The low Canadian dollar is such great news for businesses in this country, and online retailers are no exception. It encourages Canadians to shop at home instead of running to the US for everything, but the benefits don’t stop there.
You now have a rare opportunity to lure American shoppers to your online store. Once you have them, you can engage and convert them into loyal, repeat customers who return even when the dollar goes back up. Not only will it boost your bottom line, but those US dollars can help offset any American money you have to hand out to suppliers in the United States.
Remind Americans of the low loonie whenever and wherever the opportunity arises. Let them know that they can save big on both the purchase AND shipping. Put graphics on your website, add converted prices on product pages, and blast social media. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, it just has to catch the red, white & blue eye.
Feel free to borrow the below graphic. We designed it especially for social media as a standalone image, but you can use it wherever you see fit.
Tip: You may want to refrain from saying “Buy Canadian”. You don’t want to stir up feelings of “Buy American” disloyalty.
But what if you’re short on US traffic and followers? That can be a real problem since our dollar has been close to par for so long. It’s easily rectified though – go where the Americans are.
- Advertise your Canadian website through American mainstream media, bloggers, and newsletters.
- Target Americans in tailored search engine and social media campaigns.
- A very effective and efficient way to get in front of thousands of Americans and Canadians is to start an affiliate program through a network. You’ll quickly build an American and/or Canadian online sales force and you’ll only pay when they send you a sale. Typically, there’s a setup fee and then you’ll pay a small percentage of sales to the network.
If you’re not already shipping to the US from Canada, it’s a great time to start! There’s also never been a better time for Canadians to get into drop shipping, where you can promote products that are shipped directly from the supplier within the USA.
Have you been trying to grab a big piece of the international eCommerce pie? Please share your ideas or questions in the comments below.
✔ You may also be interested in reading:
Canadian Stores Can Grab Global Online Shoppers (Statistics)
10 Hot Product Niches to Sell or Drop Ship Online in Canada
Checklist: Choosing a Website Host for your Canadian Business
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Melody McKinnon's formal education is in business management, which she enhanced with more than 60 certifications revolving around business, marketing, health, general sciences and writing. In over 20 years of working online, she has owned or managed both educational and eCommerce websites.
Melody has worked with many businesses & brands in a multitude of capacities. She can often be found on CanadiansInternet.com, CanadianFamily.net and AllNaturalPetCare.com, as well as other quality digital publications. Her content has earned reference links from highly-respected websites, magazines and university textbooks.
We’re such defeatists sometimes here. There’s no reaon we can’t compete with other countries especially if someone steps up with an affordable shipping options. We have the brains and the brawn to win if we thinnk like you do.
I like how you think! Most just raise the prices because they’re suppliers are in the US but if you can compensate for that somehow you can still remain competitive.
WOW! Lots of optimism and inspiration there. Sometimes we get drawn into the doom & gloom and forget to do some creative thinking and turn it all around. Thanks!
Good thinking! I’m not new to the idea but I didn’t thin of adding the American price as an FYI either. That’s genius!