Tony’s Chocolonely’s journey to a scalable, unified platform on Shopify Plus.

Changing the cocoa industry, one bar at a time

Tony’s Chocolonely isn’t your average chocolate brand—they’re here to change the industry. From day one, they’ve been on a mission: to end exploitation in cocoa. With their commitment to transparency and fair partnerships with cocoa farmers, Tony’s Chocolonely has redefined what it means to do business with purpose. With their sights set on becoming the leading platform for personalized chocolate gifting, they needed an ecommerce solution that could match their ambitions.

But their custom-built platform had reached its limit. High costs, complex maintenance, and performance issues were blocking innovation. To achieve their vision, Tony’s Chocolonely enlisted Ask Phill to lead a strategic migration to Shopify Plus, targeting scalability, efficiency, and optimized user experiences for B2C, B2B, and Business to Resellers (B2R) channels.

The platform limitations on the path to scalable growth

As Tony’s Chocolonely expanded, their previous ecommerce setup began to face challenges. Originally built to support a multi-segment business, the custom platform became increasingly resource-intensive due to high Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), complex maintenance requirements, and limitations in flexibility. To sustain their ambitious growth and streamline operations, Tony’s needed a platform that could unify and optimize diverse sales channels—B2C, B2B, and Wholesale—within a scalable, future-proof environment.

• Scalability struggles: Tony’s Chocolonely required a flexible platform capable of handling increased traffic and supporting seamless growth across B2C, B2B, and Wholesale channels, while also enabling global expansion. Although the old platform managed multiple segments effectively, its limitations in scalability and performance made global growth increasingly challenging and costly.

• Integration complexities: While their previous platform handled CRM and ERP integrations well, integrating additional third-party tools and apps proved challenging. This limitation made it difficult to expand capabilities and enhance the customer experience without impacting performance.
  
  
• Performance limitations: To meet Tony’s Chocolonely’s strategic focus on B2B and personalized gifting, they required a more robust platform to handle high-demand customizations efficiently. While personalization features like the Wrapper Creator were functional, their previous platform faced stability challenges during peak usage and became increasingly resource-intensive to maintain. Optimizing the platform was essential to support Tony’s evolving growth ambitions and deliver consistent performance as demand increased.

Building a powerhouse platform for sweet ambitions

To take Tony’s Chocolonely from a solid setup to a powerhouse for growth, Ask Phill created a Shopify Plus solution designed to scale operations, streamline processes, and deliver an exceptional customer experience. As part of this unified approach, we collaborated with Wolfpack to integrate their Omni-channel Retail Platform (ORP), enabling seamless order management and efficient omni-channel operations. Here’s how we built a foundation ready to scale globally:

• Platform unification: One platform for all sales channels—B2C, B2B, and Wholesale—each with unique customer journeys and tailored features based on user login. This setup supports Tony’s Chocolonely’s ambitions to reach a global audience with 12 languages and multi-currency options (USD, GBP, EUR).
  
  
• Design solution:  Analogue took charge of the visual design (UI), adapting Tony’s Chocolonely’s bold brand colors—red, blue, and yellow—to create a fresh, cohesive look. Meanwhile, Ask Phill focused on the user experience (UX), crafting intuitive pathways for customers across all segments. Each product detail page uses color associations to align the wrapper with the background (e.g., orange for caramel sea salt), allowing customers to effortlessly connect flavors with colors.
  
  
• User journey and wireframes: Translating over 300 technical requirements into intuitive user flows required meticulous planning and precision. Our wireframes guided a seamless customer experience, making it easy for users to explore, personalize, and purchase, no matter their segment.
  
  
• Key integrations:
• Salesforce: Integrated for ChocoFanCare (their customer service department), enabling customer support to respond across channels effectively.
  
• Wolfpack OMS: We worked with Wolfpack to ensure smooth order management from checkout to delivery. 
• Wrapper Creator: In partnership with Bitfactory, we seamlessly integrated the Wrapper Creator, a tool that allows customers to personalize the chocolate bar wrapper with custom colors, text, and designs. 
• Integration landscape: This project involved a rich and complex integration landscape, including connections via Boomi middleware to Microsoft Dynamics Business Central (the ERP). Our focus was on integrating Shopify with the Wolfpack ORP, which plays a critical role in syncing data across platforms to ensure smooth operations and a unified experience.

Custom features designed for a future-proof platform

Ask Phill took the platform to the next level by implementing purpose-built features that elevate the user experience and ensure the platform is ready for the future.

• Flexible payment terms: For high-value B2B clients, we developed a custom “Pay by Invoice” feature, empowering corporate partners to place bulk orders and pay later. This tailored solution allows Tony’s Chocolonely’s clients the flexibility they need for large-scale, gifting-focused purchases—perfectly suited to their unique business model.
  
• Ladder pricing for multiple segment: Ask Phill’s custom ladder pricing feature enables Tony’s Chocolonely to offer the same product at different price tiers across customer segments. Managed within the Chocoportal—a custom backend application built by Ask Phill—this functionality allows Tony’s Chocolonely to apply volume discounts and flexible pricing for each segment, providing B2B clients with competitive, tailored pricing based on customer type and order size.

• Multi-market Klaviyo setup: We implemented Klaviyo across key markets, enabling Tony’s Chocolonely to send targeted, mission-driven messaging tailored to local audiences. This setup supports multi-country and multi-language outreach, ensuring communications resonate with regional needs and preferences.
  
• Wrapper creator integration: Collaborating with Bitfactory, we seamlessly integrated the Wrapper Creator, a fan-favorite feature for personalization. Now, high-volume custom orders for corporate gifting flow smoothly, allowing chocofans and companies alike to create unique, branded chocolate wrappers tailored to their own messages and occasions.

Biting into measurable results

The transformation was more than a technical upgrade; it created measurable business impact for Tony’s Chocolonely, enhancing their reach, performance, and customer experience.

• 2.5x faster site speed: With improved performance, customers enjoy a quick, responsive experience, even during peak times.
  
• Expanded global reach: The brand now operates in 6 transactional markets with multi-currency support, laying the foundation for further expansion.
  
• Unified commerce experience: Tony’s Chocolonely serves all segments—B2C, B2B, and B2R—on one unified platform, streamlining complex operations and enabling scalable growth.

Looking forward

With a purpose-driven platform on Shopify Plus, Tony’s Chocolonely now has the foundation to expand their promise—ending exploitation in cocoa—on a global scale. From seamless personalization to unified channels, every feature is designed to bring their values to life in each customer interaction.