Case Study: Josh Early Candies

Josh Early Candies is a fifth generation, family-owned confectioner based in the Lehigh Valley, PA. Since the early 1900’s, Josh Early evolved from a wholesale confectionary business into an institution and tourist destination for chocolate lovers around the world, making Josh Early a 14x consecutive winner of the “Best of the Valley.”

Josh Early Candies has a passion for making traditional, high quality chocolates and candies. Every confection they make uses the same processes, the same labor, and the same recipes as they have since they were first developed in the 1930’s. No preservatives, no complicated machinery, no airbrushed pictures. The care and attention to authentic detail is one of the reasons locals can’t get enough.

With a well established brick and mortar business, in late 2005, Josh Early realized the potential in bringing their chocolate to the masses through their website. While the site was in line with the standards of the early 2000s, owner Barry Dobil, Jr. thought it was time to take it to the next level.

“We were looking for a firm that was going to be able to understand our old school way of doing business and be able to accurately take that to the web. We didn’t just want to put our products online for people to purchase, we wanted to get them as close to an in store experience as possible.”

By 2006, Josh Early had gone through a complete redesign and storefront development leading to a website that they were proud to call their own with several innovative new features including:

Two complete redesign projects in three-year intervals to facilitate the shopping experience and integrate more personalized items.
The development of a “Pick Your Own Box of Chocolates” portion of the website where Josh Early aficionados can create a box of their favorite chocolates.
Complete customer management and phone ordering system to facilitate the logistical operations between customer orders through different channels.
Comprehensive web-marketing programs to encompass the integration with a social media campaign, search engine marketing, and cross-promotions with offline efforts.

In 2012, The Kyle David Group would assist Josh Early in a number of major web initiatives. Some of the major initiatives have included:

The development of a cutting-edge “Custom Nonpareil” ordering system where users can not only order a nonpareil designed exclusively by them, but also customize packaging and messaging.
Custom email campaigns to reinforce the brand and promotions.

“We are extremely protective of the Josh Early Candies brand. For us, it was a leap of faith entrusting The Kyle David Group with our presence on the web. We’re happy to be aligned with a company that has shown patience in knowing us, our business, and ultimately the ability to advise us accordingly.”