Technology has changed how people shop for anything online, whether groceries, food, medicine, or even a needle. Everything is available on eCommerce platforms these days. Almost every nation has accepted digital transformation’s importance and started loving to shop for everything from e-commerce platforms.
In these present times, the best e-commerce platforms are pressured to live up to par, meet customers’ expectations, and maintain their brand’s goodwill in all this chaos. Henceforth, every business must choose the best eCommerce platform to run it effectively and smoothly.
But yes, with so many aggregators in the market, it becomes difficult for businesses to choose from various e-commerce platforms. Similarly, in Canada, the eCommerce market is growing and evolving more than ever one could have imagined.
As per statistics, it has been found that Canada is one of the countries with the highest internet penetration in 2023; it has become essential for every small business or big venture to start building up their eCommerce website as early as possible.
But worry not; we have got you covered with our curated list of the best eCommerce platforms in Canada. It’s an in-depth analysis of which eCommerce platforms excel and stand out in the market. And their solutions and features, which help in launching a website effortlessly.
What it means to have an eCommerce platform?
An eCommerce platform is a gateway to your software solutions, which will help your business reach new heights with better revenues and profits throughout the year. It basically enables you to run your online store platform quickly. You don’t need to worry about hosting, payment processing, website design, layout, filters, shipping, and other recurring tasks.
You get everything in one place without worrying that anything is left out. Your whole store comes together for your customers with just one feature: drag and drop. You get real-time insights about customers, what they like, and what they’re finalizing in their cart, and based on these kinds of insights, you can find out customer behavior and patterns in their preferences.
Some examples of eCommerce platforms are Shopify, BigCommerce, Wix, Squarespace, Magento, and many more; the list is endless. The good thing about eCommerce platforms is that they offer a wide variety of features and integrations within the platform itself, so businesses don’t need to look anywhere else.
This makes it easy for people to customize the store exactly how they need it. Without much waste of time, business owners can start running their stores quickly without any burden or headaches.
Tips for Choosing the Right eCommerce Platform
Choosing the right eCommerce platform for your business is one of the most important decisions for any business owner. In a pool of so many platforms, paying close attention to features you want or don’t want and whether they matter for your business, in the long run, is crucial to understand.
It might work in their favor for a few sellers but not for others. It has been seen that after selecting the desired eCommerce platform, many people regret that they should have researched better before making the payment and the whole website. You must also research thoroughly if you require software to support large inventories.
Even if you have a brick-and-mortar store (basically a traditional method of running a street-side or physical store or business that sells products and services to its customers face-to-face in an office or store that the company owns or rents) but want your online store now, you need to look for a platform with point-of-sale (POS) capabilities so that your inventory is automated and gets synced automatically, no matter where the purchase has been made.
So, it’s essential to consider a few points before selecting any platform for your online store. Thinking of all these, check other features to see if they can load and handle heavy traffic on sales or weekends.
Then, start considering the budget and how easy it is to use for both your employees and customers.
Most importantly, check if the platform includes an SSL certificate.
This is a sign of credibility that this certificate lets your customer know if it’s safe to input their credit card or payment mode details while placing an order. Also, ensure that if it allows you in-depth analytics for your business, you can track your customer’s preferences and where your business is going.
List of best eCommerce platforms in Canada
Shopify
Canadian Golden Egg Very few people know that Shopify is a Canadian company founded in Ottawa. It is a known eCommerce platform recognized for its easy accessibility and toolset. From small businesses to startups to big ventures in Canada, you can rely on Shopify without hesitance.
It has various options, customizations, layouts, and designs, varying according to different sizes of businesses and budgets.
In fact, the platform has a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, a holistic app store, and strict inventory management. Henceforth, in Canada, it has become the favorite of many brands. And, as per Shopify data in September 2021, Shopify powered over 1.7 million businesses worldwide. And in 2020, Shopify’s gross merchandise volume (GMV) exceeded $119 billion.
But this is not the end. As per the latest data for 2023, there are 4,309,969 live websites currently powered by Shopify. This platform is best for omnichannel sellers who want a user-friendly drop shipping method. It is possible with Shopify because of their large number of dropshipping integrations.
WooCommerce
This platform is the perfect choice for those looking for easy and smooth integration between their content and commerce. For businesses already using WordPress, WooCommerce is the ideal platform. As a plugin within the WordPress framework, it provides a business-end number of customizations and multiple selections of extensions effortlessly integrating with WordPress.
Moreover, it also includes control and authority over their virtual storefronts. Recent statistics indicate that WooCommerce powers approximately 28% of all online stores. They also have features like online bookings, subscriptions, etc.
