A very special hello to our fellow Canucks! Welcome to the Ultimate Canadian Guide to WooCommerce! This post assumes the following:
- you have chosen WordPress WooCommerce for your eCommerce website;
- your (online) business is located in Canada or you’re selling to Canadians.
In this post, we’re going to help you tackle any and all of the questions you have about running a WooCommerce store in Canada. If your question is not in this post, fear not! We’re happy to help you! Send us an email at info@codehammerhead.com and we will do our best to answer your question.
Why Do Canadians Use WooCommerce?
For Users, WordPress & WooCommerce has a low degree of difficulty relative to other CMS and eCommerce tools. A massive open-source community creates a never-ending supply of high-quality plugins. A developer-friendly back-end and rich documentation enable quality agencies like Hammerhead even further!
WooCommerce includes many helpful features, like order tracking, delivery status updates, inventory management, customer engagement and more. For all these reasons, it makes perfect sense why Canadians choose WooCommerce for their eCommerce needs!
FAQs About Setting Up WooCommerce in Canada
What is WooCommerce and How is it Used in Canada?
WooCommerce is the best way to add eCommerce to your WordPress website. Canadians use WooCommerce to sell products and services online. WooCommerce can be configured for simple retail stores out of the box. The platform is extremely customizable for more complex B2B and B2C eCommerce systems.
How to set up WooCommerce in Canada?
The basic setup of WooCommerce in Canada consists of the following:
- Download and install WordPress on your hosting server.
- Once WordPress is installed, add the WooCommerce plugin to your new WordPress website.
If this is out of your wheelhouse, don’t worry! We are here to help! We have services for both WordPress and WooCommerce.
What Can I Sell with WooCommerce?
Anything and everything! We have configured WooCommerce to sell physical & virtual products, and services. Recurring income can be generated through subscription and membership services. WooCommerce is the ultimate eCommerce engine for your business!
How Do I Set Up WooCommerce for the Canadian Dollar (CAD)?
This is set through default WooCommerce settings. This documentation walks you through the configuration.
Is It Possible to Configure WooCommerce to Display Prices in Canadian Dollars?
Absolutely! The WooCommerce Currency Switcher plugin allows store owners to offer prices in multiple currencies, making it easier for customers to understand prices and make purchases. The Currency Switcher plugin also automatically detects the Geo-Location IP of your customer and the country from which they are browsing your store. When any page from your store loads, the extension displays all the prices in the home currency of the customer
Is There a Way to Set Up Automatic Currency Conversion for Canadian Customers on my WooCommerce Store?
There are a few ways to do this. If the WooCommerce Currency Switcher plugin does not work for your needs. You might check out the Multi-Currency Switcher or the Currency Converter Widget.
Can I Use WooCommerce to Handle Multiple Currency including Canadian Currency Transactions?
Yes, you might need some assistance with this one though as your specific implementation may have some additional limitations.
Our recommendation would be to start with WooCommerce Payments. WooCommerce Payments can accept payments in over 100 different currencies. However, when the customer currency is different from your account’s deposit currency, you will be charged a currency conversion fee. To avoid these fees, you may be able to have funds in different currencies deposited into separate bank accounts.
Can I Use WooCommerce to Handle Canadian Dollar Subscriptions and Recurring Payments?
Yes! WooCommerce Subscriptions is a great tool to manage subscriptions. WooCommerce Subscriptions lets your customers subscribe to your products or services and pay weekly, monthly or annually. Check out this article to discover how to increase recurring income with WooCommerce Subscriptions!
How Do I Set Up Canadian Shipping Rates and Zones in my WooCommerce Store?
Canadian shipping zones can be set up through default WooCommerce functionality. This documentation will walk you through the process. The default functionality allows you to set up options for Flat Shipping, Free Shipping and Local Pick Up.
There are options for automated and more advanced shipping options. The WooCommerce extensions search will help you explore these options!
Can I Use the Canada Post Shipping Method with WooCommerce?
Yes! You can absolutely use Canada Post to ship products with your WooCommerce store. Here are a couple of plugins you might want to use to implement this functionality:
- Canada Post WooCommerce Shipping Method: This plugin integrates Canada Post shipping rates and services into your WooCommerce store, providing customers with real-time shipping quotes.
- Canada Post Label Printing: This plugin allows store owners to print shipping labels directly from their WooCommerce store, saving time and streamlining the shipping process.
Can I Add Shipment Tracking for Canada Post on my WooCommerce Website?
Totally! The Shipment Tracking plugin has you covered!
What are my WooCommerce Canada shipping options?
You have several shipping options when using WooCommerce in Canada. Canada Post is the most common method, however, there are other options available. The WooCommerce extensions search helps you explore your options!
Can I use WooCommerce to Handle Canadian Postal Codes for Shipping and Billing?
Yes! Canadian shipping zones can be set up through default WooCommerce functionality. This documentation will walk you through the process. The default functionality allows you to set up options for Flat Shipping, Free Shipping and Local Pick Up.
There are options for automated and more advanced shipping options. The WooCommerce extensions search will help you explore these options!
