E-commerce Development
Online Stores Built to Sell, Not Just to Launch
Shopify and WooCommerce builds set up correctly for Canadian retail — CAD pricing, GST/HST rules, real shipping rates and a checkout that does not lose people at the last step.
- Shopify & WooCommerce
- CAD payment setup
- Shipping & tax rules
- Conversion focused
E-commerce development for Canadian retailers
An online store is an operations problem as much as a design one. Products have to be structured so they can be found, tax has to calculate correctly by province, shipping has to reflect what carriers actually charge, and orders have to land somewhere your team can work from.
Get those wrong and the symptoms show up later as abandoned carts, refund requests and staff re-keying orders by hand. We set the commercial plumbing up first, then build the storefront on top of it.
Whether you are launching a first store or replatforming from something that has outgrown you, we scope against catalogue size, fulfilment model and who is going to run the store day to day.
Built for your catalogue
Product structure, variants and collections modelled around how you actually merchandise, not a demo store.
Canadian retail handled
CAD currency, provincial tax rules and carrier-accurate shipping configured and tested before launch.
Operations connected
Orders flowing into the tools your team already uses, rather than another inbox to monitor.
What We Build
E-commerce capabilities
Storefront, checkout and the systems behind them — scoped to your catalogue and how you fulfil orders.
Shopify development
Custom themes and sections built on Shopify's platform, with the admin left clean enough to run daily.
WooCommerce development
WordPress-based stores where you want full control of hosting, data and extension choices.
Product & catalogue setup
Variants, collections, filtering and search structured so shoppers reach the right product quickly.
Payments & checkout
CAD gateways, wallet payments and a checkout flow trimmed of everything that is not necessary.
Shipping & tax configuration
Carrier-calculated rates, zones and provincial tax rules set up and verified against real orders.
Migration & replatforming
Moving products, customers and orders across without losing URLs, reviews or search visibility.
Systems integration
Connecting inventory, accounting, email and fulfilment so stock and orders stay in one truth.
Conversion optimisation
Fixing the specific steps where carts are abandoned, using your own checkout and analytics data.
Store performance
Image handling, app auditing and theme work to keep product pages quick on mobile connections.
Problems We Solve
Where online stores usually leak revenue
Most store problems are not traffic problems. They are friction problems, and they are fixable.
Carts abandoned at checkout
Checkout simplification
Fewer required fields, guest checkout, visible shipping costs early, and payment methods people already trust.
Shoppers cannot find the product
Catalogue and search work
Better collection structure, useful filters and search that handles the words your customers actually type.
Shipping costs surprise people
Accurate rate configuration
Carrier-calculated rates shown before checkout, with thresholds and zones that match what you really charge.
Tax is wrong across provinces
Correct Canadian tax setup
GST, HST and PST configured by destination and tested, so invoices and remittance both come out right.
Product pages load slowly on mobile
Performance remediation
Auditing installed apps, compressing media and reworking theme code that blocks the first render.
Orders are re-keyed by hand
Fulfilment integration
Connecting the store to inventory and accounting so an order flows through without manual copying.
Why Royal Global
How we approach store builds
We build stores we would be comfortable running ourselves on a busy week.
Platform advice before a build
Shopify and WooCommerce suit different businesses. We will tell you which fits your catalogue, team and margins — including when the answer is the cheaper one.
Built for the people running it
The admin is set up so your team can add products and run promotions without calling a developer.
Payments done properly
Gateways, SSL and PCI-compliant checkout configured correctly rather than left on defaults.
Tested with real orders
We place live test orders across provinces and shipping scenarios before launch, not just in a sandbox.
Room to add lines
Structure that copes when the catalogue triples or you add wholesale pricing.
How We Work
Our e-commerce build process
Merchandising and operations come first, because they decide most of the build.
- 01
Discovery & platform fit
Catalogue size, fulfilment model, team capacity and margins reviewed, then a platform recommendation with reasons.
- 02
Catalogue architecture
Product types, variants, collections and filtering mapped so the store makes sense at ten products and at a thousand.
- 03
Store design
Product, collection, cart and checkout templates designed around buying decisions rather than decoration.
- 04
Build & configuration
Theme development plus payments, shipping zones, tax rules and any integrations your operation depends on.
- 05
Order testing
End-to-end test orders across provinces, payment methods and shipping scenarios, including refunds.
- 06
Launch
Migration, redirects, analytics and e-commerce tracking, with the old store kept available until the new one is confirmed stable.
- 07
Optimisation
Reviewing checkout funnel data once real orders are flowing and fixing the steps that lose people.
Platforms & Tools
What we work with
Selected per store against catalogue complexity, fulfilment and who maintains it.
