How to build a custom Shopify theme like HappaTape

When HappaTape set out to launch their online store, they wanted more than just another Shopify theme. As a brand built around the science of better breathing, sleep, and performance, HappaTape needed a digital experience that felt as smart, functional, and elevated as their products.

Using Instant Page Builder, their in-house design team built their entire Shopify store from the ground up, fully customized, perfectly on brand, and optimized for a frictionless customer journey.

“Right from the beginning, the process was smooth, intuitive, and fast. Instant made it possible to bring HappaTape to life online — a store that embodies our brand: sleek design, performance mindset, and a personal touch. Every feature and detail contributes to our story and helps our customers experience exactly what we designed for: optimal breathing, improved sleep, and enhanced performance.”

— Mike de Vries, Co‑Founder, HappaTape

Building their Shopify store design

HappaTape’s website reflects its mission: helping customers breathe, sleep, and perform better. The team used Instant to craft a cohesive design system that balances a performance-driven look with a wellness-inspired feel.

From the navigation to the cart drawer, every element is custom-built in Instant, precisely matching the intended design.

Here’s what they designed:

Navigation

HappaTape’s custom header design showcases their thoughtful user experience approach. The Shop and Science dropdowns organize the site around how customers think and shop.

• The Shop dropdown lets visitors shop by goal (“Stop snoring,” “Better breathing during sports,” “Better sleep”) or by category (“Mouth tape,” “Nose strips,” “Bundles”).

• The Science dropdown houses pages like How it works, Health benefits, and Reviews; ideal for a brand that blends education and e-commerce.

This setup allows first-time visitors to quickly understand the brand, while returning customers can go straight to what they need, a model that health and wellness brands can learn from.

Cart drawer

HappaTape’s fully custom cart drawer was designed to showcase all key information and increase AOV with: 

• Clear product thumbnails and details

• Clear pricing and discount information

• Recommended cross-sell products

Providing this clear overview upfront increases the likelihood of shoppers completing their purchase. 

Homepage design

HappaTape’s homepage, built entirely in Instant, blends content and conversion seamlessly. What works especially well in their design is their bento grid layout above the fold, which showcases key categories and products without clutter. This, paired with multiple CTAs, helps shoppers to find relevant content immediately.

Below the fold, their homepage explains the why behind the product with sections that answer key questions, explain product variants, inspire with best sellers, educate with clear icons, and build trust with social proof.

PDP template

HappaTape’s product detail pages are fully customized in Instant. They created distinct PDP templates that can be applied across their product catalog.

Every page includes:

• A dynamic image gallery and review carousel

• Buy box with average star rating, key product details, and drop-downs for specifications

• Subscription options versus one-time purchase

• Accepted payment icons for reassurance

Further down the page, the content mirrors the educational flow of the homepage. 

This structure helps shoppers feel informed, confident, and ready to buy, a model other wellness and performance brands can emulate.

Category pages

Rather than a static product grid, HappaTape’s category pages are designed to educate while browsing.

Each includes:

• Product sliders for easy comparison

• A “How it works” section with icons and text

• Reviews and FAQs are embedded directly into the page

It’s a perfect blend of shopping and storytelling, helping shoppers to learn about the science behind their product.

Blog posts

HappaTape also uses Instant to create Shopify blog content, like the founder-written article “Nasal Breathing: Small Difference, Big Effect.”

The clean header image, formatted links, and text-forward layout highlight the brand’s commitment to education and transparency: key to building credibility in the health and performance space.

The building process

Normally, the HappaTape team designs everything first in a separate UI design tool, but with Instant, that wasn't necessary: 

“It’s so intuitive that we could design and develop at the same time!”

The conditions and interactions in Instant proved extremely powerful. For example, they used conditional logic for their custom purchase options, where the UI changes based on what a user selects (like specific buttons or subscription types).

The use of dynamic content through metafields gave them significant freedom as well; they could do way more than they initially thought possible. 

On top of that, they were impressed with their site performance after using Instant:

“Instant’s generated code is super clean and lightweight, which results in an excellent UX for our customers and faster load times.” 

Additionally, the support team was there to assist when any questions arose during the build: 

“And honestly, the support team is one of the best parts. Whenever we got stuck, they helped us within hours — sometimes even minutes. They don’t just fix things for you; they explain everything clearly so you understand how to handle it next time. That’s rare.”

Bringing it all together

From header to checkout, HappaTape’s store is a testament to what’s possible with Instant: complete creative freedom without sacrificing usability or performance.

Every choice feels intentional:

• The navigation is designed for clarity and discovery

• The homepage is structured around education and conversion

• The PDPs are optimized for decision confidence

• Consistent use of icons, trust elements, and storytelling

"The biggest impact is the complete freedom to design and build exactly the store we envisioned — without any compromises. That freedom made all the difference. To be honest, nothing compares to Instant. It's in a league of its own."

— Mike de Vries, Co-Founder, HappaTape

How to build a unique Shopify theme for your health & wellness brand

For any health, performance, or wellness brand on Shopify, HappaTape’s store shows how far you can go when you own your design.

With Instant, you can:

• Build from scratch without a rigid theme

• Tell a story through your homepage, not just sell

• Integrate educational content directly into shopping flows

• Create a UX that feels as premium as your product

"In short, we were done with other builders that were too complicated to use and always limited us in terms of features and flexibility. Instant completely changed that. It gave us full creative freedom and an incredible level of customizability."

— Robin Bodlaender, Co‑Founder, HappaTape

HappaTape didn’t just customize their Shopify theme; they created a storefront that breathes their brand story from start to finish.