Modernizing a Trusted Local Candy Store with Shopify
CPEKS began working with Half Nuts in 2015, initially designing and developing its eCommerce presence on PrestaShop. After supporting the store through years of online growth, we migrated the established business to Shopify—creating a more modern, manageable, and scalable platform for selling bulk nuts, chocolates, nostalgic candy, snacks, party trays, and custom gifts nationwide.
Date
5 January, 2015
Estimation
18 Months
Client
Half Nuts
Category
PrestaShop eCommerce
Date
5 January, 2015
Category
PrestaShop eCommerce
Estimation
18 Months
Client
Half Nuts
Our Planning
Half Nuts is more than an online candy shop. Based in West Allis, Wisconsin, the business combines the personality and personal service of a local retail store with an extensive catalog serving customers throughout the United States. Its online platform needed to preserve that familiar character while making a large and diverse product selection easy to explore and purchase.
Our journey with Half Nuts began in 2015, when we planned and developed its original PrestaShop store from scratch. At that time, the objective was to establish a complete online sales channel capable of presenting the store’s extensive assortment of nuts, chocolates, nostalgic candy, dried fruit, snack mixes, gift trays, and specialty products beyond its physical Wisconsin location.
Over many years of operation, the website accumulated valuable product information, customer relationships, order history, search visibility, and business-specific workflows. When the time came to move from PrestaShop to Shopify, the project therefore required much more than launching a new theme. We needed to modernize the technology while protecting the digital foundation the business had built since 2015.
Our migration planning began with a careful review of the existing catalog structure, collections, product options, customer experience, content, URLs, and store operations. The broad catalog needed a clear hierarchy that could accommodate specialized shopping paths such as candy by color, nostalgic candy, sugar-free selections, chocolates by the pound, raw and unsalted nuts, party trays, and gift baskets.
We also considered the different ways Half Nuts customers shop. Some arrive looking for a favorite childhood candy, while others need coordinated candy colors for a celebration, healthier snack options, corporate gifts, or customized trays for a special occasion. The Shopify experience needed to support both purposeful searches and enjoyable product discovery.
Shipping required particular attention because the catalog contains products with different handling considerations. Chocolate and other heat-sensitive goods may require special shipping decisions during warm weather, while gift trays and customized assortments require accurate product and delivery information. We planned the storefront to communicate these conditions clearly before checkout and help reduce preventable fulfillment issues.
The final strategy was to build a responsive Shopify foundation that retained the recognizable Half Nuts identity while improving usability, store management, platform reliability, and future scalability. The migration was structured to maintain business continuity and provide a dependable platform for the next stage of the company’s online journey.
Client-Centric Approach
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Empathetic Understanding
Beyond expertise, empathizing with your challenges to deliver solutions that not only meet specifications but also exceed expectations.
Transparent Communication
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What we did for
this project
CPEKS designed and developed the original Half Nuts PrestaShop store in 2015 and continued supporting its eCommerce evolution over the following years. We later planned and completed its migration to Shopify, rebuilding the storefront around a more flexible and maintainable commerce architecture. We reorganized the extensive product catalog into intuitive departments and specialized collections, helping customers discover products by category, purpose, dietary preference, and even candy color. We also created responsive shopping experiences for bulk products, nostalgic candy, chocolates, snacks, gifts, party trays, and customized assortments. Throughout the transition, we preserved the brand’s familiar local personality while improving navigation, product presentation, mobile usability, promotional flexibility, and day-to-day store administration.
Long-Term Partnership: Supporting Half Nuts online since 2015.
Shopify Migration: Transitioned the established store from PrestaShop.
Catalog Organization: Structured a large and highly varied product range.
Gift Experiences: Showcased baskets, tins, trays, and custom assortments.
Responsive Commerce: Improved shopping across desktop and mobile devices.
Final Result
The completed Shopify migration gave Half Nuts a modern and dependable eCommerce platform while preserving the identity and customer familiarity developed through years of online operation. The business successfully moved beyond the limitations of its aging PrestaShop environment without abandoning the catalog structure, brand recognition, and commercial value established since the original 2015 project.
Customers can now explore the store’s extensive selection through clearly organized categories covering nuts and seeds, candy, chocolates, snacks, dried fruit, popcorn, cookies, and gifts. Specialized collections—including candy by color, nostalgic favorites, sugar-free products, chocolates by the pound, party trays, and gift tins—make it easier for shoppers to find products for personal enjoyment, celebrations, events, and meaningful gifts.
The new experience connects Half Nuts’ physical Wisconsin store with its nationwide customer base. Local shoppers can learn about the West Allis location and opening hours, while customers elsewhere in the country can discover the same distinctive assortment and order directly online. This allows the business to preserve its neighborhood-store personality while operating as a broader eCommerce brand.
The Shopify foundation also gives the Half Nuts team a more practical way to manage products, collections, seasonal promotions, featured items, content, and customer orders. The platform can adapt more easily as inventory changes, new candy trends emerge, gift collections evolve, or special occasions create new merchandising opportunities.
Responsive development improved access across desktop, tablet, and mobile devices, allowing customers to browse a product-rich catalog and complete purchases wherever they are. Clear warm-weather notices and shipping information also help set appropriate expectations for temperature-sensitive products and nationwide delivery.
Most importantly, the project demonstrates the value of a long-term digital partnership. CPEKS first helped Half Nuts establish its online presence in 2015 and later guided the business through a complete platform transformation as eCommerce technology and customer expectations evolved.
The final result is more than a PrestaShop-to-Shopify migration. It is the continued evolution of a well-established local retailer into a scalable nationwide eCommerce business—combining years of digital history, an extensive specialty catalog, and the unmistakable charm of a traditional candy and nut store within one modern shopping platform.
