Ecommerce development for Canadian stores

Choosing the platform

The platform should match your catalogue, team and growth plans. Shopify suits most new stores because it handles hosting, checkout and security, and has strong apps for shipping and taxes. WooCommerce suits businesses already on WordPress or needing deep content control. Custom builds suit unusual products, complex pricing or wholesale rules that off-the-shelf tools fight.

We explain trade-offs in plain terms before quoting. Our Shopify vs WooCommerce comparison is a good place to start, and the Shopify vs BigCommerce comparison helps if you sell at higher volume.

Whichever platform you choose, check how you will export your data. Products, customers and order history should be yours to take if you change platform or agency later, and we confirm the export route during scoping.

Canadian store setup

Tax is the area where mistakes cost real money. We set it up to match your instructions and test sample orders for each province you sell to. Your accountant confirms the rules, especially for small-supplier thresholds and for how you register and remit.

Shipping in a large country

Distance and remote delivery make shipping a major cost in Canada. We build clear rate tables by zone or weight, show delivery estimates at checkout and, where it helps, offer pickup or local delivery. Rural and northern addresses often cost more, so we set rules that protect your margin without surprising the customer.

Cross-border shipping to the United States needs duty and customs information in the product data. We set up fields for harmonized codes and country of origin where you need them, and make sure the checkout is honest about who pays duties.

Returns deserve the same care as outbound shipping. We set up a return flow with labels or instructions, and write a clear returns page, because Canadian shoppers compare policies before they buy. Free returns can lift conversion but also margin loss, so we model the effect with your numbers before you promise it.

Privacy, marketing consent and consumer rules

A store collects names, addresses and purchase histories, so PIPEDA applies, with Quebec Law 25 adding extra duties for Quebec customers. We add clear notices, a privacy policy link in the checkout and consent controls for marketing cookies. Newsletter sign-ups use an unticked CASL-style consent box and a stored record.

The Competition Act also covers online pricing. Prices shown must be the real price, and mandatory fees should not appear only at the last step. We design the cart and checkout to show the full cost early, which also lowers abandonment.

Speed, SEO and conversion

A beautiful store that loads slowly loses customers on mobile. We compress and size images, trim apps and scripts, and test on throttled mobile connections. Product and category pages get clear titles, structured data and sensible URLs from day one, so you do not need an emergency fix later. See ecommerce SEO in Canada for the search side.

Conversion work includes trust signals, clear delivery and returns information, guest checkout and fewer form fields. The CRO checklist lists the tests we run before launch.

After launch, we review search queries, abandoned carts and slow pages every month for the first quarter, and propose the three changes most likely to raise revenue.

Project steps

1. ScopeCatalogue, markets, integrations and a fixed quote within one working day.
2. Design and buildTheme or custom front end, product import, tax, shipping and payment setup.
3. Test ordersSample purchases for each province, payment method and shipping option.
4. Launch and careGo live at a quiet hour, watch orders and fix issues quickly. Plan launches away from the Black Friday to Boxing Day peak.

Calls take place in your morning: 9:00 in Halifax is 18:30 in India in winter. Our New York office shares Eastern time.

Pricing

Projects start at $1,500 and our rate is $30 an hour, in US dollars. Catalogue size, custom features and migrations move the quote. Platform fees, apps and payment processing are billed by their vendors. See the ecommerce solutions page for scope, and the ecommerce website cost guide for ranges.