It received mixed reviews from critics, with some calling it a retread of 50 Cent's collaboration with Lil' Kim on "Magic Stick" (2003).

[6] The production was described by IGN as having a "Middle Eastern tinge" with synthesized strings that "unleash a darkly atonal whirl that sounds too much like something either Timbaland or The Neptunes or Mannie Fresh have concocted".

PopMatters described it as "dripping with sexual energy and cool" and is "sexy as hell, but contains a pretty unmistakable edge of hostility, macho swagger, and thunderous chest thumping.

"[9] Entertainment Weekly wrote that it was an "appealing throwaway single" and lyrics such as "after you work up a sweat, you can play with the stick" are not seductions; "they're orders".

[11] Author Ethan Brown, in a review of The Massacre, called the track "uninspiring" and "nearly identical" to his previous collaboration with Lil' Kim on "Magic Stick".

"[12] Pitchfork Media listed "Candy Shop" as a reprise of "Magic Stick" both "in beats and in timbre",[13] and Stylus magazine said it was "more of the same" as his previous collaboration.

[20] Across Europe, the song reached number one in Austria, Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland, and the top five in Ireland, Norway, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

[2][23] Due to rapper Trick Daddy's music video for "Sugar (Gimme Some)" already having candy references, 50 Cent said, "we tried to do something a little different" and not follow the same route.

[2] The video features Olivia as the lead dancer and several models including Chessika Cartwright (as a dominatrix)[24] and Stephanie "Lyric" Evans (as a nurse).

[25] It features cameo appearances from Lil Scrappy and G-Unit members Lloyd Banks and Young Buck.

In 2011, German group The Baseballs released a rockabilly version of "Candy Shop", which reached number 69 on the Austrian singles chart.

Folk artist Suzanne Vega sampled "Candy Shop" for her 2014 release, "Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles".