Our relationship with Molecule started almost 10 years ago. In recent years, we continued our collaboration and we built a bunch of custom features for them – one here, another there, as needed. Nothing too out of the ordinary. But like any long-term relationship without a big-picture check-in, we eventually felt like there was some technical debt left. The shop wasn’t as fast or clean as it could be, and the stack felt a bit… bloated.
A bit of context on our internal direction related to Magento
In the current setup, we were facing the common issues that are known in the Magento ecosystem: custom theming that took up a lot of time and effort, trickier integrations and performance that could use a boost.
That’s why we introduced Molecule to our optimized Hyvä theme, which is faster to develop, easier to maintain, and built for performance.
Through our R&D investment, we built a framework that allows us to:
- Either deliver fully customised frontends for large-scale shops at an accelerated pace.
- Either launch a basic yet high-performing Magento store within days instead of weeks.
- Stay agile with customisations without compromising the performance.
Compete with the go-to-market speed of Shopify while retaining Magento’s robustness. Starting from (almost) scratch
So when Molecule asked for a refresh, we pitched our solutions, but we needed to re-introduce some of their key custom features that makes Molecule a great online store. The difference in approach is that rather than focusing on what needs to go, we focused on what really needed to stay. This exercise brought us to the essence of the shop and to reduce bloating, simplifying the implementation for more efficiency in the short- and long term. Introducing a new theme was the perfect moment to take a fresh start.
First, we implemented the foundation
Magento did not natively offer this level of flexibility, but we made it possible, enabling a store to be set up and customised within days. More specific for Molecule, the frontend work only took days.
Then, we sprinkled on some custom work
We started with the question: If we wiped everything, what’s actually worth bringing back?
That change in perspective made all the difference.
Together with the Molecule team, we went through every custom feature and asked: Is this still doing what it should? Does it help the customer? Is it adding value? If not, it didn’t make the cut.
What stayed and why
We ended up with a leaner, faster frontend. But we also brought back the essentials. Some features that made the cut for Molecule and their customers:
- A custom jobs module that works a bit like a blog. Molecule can add new vacancies in the backend, and the front-end just handles it. Like this: molecule.be/jobs.
- Energy label implementation (because yes, the law says so).
- Our own Omnibus module, developed in-house, guaranteeing price transparency for the end user
- Smart product labels, shown only under specific conditions.
- Custom product statuses, which change how items behave in lists or product detail pages. Useful when some products can’t be ordered online and particularly useful for a broad catalogue that holds tens of thousands of items!
- Gift card integrations tailored to Molecule’s needs
- A flexible CMS setup with Pagebuilder, so Molecule can deliver the right info at the right time.
- More flexibility in the menu configurations to combine content with products
- A condition-based opening hour banner that informs the end user.
More than just e-commerce
Molecule isn’t just focused on selling online. Their site also works as a guide to the physical store. That meant the platform needed to do more than just convert. It had to inform, too. The job was as much about clarity and context as it was about performance.
The result?
A faster, smarter, more focused site. No fluff, no noise. But just the features that matter.
