Best Ecommerce Platforms In Canada

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If you’re running a product or service based business in Canada, you have either created an ecommerce store or you’re seriously considering it. Let’s face it, all eyes are online and if you’re not, you’re missing out on many opportunities. Your choices when it comes to ecommerce platforms are endless, but we’ve taken a deep dive into this subject to help you out! In this article, we’ve narrowed down the 5 best ecommerce platforms in Canada. Let’s dive in!

Start Your Ecommerce Store Today!

This is a great time to start your own online store as the most popular shopping trends are:

Mobile Shopping: Mobile devices dominate in terms of sales. You can shop with mobile on Goodness Plus. But among all Two-thirds of shoppers made their purchase using a mobile device according to BI Intelligence, and retailers need to be looking for ways to keep up.

Amazon: for sure, the king of ecommerce. According to Retail Dive, the online shopping giant sells more products than Walmart, Nordstrom, Kohl’s, Target, Sears, Best Buy, and H&M combined.

EBay: an open marketplace where people can shop, sell and buy in different categories. It’s powered by over 190 million buyers in 190 countries.

Jet.com – a startup founded in 2015, which, unlike the competition, relies heavily on selling only on-demand products, such as apparel and furniture.

5 Of The Best Ecommerce Platforms In Canada

#1 BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a full-featured ecommerce solution that can be combined with ecommerce hosting. BigCommerce is based in the U.S. but there are three brand name ecommerce stores that have been launched in Canada using its platform. BigCommerce was built by a group of entrepreneurs who have have extensive experience in ecommerce, and who have even launched a web hosting company. The great thing about this platform is that it’s based on open source software and it’s optimized for both mobile and desktop platforms. BigCommerce supports many payment gateways including PayPal, Voila, Authorize.net, Stripe, and Visa. It allows you to build a variety of ecommerce solutions including custom websites, stores, marketplaces, and apps.

#2 Shopify

There’s a reason why Shopify is one of the most well known ecommerce platforms in the world. It is incredibly easy to use, has top-notch security features, and has a store that is built specifically for Canadian businesses. Shopify also offers a handful of features that ecommerce competitors don’t, like custom payment gateways, which are not offered on competitor platforms.

Shopify boasts an incredibly smooth onboarding process. You can set up an online store within just a few minutes, but the real value is in Shopify’s advanced features like importing an existing inventory and integrating it with your social media accounts. Also, Shopify is known for its prompt and stellar customer service.

#3 WooCommerce

WooCommerce is the largest online shopping cart in the world. It’s been around since 2009 and continues to improve. WooCommerce’s recent release includes the extension called “WooCommerce Flex,” which means you can optimize your store for different businesses like local products or unique products. WooCommerce Flex also allows you to create a store that is simple and easy to navigate.

As far as market share, WooCommerce boasts the second spot in ecommerce platforms. It’s constantly expanding their app ecosystem and adding new features.

#4 Magento Commerce

Magento is a very popular ecommerce solution that has been around since 2006 and is also well-known as a suite of ecommerce solutions. It is an open source platform that has been around for so long that many ecommerce competitors, vendors, and creators rely on it. If you’re looking for a powerful and easy-to-implement platform, Magento is your best bet.

Magento offers the most flexible shopping experience for small businesses, because it allows you to adjust many features according to your business and the products that you’re selling. It has an extensive ecommerce platform that allows you to build rich online stores that are fully customizable. It also lets you easily develop and sell targeted marketing campaigns.

#5 OpenCart

OpenCart is a highly customizable open source ecommerce platform with no monthly fees. It has a robust administrator dashboard that gives you an at-a-glance view of important metrics like sales, customers, and more.

OpenCart also has multi-store support that lets you stay on top of different stores from a single interface. This functionality lets you set products for different stores, use specific themes for each online store, and localize your websites. Product options and attributes are also quite flexible with OpenCart, and the solution lets you add extra product variables.

Why WooCommerce is the Best Choice for Small Businesses Looking to Start Out on a Budget

Let’s face it, WordPress powers 455 million (yes, that’s 455 with six zeros at the end) websites on the web. It’s no wonder that its ecommerce platform has gained incredible popularity over the years.

If you’re website is on WordPress and you don’t want to go through the headache of migrating it to another website builder, we suggest going with WooCommerce as your ecommerce platform. It integrates right into your WordPress software and you’ll be entering your products within minutes!

Why OpenCart is the Best Choice for Large Businesses with Complex Needs

Just like most ecommerce platforms, OpenCart is highly customizable and extendable. It has more 13,00 modules and themes that you can use to truly make your site your own.

Advantages:

Highly customizable thanks to the fact that it’s open source
Plenty of integrations
The platform itself is free
Does not come with large ongoing development costs

Other Reasons To Use Open Cart

Open source
Self-hosted
Large marketplace of themes, plugins, gateways, and more
Community and dedicated support

Conclusion

If you’re looking to create and launch your online store with one of the best ecommerce platforms in Canada, contact us today and we’ll be happy to give you a hand!

We also offer Montreal SEO and Toronto SEO via our digital marketing division: SEO Troop. Contact us today to get your digital marketing journey started!

In the mean time, check out our blog on website design trends for 2021 and get inspired!