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By Haleys

Digitizing Traditional Art Sales with a Custom Shopify Solution

 

About the client

By Haleys is a family-run studio based in the UK that creates hand-painted panoramic wall murals. The company was founded by Geoff Haley, who has over 40 years of experience in design and painting. They specialize in producing large-scale, unique murals inspired by the landscapes of West Yorkshire. By Haleys combines traditional artwork techniques with digital technology to deliver detailed, high-quality murals for residential and commercial interiors for clients worldwide. The company emphasizes craftsmanship, artistic detail, and personalized service to transform interior spaces.

Service Provided: Custom Shopify App Development

 

Business Challenge

Bringing Traditional Art to Digital Commerce. By Haleys wanted to sell their traditional, hand-painted murals through their eCommerce platform. Their goal was to connect directly with customers while maintaining the personal touch of their artistic process. However, the existing Shopify store required custom features to accommodate personalized home décor, as every customer's wall dimensions and aesthetic preferences call for individualized solutions.

Technical Limitations of Standard Solutions. Off-the-shelf Shopify apps lacked the flexibility to handle the complex requirements: interactive image cropping, real-time pricing calculations based on square footage, and integration with custom product specifications. 

Complex User Experience Requirements. The client wanted customers to have a hands-on experience when choosing custom murals online. Customers needed to crop and adjust images, preview their choices in real time, and get accurate pricing based on dimensions. The system also had to generate PDF quotes and integrate with Shopify's cart and checkout process while working smoothly across all devices.

 

The Solution

Team Allocation and Development Approach

By Haleys chose Grodas for our expertise in Shopify development and our rich portfolio of complex eCommerce solutions. We built a custom app that allows customers to personalize their mural selections while preserving the quality and unique feel that makes By Haleys special.

Our dedicated team included a Project Manager/Shopify Expert, Team Lead/Full-stack Developer, Backend Developer, and QA Engineer. This structure ensured clear communication while addressing all technical requirements.

Analysis and Planning

The team started by working out the requirements, developing technical specifications, creating an implementation roadmap, and building a backlog divided into manageable parts. Our approach included:

This stage ensured that we built a solution aligned with every aspect of By Haleys’ needs while keeping the project on track. 

Development and Implementation

  1. Custom Interface Development. Our team designed and built a custom app using React, Polaris (Shopify's admin framework), and Laravel for the backend. The intuitive interface allows users to choose eligible mural products, configure their selections, and interactively crop images on a full-screen canvas with live previews and instant pricing updates.

  2. Real-Time Pricing Engine. We developed pricing logic through a custom Shopify theme extension that calculates costs based on the selected image dimensions. Customers receive immediate, accurate cost information as they customize their selections.

  3. Shopify Ecosystem Integration. We built a custom API to handle orders, generate previews, and trigger automated PDF exports. The entire purchase process remains within Shopify's system. Customers can add the final adjusted mural directly to the cart with all size details captured and passed to the backend.

  4. Admin Management Dashboard. We built an admin interface using Polaris that lets the By Haleys team view and manage orders, track customer selections, and send order previews. This tool simplifies the client's workflow while providing complete order management control.

  5. Automated PDF and Email Generation. When customers finish customizing, the system automatically generates a PDF showing their adjusted image selection and emails it as a quote or draft. This speeds up communication, improves the buying experience, and helps close sales faster.        

  6. Mobile-Responsive Design. Our solution works consistently across desktop, tablet, and mobile devices, so customers can create and customize their murals from anywhere. The responsive design delivers a high-quality user experience that reflects By Haleys' commitment to excellence.

By combining modern web technologies with Shopify's capabilities, we created an intuitive experience that makes it easy for customers to explore and order personalized interior murals while giving By Haleys a complete business management tool. Their new Shopify store became a digital extension of their artistic vision, built for the way people shop today.

 

Technologies and tools we used:

What Our Client Says

"The whole team was extremely professional and understood our vision and needs from the offset."

See full review on Clutch

Richard Haley,

Co-Founder and Creative Director at Haley Studios Ltd.