Powering Protein Candy’s GTM: Shopify, Klaviyo & Northern’s Winning Strategy

Launching a new brand is tough. Launching a brand in a crowded industry like candy—where sugar-loaded competitors dominate shelves—is even tougher. However, Protein Candy wasn’t just another candy company. They were here to disrupt the market with high-protein, low-sugar snacks that actually taste good. But without an existing audience, an eCommerce presence, or a retail support system, how do you build a brand from the ground up?

10,000+

Email subscribers acquired in 30 days

10,000

SMS subscribers captured

60 Days

Sold out eCommerce inventory

View Website

Industry

Retail

Technology Partners

Klaviyo

Shopify

Solutions

Digital Commerce Strategy

Email Marketing and Automation

Lead Generation and Nurturing

Key Challenges

Challenge #1: No Digital Presence

Protein Candy was stepping into the ring with no eCommerce infrastructure, no website, and no digital storefront—yet they needed a platform that could scale as fast as their retail partnerships. With a nationwide launch already in motion, their website had to be more than just the typical online shop. It had to be a growth engine, capable of driving conversions, supporting subscriptions, and creating an immersive shopping experience that captured the bold energy of the brand itself.

Challenge #2: No Audience, No Awareness

A great product means nothing if no one knows about it. Protein Candy needed to build an audience from scratch—fast. That meant capturing attention before launch, generating an engaged subscriber base, and ensuring that once the brand hit the market, there was already a community hungry to buy.

Challenge #3 Aligning DTC with Retail Expansion

These days, most brands start with direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales before expanding into retail. Protein Candy did the opposite. With partnerships secured in Sobeys, Circle K, and Popeye’s Supplements, they needed an eCommerce strategy that worked in tandem with their retail presence—not against it.

Protein candy on the shelves of a retail store

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Enter Northern.

Our mission? Build an eCommerce machine that could fuel Protein Candy’s rise—starting with Shopify and Klaviyo.

Building a Strong Foundation with Shopify

Protein Candy needed more than just a storefront—it needed an immersive, high-converting eCommerce experience that felt like an extension of the brand itself. With Shopify’s multi-region, multi-currency capabilities, Northern built a seamless shopping experience for both U.S. and Canadian customers, ensuring localised pricing and a frictionless checkout process. But beyond functionality, the site had to do more than just sell—it had to bring Protein Candy to life online.

Protein candy website homepage screenshot

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To capture the brand’s bold personality and create an engaging shopping experience, Northern implemented custom UX/UI features that set Protein Candy apart. Hover effects, interactive ingredient pop-ups, and a 3D rotating product display gave customers an immersive way to explore flavours, understand nutritional benefits, and connect with the product before making a purchase. Every detail was designed to not only drive conversions but to make shopping for Protein Candy as fun and exciting as enjoying it.

Grid of Protein Candy's Shopify stores features and marketing images

Left

Apart from design, Northern also introduced Recharge Subscriptions, enabling time-interval subscriptions that ensured customers could receive their favourite flavours on a recurring basis. This not only improved convenience for shoppers but also drove retention and created a reliable, recurring revenue stream for Protein Candy. By combining seamless cross-border functionality, immersive UX, and a built-in subscription model, Northern delivered an eCommerce foundation designed for long-term growth.

But a great website alone isn’t enough—you need an audience. That’s where Klaviyo came in.

The Power of Klaviyo: From 0 to 20K Subscribers Before Launch

Most startups struggle to build an email list. Protein Candy had zero subscribers when they started. Instead of waiting for organic growth, Northern designed a Klaviyo-powered pre-launch campaign that built an audience before the first sale ever happened.

To generate excitement and capture high-intent customers, Northern launched a “Win Free Candy for a Year” sweepstakes, leveraging Meta Ads to maximise reach and engagement. The campaign encouraged participants to sign up via email and SMS, rapidly growing Protein Candy’s audience before launch. In just 30 days, the sweepstakes collected over 10K email subscribers and 10K SMS subscribers, creating a powerful foundation for ongoing marketing efforts.

Typeform Quiz powered by Meta

Right

Beyond list-building, the sweepstakes also helped Protein Candy learn more about its audience. Using Typeform surveys, Northern gathered zero-party and first-party data on customer preferences, fitness habits, and dietary goals, feeding this directly into Klaviyo’s segmentation engine. This data allowed us to personalise email and SMS messaging, ensuring each subscriber received targeted content and offers tailored to their lifestyle and habits.

With a fully automated email and SMS strategy, Protein Candy was able to nurture and convert its rapidly growing audience. Personalised offers and targeted messaging—based on how customers interacted with the brand—helped drive higher engagement and stronger purchase intent. The results? 26% of sweepstakes sign-ups converted into paying customers, and those who joined the campaign had a 23% higher AOV than standard visitors. With Klaviyo at the core, Protein Candy didn’t just launch with a list—it launched with a highly engaged community, primed for long-term success.

"We were excited to launch Protein Candy but had a lot of questions. Luckily, teaming up with Northern gave us the direction and expertise we needed. Their team was incredibly collaborative to work with—always strategic and full of ideas. They built a Shopify site that brought our brand to life, helped us grow an engaged audience before launch, and set us up for long-term success. Their strategy turned our vision into reality."

Four pouches of protein candy on a pink background

Left

The Results: A Knockout Success

From a brand with no digital presence to an eCommerce powerhouse, Protein Candy’s launch was anything but ordinary. Northern didn’t just build a website and run a marketing campaign—we built a scalable, data-driven business engine that fuelled rapid growth.
The pre-launch Klaviyo strategy created an engaged audience before the first sale, while the Shopify-powered site with Recharge integration ensured that customers kept coming back. The result? A sold-out inventory in just 60 days and a thriving online community that continues to drive long-term success.
By combining Shopify’s flexible eCommerce capabilities with Klaviyo’s powerful audience engagement, Northern helped Protein Candy transform from an ambitious idea to a thriving online brand—and this is just the beginning.

The Key Metrics:

eCommerce Success:

Sold out eCommerce inventory in just 60 days
10,000+ email subscribers acquired in 30 days
10,000 SMS subscribers captured
2,000+ zero-party data responses from Typeform surveys

Conversion & Retention:

26% of sweepstakes sign-ups converted into paying customers
23% higher AOV from sweepstakes participants compared to standard visitors

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