Andy Peterson
Online shopping for Canadians can be a difficult experience. Finding an online store that sells the product you want and offers it at a good price with cheap shipping can be like finding a needle in a haystack. With import fees and expensive shipping costs, it’s not always practical to shop on American-based online businesses.
So what are the best options for Canadians when it comes to shopping on the worldwide web? That’s what you’re going to find out in this article.
Canadians love shopping online. In fact, according to Statistics Canada, 84% of Canadians purchased something online in 2018. This is a huge percentage of the population that feels comfortable using an online store. What are the most popular items that are being purchased online by Canadians?
- 58% purchased clothing, jewelry, or accessories
- 50% purchased their vacation online
- 46% purchased tickets for a concert or sporting event
- 35% purchased video streaming services such as Disney Plus or Netflix.
- 34% purchased music online
As Canadians become more comfortable shopping online, more and more retailers decide to build an online presence for their business. Yet, we cannot trust every online business. People are out there waiting to pounce on Canadians willing to purchase products online and steal their hard-earned money.
Here are 6 tips when purchasing items online:
- Research retailers before you make a purchase
- Ensure that the website is secure. You should see a padlock in the address bar by the online store’s URL.
- Make sure you know their shipping fees and return policy before you make a purchase.
- Keep you virus software up-to-date so that it can scan potential online stores and see if they are legit and don’t have any spyware.
- Make sure that you pay using a Credit Card or PayPal. These payment methods offer you more protection.
- Use common-sense. If the website don’t feel legitimate, then just back away and find a site that’s familiar.
I decided to build you a comprehensive list of the best online merchants available in Canada today.
In this article, I’m going to break it all down. I’m going to list for your the best online stores for the most common categories. The online stores, I’ll mention, ship to Canada and are reasonably priced.
Let’s get to it.
Top Canadian Online Retailers
The online stores below are the top online retailers that are available to you in Canada. These stores are in no particular order and are updated frequently.
For a breakdown of the best online stores for each common category, keep scrolling to the end of this article.
| Almost Everything | Amazon Canada | Amazon.ca | Free Shipping With Prime |
| Almost Everything | Walmart Canada | Walmart.ca | Free shipping on orders above $35 before taxes |
| Almost Everything | The Shopping Channel | tsc.ca | It varies from merchant to merchant |
| Tea | David’s Tea | Davidstea.com | Free Shipping with a Purchase of 3 Teas |
| Office Supplies | Staples | Staples.ca | Free Next-Day Delivery |
| Electronics | Best Buy | Bestbuy.ca | Free shipping on orders above $35 before taxes |
| Auto, Home and Tools | Canadian Tire | Canadiantire.ca | Based on location and item size and weight |
| Housewares | Bed, Bath and Beyond | Bedbathandbeyond.ca | $9.99 on all orders |
| Clothing | Gap | Gap.ca | Free shipping on $50+ |
| Clothing | Old Navy | Oldnavy.ca | Free shipping on $50+ |
| Clothing | boohoo | boohoo.com | $16.99 for 7-day shipping |
| Almost Everything | eBay | eBay.ca | It varies from merchant to merchant |
| Clothing | Roots | Roots.ca | Free for orders $70+ |
| Clothing | Bench | Bench.ca | $9.95 for Standard Shipping |
| Clothing | Mark’s | Marks.com | Standard Shipping is $8.50 |
| Items from China | Wish | Wish.com | It varies from merchant to merchant |
| Workout Clothing | Gymn Shark | Gymshark.com | Free shipping on orders $100+ |
| Printing | Vistaprint | Vistaprint.ca | Orders over $70 are $12.99 |
| Items from China | Aliexpress | Aliexpress.com | It varies from merchant to merchant |
| Clothing | Blooming Dales | Bloomingdales.com | Determined by Borderfree at the checkout |
| Clothing | Pretty Little Things | Prettylittlething.ca | The standard shipping rate is $15.99 |
| Clothing | Missguided | Missguidedus.com | The standard shipping rate is $11 |
| Clothing | ASOS | Asos.com | Free shipping on orders of $75+ |
| Footware | Adidas | Adidas.ca | Free shipping on orders of $50+ |
| Clothing | American Eagle | ae.com | Free shipping on orders of $75+ |
| Clothing | Shein | ca.shein.com | Free shipping on orders of $49+ |
| Clothing | Moosejaw | moosejaw.com | Free shipping on orders of $49+ |
| Clothing | Rose Gal | Rosegal.com | Free shipping on orders of $75.95 |
| Mattress and Pillows | Purple | Purple.com | Free Shipping |
| Crafts | Etsy | Etsy.ca | It varies from merchant to merchant |
| Health & Beauty | Well.ca | Well.ca | Free shipping on orders of $35+ |
| Electronics | The Source | Thesource.ca | Determined at checkout |
| Computers | Apple | Apple.ca | Free |
| Clothing | Lululemon | Lululemon.com | Free |
| Makeup | Sephora | Sephora.com | Free shipping with code: FREESHIPCA |
| Footware | PUMA | Ca.puma.com | Free shipping on orders of $50+ |
| Computers | Dell | Dell.ca | Free Shipping |
| Homewares | Dyson | Dysoncanada.ca | Free Shipping |
| Computers | Lenovo | Lenovo.com | Free Shipping |
| Computers and Electronics | Canada Computers | canadacomputers.com | Flat rate of $8.99 (When Available) |
| Intimates | Hush Canada | Hushcanada.com | Free shipping on orders of $49+ |
| Intimates | The Love Shop | Loveshop.ca | Free shipping on orders of $70+ |
The Best Canadian Online Store for Everyday Things
Our top choice for the best online store for everyday items is Amazon.ca.