This platform is helpful and fruitful for businesses aiming to inculcate eCommerce swiftly with content-driven marketing strategies. For companies that are familiar with WordPress, this platform works in their favor.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is widely known for boosting sales; companies can surely expand and reach heights in their business with the BigCommerce platform. They are acclaimed for their critical thinking and focus on growth, a big turn-off for Canadian eCommerce entrepreneurs. They have features like no transaction fee, abandoned cart recovery, omnichannel selling, etc.
They also support businesses with built-in SEO tools, multi-channel retail capabilities, and a deck of responsive themes. With a strong focus on mobile optimization and integrations, considering the marketplace, BigCommerce serves enterprises with substantial growth. As per recent reports, 3.4% of BigCommerce stores are in Canada.
Magento
This platform is a widely popular open-source eCommerce platform, and few people know that Adobe owns it. It has set a benchmark for advanced customization and highly rich capabilities. On the other hand, they’re also highly skilled people proficient in technology.
Magento is the perfect choice for businesses with comprehensive and intricate requirements looking for powerful marketing, search engine optimization, and catalog management tools. Companies will use powerful developer tools, API-first, and many other tools that will help them make quality eCommerce websites.
It will also provide you with open-source and cloud-based solutions. Companies looking forward to expanding in Canada or with businesses in Canada can go for it with various options in one place.
Wix eCommerce
Wix is recognized as a website builder because of its flexible drag-and-drop editor. Wix is not just intuitive; it is easy to use with tons of online store templates and design options, making it easy for companies to start and reducing the workload of starting from scratch. Their best feature is listing and selling unlimited products and recovering abandoned carts.
All templates are free, and they accept recurring payments. Though it can be expensive sometimes, it is ideal for startups and small businesses aiming for accelerated growth and deployment of eCommerce operations.
Squarespace Commerce
This platform is all about aesthetics, and if you’re looking to build up your website aesthetically with some stunning and customizable templates, then Squarespace Commerce is best for you. Most of their templates are free to use and come with the perk of selling unlimited products.
They also provide
- Free domain and SSL certificates.
- No transaction fees.
- Some stunning award-winning templates.
You’ll also get real-time eCommerce analytics and the ability to sell and tag your products on Instagram posts. Yes, they don’t have any free plans, but they also don’t have a transaction fee and unlimited bandwidth and storage.
Weebly
It is a platform known for its simplicity and ease of use; one doesn’t need a very complex knowledge of website building for its eCommerce platform. It’s also considered an affordable option on the market. A wide range of people know this platform as the best value offer, and it offers a forever-free plan with endless products.
Its main feature is unlimited storage and beginner-friendly usage. One can sell both physical and digital goods. Moreover, it also has a drag-and-drop interface and an automatic tax and shipping calculator.
Big Cartel
This platform has become enormously famous, and many people have loved it. It is one of the most affordable platforms for building an online store. It is so affordable that it offers unique free plans that allow businesses to connect their domain name and sell up to five products. It caters to typical online sellers in the creative industries.
But it’s so easy to build up a website and afford to build up an online store platform from scratch. And with Big Cartel, you can sell your products in person, on Facebook, or online. Businesses also get essential features like order management, inventory tracking, etc., as it’s easy to use without overdoing or customizing it.
Stay Updated With Trends
It is also crucial for eCommerce businesses to understand that they need to stay updated with upcoming and ongoing trends. Yes, it’s no surprise that eCommerce companies have broken unsaid rules and paved the way for online business.
Still, it’s mind-blowing to witness those businesses on eCommerce platforms shining more than ever. People are getting many options from online stores; new online stores are also stepping into the market. Henceforth, staying updated with trends and being on your toes every second has become necessary.
Younger generations are smart and way ahead of their time, but still, they’re lethargic in terms of comfort, accessibility, and other conveniences. They want everything online, and their shopping habits are generally online, so why not? They spend most of their time online, so optimizing online sites on behalf of millennials or younger shoppers can boost your revenues and conversion rates.
You can quickly test your site’s appeal by researching where you’re getting most of the traffic or what design or utility is getting liked most. Also, ensure that your marketing campaigns are reaching the right audience.
You can use social media marketing platforms to market your products with ad campaigns and other marketing methods. Businesses have broadly started to sell their products on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and other social media platforms. This was created to help companies reach a large set of audiences effectively.
Wrapping up
Selecting your eCommerce platform correctly is one of the crucial roles any business owner plays. And in Canada, the eCommerce industry is growing more than ever. Without any doubt, the future is bright, but yes, eCommerce companies need to make sure before investing in any tool that important eCommerce features are being provided.
For example, shipping, inventory management, customer management, payment methods, scalability, integrations, and other features
Be it a budding startup or a well-established business. And if you’re looking for multiple channels like online, in-person, mobile, and social media to sell your products, then you need to look for omnichannel capabilities.
However, not many platforms offer this; hence, before purchasing or committing, check the features thoroughly. You can take the help of a skilled consultant to make better decisions. Considering these key metrics, you’ll successfully run your business in Canada.
