Case Study
Sunnyland Farms
A legacy brand embraces modern commerce
Sunnyland Farms is a family-owned D2C brand known for gourmet pecans and gifts enjoyed by customers across the country. With over 70 years of heritage and a loyal customer base, Sunnyland has long been known for its quality, care, and deeply personal approach to direct-to-consumer ecommerce.
But as customer expectations evolved, their website wasn’t keeping pace with customer expectations or internal needs. They needed a modern ecommerce site built for both performance and scale.
The Challenge
Sunnyland Farms had outgrown its legacy .NET ecommerce platform. The website that had served them well in the past was no longer meeting modern shopper expectations or the need for operational agility.
Pain points included:
- Technical debt that made even simple updates feel like heavy lifts.
- SEO and performance limitations were capping growth.
- The marketing team had limited agility to launch campaigns or update content.
Our Approach
We started with a discovery phase to document technical requirements and identify the ideal platform for growth. BigCommerce stood out for its seamless API integration with Sunnyland’s custom systems and built-in multi-address shipping capabilities.
Key Highlights:
Seamless Data MigrationWe migrated more than 1.3 million customer records and years of order history with zero downtime. Our custom data strategy preserved all customer accounts, order data, and product relationships accurately.
Brand-Forward UXUsing BigCommerce’s Stencil framework, we rebuilt the site to feel familiar and modern. The new design improved speed, mobile usability, and shopping features such as custom gift messages and dynamic product variants, all without custom code.
Custom Middleware for Operational ContinuityTo keep fulfillment running smoothly, we built a middleware application that connected BigCommerce to Sunnyland’s .NET-based label printing and shipping systems. This ensured the transition did not disrupt operations.
It’s been a great experience. Probably the best agency experience I’ve had. You all have this stuff locked down.
Business Impact
The modernized ecommerce website has equipped Sunnyland Farms to meet current market demands and scale future growth.
- Greater team agility: Marketing and ecommerce teams now manage updates, content, and promotions independently.
- Improved site speed & SEO: Clean architecture, built-in microdata, and automated redirects improved organic visibility.
- No fulfillment disruption: Our custom middleware preserved label formatting and shipping workflows, ensuring a seamless transition without disrupting fulfillment operations.
- Scalable infrastructure: The business is now positioned to evolve without reinventing their backend each time.
Why It Matters
For brands with complex operations and legacy systems, platform migration can feel overwhelming. But with the right partner, it becomes a growth catalyst, not a risk.
LimeLight’s proven website migration process enables brands to embrace modern ecommerce while preserving their unique identity and customer relationships.