Platforms
- Shopify
- WooCommerce
- WordPress
- Headless storefronts
Payments & operations
- Stripe
- Shopify Payments
- PayPal
- Canada Post
- Tax configuration
Measurement
- Analytics 4
- E-commerce tracking
- Search Console
- Checkout funnels
Outcomes
What a properly built store makes possible
Structural improvements, not projected sales figures.
Less friction at checkout
Every removed field and surprise is one fewer reason for someone to leave with a full cart.
Products that can be found
Clean collection structure and product markup help both site search and search engines.
Faster product pages
Particularly on mobile data, where most browsing and an increasing share of buying happens.
Fewer manual steps
Orders, stock and invoices moving between systems without someone retyping them.
Compliance handled
Tax, privacy and payment security configured correctly from launch rather than patched later.
A store that can grow
Adding products, provinces or a wholesale channel without starting over.
Related Work
E-commerce in practice
Live client sites we designed and built. Each one looks like its own brand, not like ours.
Planning an e-commerce build in Canada
What actually determines whether a store works commercially, beyond how it looks.
Shopify or WooCommerce?
Shopify is hosted, which means updates, security and uptime are handled for you. You trade some control and pay ongoing platform fees, but for most retailers that trade is worth it.
WooCommerce gives you full control of hosting, data and extensions, with no platform commission. It suits businesses with unusual requirements or an existing WordPress site — provided someone is accountable for maintenance.
Getting Canadian tax right
Sales tax varies by province: GST alone in some, HST in others, GST plus a separate provincial tax elsewhere. The store has to calculate based on the destination, not your own location.
This is worth configuring carefully and testing with real orders across provinces. Correcting tax after months of trading is far more painful than getting it right before launch.
Shipping that reflects reality
Shipping is one of the most common reasons carts are abandoned, and usually because the cost appears late. Showing an estimate early, even approximate, keeps people from feeling ambushed.
Carrier-calculated rates keep charges honest. Flat rates are simpler but can quietly erode margin on heavy or remote deliveries — worth modelling against your actual order history before choosing.
Why product pages carry the most weight
The product page is where the buying decision happens. It needs clear photography, honest descriptions, visible stock and shipping information, and answers to the questions people would otherwise email you about.
It is also the page most likely to be a search landing page, so structured product markup and unique descriptions matter more here than anywhere else on the store.
Replatforming without losing visibility
Moving platforms puts existing search visibility at risk. Product URLs change, collection structures differ, and reviews or content can be left behind in the export.
A migration plan should include a full URL map with redirects, a content parity check, and monitoring in Search Console for several weeks afterwards. We treat that as part of the project rather than an add-on.
Measuring what happens after launch
Without e-commerce tracking configured properly you are guessing. You need to see which step of the checkout loses people and which products get viewed but not bought.
We configure that at launch so the first months of trading produce usable data, rather than having to reconstruct it later.
Common Questions
Frequently asked questions
Should I use Shopify or WooCommerce?
It depends on your catalogue, your team and how much control you need. Shopify handles hosting, security and updates for a monthly fee; WooCommerce gives you full ownership but needs someone maintaining it. We will recommend one based on your situation and explain the trade-off rather than defaulting to whichever we prefer.
Can you set up CAD payments and Canadian taxes?
Yes. We configure CAD as the store currency, connect Canadian-friendly payment gateways, and set up GST, HST and PST rules by destination province. We then place test orders across provinces to confirm the calculations before you go live.
Can you migrate my existing store to a new platform?
Yes. We migrate products, variants, customers and order history where the platforms allow it, and put a full redirect map in place so existing product URLs do not turn into dead ends. Search visibility is monitored for several weeks after the move.
How do you handle shipping rates?
Usually with carrier-calculated rates so the charge reflects real weight and destination. We can also set up zone-based or flat-rate shipping with free-shipping thresholds — we will model the options against your order history first.
Will the store work well on mobile?
Yes. Product browsing and checkout are built and tested mobile-first, including tap target sizing, image loading and keeping the checkout usable on a small screen and a slower connection.
Can you connect the store to our other systems?
In most cases yes — inventory, accounting, email marketing and fulfilment tools commonly have integrations or APIs. We will confirm what is possible with your specific tools during discovery rather than assuming.
Do you help with ongoing store management?
We offer ongoing support covering platform updates, theme changes, seasonal campaigns and conversion improvements. Many clients handle day-to-day product management themselves, which is how we set the admin up.
How long does an e-commerce build take?
Smaller catalogues on a well-supported platform move quickly; complex variants, migrations or custom integrations extend the timeline. Product data and photography readiness is usually the biggest factor, so we agree that schedule up front.
Let's Talk
Ready to build or rebuild your store?
Tell us what you sell and how you fulfil it. We will recommend the platform that fits and explain what the build involves before you commit to anything.