Only email support for other days.

Aurora Shopify theme: Customization

Visual customization

• Typography and colors: The Aurora theme is flexible regarding typography and color schemes. It also allows you to upload your logos, favicons, and social media links to make your store stand out more in branding.
• Color schemes: New features in Aurora 3.0 let users select from several predefined color schemes and tweak them further. This includes the colors of buttons and minor elements to achieve a closer fit with your brand identity.
• Swatches: The theme allows for both primary and secondary swatches when dealing with variants. This can represent colors, materials, or even textures visually. Users can use Hex codes to define custom colors, so precision in color matching is possible.

Homepage customization

The homepage is highly customizable. It allows adding several sections, like:

• Slideshow: A rotating image component that displays offers or highlighted products.
• Testimonials Section: Enhanced layouts for displaying customer reviews, which can include images and detailed information about reviewers.
• Blog Post Slideshow: Present the blog content in a catchy format that draws visitors’ attention.

You can also create interactive navigation experiences with visually changing on-hover items, which significantly enhance user engagement while browsing collections.

Aurora Shopify theme: Support

• Documentation and guides

Get Site Control` offers documentation on different aspects of the Shopify Aurora theme, including installation guidance, customization options, and how to use the features. This will be helpful for a fresh and experienced user who wants to customize the theme according to requirements. However, the documents are pretty basic compared to other themes.

• 24/5 Customer support from Monday to Friday

Users can contact the Getsitecontrol support team only via email through a contact form on their website. The team is highly reactive when dealing with issues related to theme customization, troubleshooting, and general usage questions. They typically respond within 1 – 2 business days.

• Community forums

The Shopify Community Forums is where Authemeeme’s users can interact with other users and experts. They’re valuable resources for experience-sharing, advice-seeking, and problem-solving related to general issues.

For example, the community has dealt with topics related to changing product titles in the Aurora theme.

• Video tutorials

For visual learners, extensive video tutorials walk one through customizing the Aurora theme. These tutorials range from a simple setup to advanced customization methods.

• Regular updates

Getsitecontrol regularly updates the Aurora theme to enhance its features and ensure compatibility with Shopify’s latest functionalities. It’s recommended that users update their theme to get new features and enhancements. Changes made recently are posted on the Getsitecontrol blog.

How to install the Aurora Shopify theme

The steps below will help you quickly install and customize the Aurora theme for your Shopify store:

Step #1: Preview the Aurora theme

• Go to the Shopify Theme Store and search for “Aurora.”
• Click “Try Theme” to explore its design, features, and functionality.

Step #2: Customize and test

• In the Shopify admin dashboard, go to Online Store > Themes.
• Choose the “Customize” to personalize it to reflect your brand. You can customize the layouts, colors, and features so that the theme fits perfectly with your store’s style and needs.

Step 3: Purchase and publish

• Once you’re happy with your edits, purchase the Aurora theme for a one-time fee of $340.
• Click the “Publish” button to set Aurora as the active theme design for your Shopify store.

Successful stores using the Aurora Shopify theme

Eternal

Eternal Brazilian Boutique offers luxury women’s fashion with exclusive pieces from the most famous Brazilian designers. An elegant layout of the Aurora theme matches the sophisticated product assortment. As a result, it creates an intuitive and appealing shopping experience for customers.

Reverie – The Hat Label

Reverie offers high-end, fashionable hats for both men and women. The Aurora theme complements brand storytelling by providing visual storytelling and editorial content optimization. Features in the product videos and image galleries showcase the craftsmanship of the hats.

Made Mellow

Made Mellow is a Dutch clothing brand that promotes a relaxed lifestyle through its garments. Keeping the Shopify Aurora theme, the shop showcases its offerings in a neat and systematic layout, which aligns with the brand’s minimalistic approach. The brand, then, allows customers to browse and buy products easily.

Aurora Shopify theme’s user review and rating

As of Nov 2024, the Aurora Shopify theme has an average rating of 4.6 stars out of 5, according to nearly 30 individual reviews. Users highlight the sleek and contemporary look of Aurora and its plenty of customization options to create a unique and attractive online store.

Moreover, their support team is often praised for their quick and helpful response. They can help users take advantage of the theme’s features.

Aurora Shopify theme’s Alternative: Eurus theme – A high-performance contender

We agree that Aurora theme shines with visual storytelling and marketing features. Yet, if you’re a retailer who wants to improve their performance and lower their app costs, the Eurus theme offers an exciting option. Built by certified Shopify experts with 11+ years of experience, Eurus takes a different approach by focusing on technical excellence and built-in functionality.

What makes Eurus unique is the use of a modern technology stack comprising Alpine.js and Tailwind CSS, which in turn allows for great Core Web Vitals.

Aurora theme often fails in this vital aspect. For instance, Aurora’s mobile speed score is 66.2%. Mobile-first design principles are at the core of Eurus, so it performs equally well on all devices without compromising functionality.

While Aurora needs $340, Eurus charges only $250. However, the real value lies in eliminating over 20 premium apps with built-in features — saving merchants almost $3,600 yearly in-app subscriptions.

These include cart upsell, a 4-level mega menu, and smart filtering that would otherwise be relied on from separate apps. Moreover, Eurus offers free setup assistance and design consulting. They can greatly minimize the learning curve usually experienced with powerful themes like Aurora.

Key features:

• Convert mobile visitors with a true mobile-first design. Deliver seamless performance, proper layouts, and full functionality across all devices.
• Build your perfect store using 40+ drag-and-drop sections and 80+ pre-built templates. Adapt any of our 5 niche-specific presets (Puff, Breath, Swirl, Whiff, Breeze) to match your brand.
• Reach international customers with built-in support for almost 10 languages, including right-to-left scripts. Serve EU markets (EN, FR, IT, DE, ES), Japanese customers, and Arabic-speaking regions without extra translation apps.
• Give shoppers more control with automatic dark/light mode switching, smart product filtering, and seamless cart features.
• Start strong with free setup assistance, design consulting, and dedicated support from certified Shopify experts.
• Pay once and benefit forever with free theme updates and new feature releases. No recurring costs and no surprise fees – just continuous improvements to keep your store competitive.

Is Aurora theme worth trying for your Shopify store?

The decision to invest in Aurora Shopify theme should be based on your specific business needs and target audience, as well as an emphasis on visual storytelling and marketing effectiveness.

Aurora is worth considering for any merchant who wants a robust and feature-rich theme to enhance their online presence. Just remember the possible trade-offs related to development complexity and ongoing maintenance.

If the $340 price or performance makes you hesitate, check out other Shopify themes, such as Eurus. The one that has many similar features but at a much lower cost and with more excellent technical optimization and built functionality.

After considering each alternative’s advantages and disadvantages, you can choose to fit your business objectives and budget. To catch up with more theme updates and eCommerce tips, follow our latest blogs at Omni Themes. Thank you for reading !