Can I Set Up Canadian-Specific Customer Groups and Pricing in my WooCommerce Store?
Yes, the Price By Country extension allows store owners to sell products with different prices based on the user’s country.
Can I Restrict Which Products I Sell to Canadian Customers?
Absolutely! Country Restrictions for WooCommerce will hide products, prices or add-to-cart buttons based on a user’s country.
What Payment Gateways are Available to WooCommerce in Canada?
WooCommerce Payments is the new kid on the block. It leverages the Stripe payment gateway to capture payments on your WordPress eCommerce website. This is our current recommendation for a payment gateway in Canada.
Other payment gateways are available for Canadian WooCommerce websites like Moneris and PayPal. A complete list is available here.
Can I use WooCommerce to Handle Canadian-Specific Promotions and Discounts?
Yes! There are a few different ways to structure these types of discounts. This is one of those things that we should have a deeper conversation about as there are multiple ways to implement this based on your specific requirements.
How Do I Set Up Canadian Taxes for WooCommerce?
Most simply, you can configure WooCommerce to charge customers the same tax rate as the store address through default WooCommerce settings. The documentation for this is here.
Alternatively, you can charge customers the tax rate for their billing address. The documentation for this is here.
The WooCommerce Tax extension provides accurate tax rates for all Canadian provinces and territories, making it easy to set up tax calculations for your store. The WooCommerce documentation provides you with instructions on how to set up taxes in WooCommerce.
Are There Any Canadian-Based WooCommerce Experts or Developers that can Help Me with my Store?
You have come to the right place! Hammerhead specializes in WooCommerce Customization for our fellow Canadians. Check out our WooCommerce services here.
Can you Recommend a Canadian WooCommerce Hosting Provider?
Hammerhead offers Canadian-based WordPress WooCommerce hosting & security maintenance packages for your website. We offer several options custom-tailored to your unique requirements.
Can I Set Up Multi-Language Support for my Canadian WooCommerce Store?
Absolutely! In Canada, both French and English are spoken. WPML is a great way to perform translations on your WooCommerce or WordPress website!
What are some recommended WooCommerce Themes for a Canadian eCommerce store?
There are quite a few different starter themes available for your WooCommerce store. The best theme for your website depends on your unique needs. Do you sell products or services? Are you primarily a retail store that needs an online presence? We can help you select the right theme and get your store up and running.
Oftentimes we suggest a custom theme implementation. Custom themes provide website administrators with more flexibility and higher performance. We are WooCommerce experts and love helping our clients with WooCommerce customizations.
Can You Recommend any Canadian Plugins that Enhance the Functionality of My WooCommerce Store?
Yes! Here are a few ways to extend the functionality of your Canadian WooCommerce shop’s functionality, improve your users’ experience and capture more conversions!
- WooCommerce Subscriptions: We LOVE this plugin. WooCommerce Subscriptions lets customers subscribe to your products or services and pay weekly, monthly or annually. Check out this article to discover how to increase recurring income with WooCommerce Subscriptions!
- AutomateWoo: Creates automated workflows that help you grow your store with a fraction of the effort.
- YITH WooCommerce Wishlist: This plugin allows customers to save items for later purchases, which can increase conversions and customer loyalty. This plugin does not work as a gift registry.
- Gift Registry for WooCommerce: have you covered for Gift Registry!
- Product Add-ons for WooCommerce: This plugin allows store owners to offer custom product options, such as engraving or gift wrapping.
Can I Run In-Store Payments Through my Canadian WooCommerce Store?
Absolutely! Square is a popular tool for doing this in Canada. The Square for WooCommerce extension provides this functionality.
Can I Optimize my Canadian WooCommerce Store for Better SEO and Search Visibility?
Absolutely! Many developers are still using Yoast to improve the SEO of their websites. This has been an excellent resource for many years, providing teams with content guidance and basic SEO.
RankMath, in our opinion, is a better solution for the demands of modern SEO. This plugin comes in a lighter (high-performance) package and provides enhanced schema and better guidance for content.
What Inventory Management Tools are Available for my Canadian WooCommerce Store?”
Here are a few popular inventory management tools for your Canadian WooCommerce store:
- WooCommerce Inventory Management: This plugin allows store owners to manage inventory levels, track stock levels, and set low-stock alerts.
- Advanced Inventory Management for WooCommerce: This plugin provides advanced inventory management features, such as multiple warehouse support, barcode scanning, and stock transfers.
- Stock Synchronization for WooCommerce: This plugin allows store owners to synchronize their inventory levels across multiple sales channels, including WooCommerce, Amazon, and more.
- Product Stock Alert for WooCommerce: This plugin allows customers to sign up for stock alerts and be notified when an out-of-stock item becomes available.
Your Canadian Guide to WooCommerce
At Hammerhead, we consider ourselves an extension of our client’s team. We get to know you, your business & marketing goals, your competitors and your customers. We help you see around corners and manage growth. We are your guide to WooCommerce in Canada. Let’s chat about your Canadian WooCommerce website today!