Amazon is a great choice for Canadians because of its unbeatable price and fast shipping. With Amazon Prime (products sold and shipped by Amazon), you’re going to get your items in one or two days. Amazon is also great for returns and has excellent customer service.
Another reason why I like Amazon is its selection of items available to you. With Amazon, you can choose from hundreds of merchants that list their products on the Amazon platform from all around the country. This means that no matter what you’re looking for, chances are it’s going to be found on Amazon.ca.
The Best Canadian Online Store for Clothing
This is a hard category to determine a winner because it’s all about your particular style. Clothing is an art and how one expresses themselves, so it’s difficult to showcase one clothing store for all of Canada. You get that, right?
For those looking for a cheaper clothing option, Walmart.ca is probably the best place to begin.
For those looking for a cheaper stylish choice, I would suggest checking out the Gap or the Old Navy. These two stores sell trendy clothes at affordable prices. You can check out their sales by checking out their website.
For more expensive brand-name clothes, you can check out American Eagle, Mark’s, or Roots.
If you really want to trend in an upward direction, Canadians can check out what Blooming Dales or prettylittlething.ca has to offer.
The Best Online Store for Tools
For those looking for tools, car repair items, or household items, our online store of choice would be Canadian Tire.
Canadian Tire offers you a variety of brand-name tools with excellent sales from time to time. Just make sure you compare prices anytime you make a large purchase.
The Best Online Store for Health Products
When purchasing health products online, Canadians should check out well.ca.
Well.ca has a huge selection of health-related products, from vitamins to sunscreen.
I also found that the prices at well.ca to be extremely reasonable, customer service to be great, and the overall experience online was exceptional.
If you are looking for any health-related products, then well.ca should be where you begin your search.
For prescription questions or online services, then you should really head over to Shoppers Drug Mart.
The Best Online Store for Office Supplies
My choice for the best online store for office supplies comes down to choosing an online store with a large section of items at a reasonable price. Staples.ca is perfect because you can do all your online shopping for school, work, and even your home office with a convenient, easy-to-use online store.
Staples carries a large inventory of office supplies which makes it easy to find what you need. They also have frequent sales, which will save you even more money. You can check out the app that I use for online flyers here.
The Best Online Store for Electronics
It’s no surprise that Best Buy is my top choice for shopping for electronics online. Its huge inventory is great for meeting all my electronic needs.
My second pick would be Canada’s Computers. These guys are awesome for cables, accessories or computer gear that’s hard to find anywhere else.
If you’re looking for an Apple Computer, then Apple.ca is your best choice. Anytime I purchased a computer from Apple, I always looked at their refurbished and clearance items first. These items are discounted but still gives you a full Apple warranty. It’s worth a look!
The Best Online Store for Housewares
When it comes to housewares, I have two options for you to consider. First, Walmart.ca is a one-stop shop online, and you’ll find a good selection of housewares as well.
My second choice would be Bed, Bath and Beyond. This online store is filled to the brim with housewares, kitchen gear, and everything for your home. It has great weekly deals and the shipping is only $10.
The Best Online Store for Makeup
The best online store for makeup comes down to actually two stores.
Walmart.ca would be your cheapest option.
For more expensive makeup you can also check out Sephora.
Conclusion
The online landscape is always changing, and I will do my very best to keep this article updated with the newest and best safe, online businesses for you.
If there is an online business that we missed, please let us know. We will research it, and if it’s secure and affordable, we will add it to our list.
Our contact information can be found in the menu at the top.
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