Speroteck Speroteck

Home  /  Сase studies  /  Candy Favorites

Candy Favorites

Established in 1927, Candyfavorites (McKeesport Candy Co.) is the oldest, privately owned wholesale candy distributor in US offering over 3000 items with an emphasis on old fashion and nostalgic retro candies. For almost 100 years 3 generations of the dynasty fully dedicated to this family business have abided by the vital core principles of the founder: to provide customers with the highest quality candy at reasonable prices and exceptional customer care. Constatntly looking forward into the future it was one of the first 500 online stores and uniquely distinguished as the FIRST online candy store!

---

Client

candyfavorites.com

Headquarters

1101 Fifth Avenue, McKeesport, PA 15132

Industry

E-commerce, confectionery

Buyer Persona

Anyone who loves sweets, looking for a great present, organizing any possible gathering ranging from a family party to a trade show and a corporate event, or simply feels nostalgic.

Feedback

President CandyFavorites.com

Jon H.PRINCE

CandyFavorites.com, the Internet’s First Candy Store, backed by McKeesport Candy Co., the Oldest Wholesale Candy Company in the nation, has utilized. Speroteck for several years for almost all of our programming needs/
Speroteck has handled various issues, from technical troubleshooting to security issues to module implementation as well as a complete and highly complicated re-platforming effort. In every circumstance, the work is done with attention to detail and courtesy throughout. And there has never been a time when an urgent issue wasn’t addressed promptly, whether day or night, weekday or weekend.

On a personal level, I have developed a strong level of trust in the programmers and a personal friendship with the owners. Both are rarities in today’s day and age of impersonal outsourced programming.
Long-term relationships are essential to my 97 years old company, and we have been fortunate to use Speroteck for most of our time as an online merchant. They have shown flexibility in the ever-changing demands of online commerce and are one of the few programming outfits that truly “practice what they preach.”

Challenge

Our journey began years ago with various requests for fixes and upgrades to the existing early-Magento based website. Being the First online candy store assumes that the website is not only working properly, but also sets an example for others. Naturally, the company always tries to follow the new trends to make the website appealing to customers while providing an easy and secure online shopping experience. Always looking forward and following the development of technologies the company owner addressed Speroteck with a request to move the website further in Magento’s powerful versions. The goal was to transfer all the functionalities to a modern, user and SEO friendly faster platform.

We were following the client’s motto to proceed slowly and safely. Every module was carefully reviewed by our team and the client was presented with the pros and cons of implementing it. If decision would be made to buy the module, we would install it first in the development environment and will give the client enough time to review all aspects of the extension, test it and customize it in the admin panel, and only when the client is 100% satisfy with what the new extension can offer, we would deploy it to the future production site, where it can be tested again.

We can think of a few times when after considering all aspects the decision was made against the proposed feature. For example, the client considered the Magento Points Rewards extension back in 2019. We contacted the vendor to find out that some of the important features are not supported. The purchase was halted at that time. The eBay store and Apple Pay extensions are just more examples of how careful research from all angles can prevent vesting resources on something that is not compatible with other site’s features at the time. The client got back to these items later.  

When our client asked to implement a Hot Weather Protection option on the site, we found a great extension that supports it. However, as it turns out, the extension was over complicated and too expensive for the client’s needs. We gathered a team of developers, carefully considered all details of the request again, and found the solution that will provide the desired functionality without the expensive purchase. 

Speroteck believes that the conservative approach of purchasing new features not only provides a cost-effective way to enhance the site, but also ensures that new features are reliable, intuitive, and always provide the expected experience.

Call-to-Action

Whether you need to implement a new feature or plan a big major upgrade Speroteck’s team is always ready for a challenge. We have well-trained and experienced personnel, such as Account Managers, Business Analysts, Technical Leads and Architects, Project Managers and SEO Specialists, to guide you through any project. Our talented Developers and Quality Assurance Engineers will make any project a breeze.