About This Column
This monthly column on Online Business Canada is intended to inspire action. You know digital transformation is critical to growing your business, but there are so many moving parts and so much to learn! It’s easier to navigate if someone points you in the right direction so you can take the first steps. You don’t have to master anything right now, you only need to move forward and learn as you go.
If one growth tip doesn’t work for your business, pick another one and try that. If you do that over the course of a year, you may be surprised at how much your business has grown and how clear your path is to further growth. A custom strategy will naturally emerge from your efforts, all from trying something new every month.
Content for this column will vary from month to month. We’ll cover what’s trending, motivation, tools, diversification, funding, actionable Canadian data, expert quotes, and how & where to grow your business online over the following month. New posts will be announced in our newsletter, so sign up to ensure you don’t miss a single month of growth.
[DISCLOSURE: We may receive compensation for links to products on this website.]
Grow Your Canadian Small Business Online in May
These bite-size tips reveal fast ways to grow your Canadian small business online this month.
TIP 1: Grow With Victoria Day
Do you sell to Canadians? Victoria Day (May 18th in 2026) is one of the most neglected holiday opportunities in the country.
The top five purchases for Victoria Day in Canada are:
- Food, alcohol, candy, restaurants (39.6%)
- Toys (14%)
- Cooking tools and small household items (7%)
- Clothing (6.4%)
- Home, décor, furniture and appliances (5.5%)
Most small businesses probably don’t sell a lot of holiday food or travel, but they certainly have related products. For example, it’s often the first camping weekend of the season, so one could cover road trip gear, outdoor cooking supplies, outdoor toys, and sun glasses. Everything from host gifts to party supplies can present an opportunity to target celebrating Canadians. Plus, royal angles can be applied to virtually anything. Use a royal slant to promote your products or services on social media or with themed sales & discounts, such as “quality fit for a queen at pauper prices.”
Canadian businesses should remind consumers they can also support local businesses online. Make it clear that you are located in Canada and prominently label products made in Canada on your website.
Canadians are more inclined to add Victoria Day purchases while doing their regular shopping, with 37.6 percent of those surveyed saying the don’t make a special trip. Start reminding your website visitors that Victoria Day is approaching several weeks before the holiday, so they can begin planning & buying online.
Learn more in 10 Victoria Day Online Marketing Tips for Canadian Businesses.
TIP 2: Diversify How You Sell
The internet offers many ways to sell or market your products, besides adding ecommerce functionality to your website.
“Building an online store or ecommerce component of your business doesn’t mean you have to invent something new,” says Adopting the New Way of Selling. “It could be the way you sell. It wasn’t very long ago when meeting face-to-face and talking to someone or mail order, were the only ways to make a purchase. The internet and online banking have changed the playing field.”
Following are some of the newer ways of selling. Click the links to learn more about each option.
Drop Shipping – Ecommerce without inventory or shipping headaches.
Affiliate Programs – Advertise your brand on countless websites, but only pay when a sale is made.
Products Delivered on Demand – Production and delivery is provided by a third party, such as print-on-demand (POD) books or customized products.
Marketplaces – Products are sold on a marketplace, such as Amazon, and may be fulfilled by the marketplace or inhouse.
Diversifying how you sell and market your products or services ensures you’re positioned to take advantage of every opportunity to make a sale.
TIP 3: Recession Growth
Many online businesses continue to be profitable during a recession, but no business is entirely recession-proof. You don’t have to be a victim of a recession, but you do have to manage it.
One way to do that is to know your audience and give them what they need or want right now. It could be very different from what they needed or wanted in a more stable economy. Consumers are focused on what they need during times of uncertainty, but they still want other things. If you can find a way to let them fulfill their needs and maybe even get what they want, you’ll continue to make sales during a recession and beyond.
It’s also a good time to diversify your income sources with services, digital products, freelancing, affiliate marketing or a side hustle that is separate from your primary business. Additionally, diversifying allows you to fund one part of your business with another. For example, you can use affiliate marketing on your website and then use those funds to advertise your own products on social media. Read 9 Recession-Proof Online Businesses to Start From Home for inspiration or dive into a book on the topic, 7 Recession Proof Online Businesses to Start From Home.
Be on the lookout for new opportunities that every recession brings and be ready to pivot if necessary.
TIP 4: Max Your Margins
Retail profit margins can be low in certain categories, such as appliances or electronics. Smaller products, such as accessories and consumables, often have a larger profit margin and are cheaper to ship.
Many an ecommerce empire has been built on a “buy low, sell high” strategy. In short, that means getting great wholesale prices on products and then charging enough to be profitable after expenses. In retail, margins are often so razor-thin that profitability can’t be guaranteed. However, if you choose products that the target market is willing to pay enough for and the wholesale price + expenses allows for it, you’ll have a much better chance of being profitable.
Following are some of the top product categories in North America, according to a recent report from Jungle Scout.
- Home & Kitchen 32%
- Beauty & Personal Care 23%
- Toys & Games 20%
- Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry 18%
- Health, Household & Baby Care 17%
The 2026 eCom Trends Report will also provide insight, based on responses from 300 successful store owners.
Once you’ve mastered profitability at this level, you can move into high-end products that may be even more profitable (in spite of a lower profit percentage). It isn’t for the faint-hearted or inexperienced seller, however, so make sure you’re ready to level up.
TIP 5: May Content
Grow your traffic, grow your business! Timely content can differentiate your business while generating traffic that converts.
Note: We post a list of holidays & observances (monthly, weekly and daily) for marketers in the Online Business Canada Facebook group. There’s a lot of them! You’re bound to find some that are a perfect fit for you business.
Here are just a few May holidays & observances with promotion potential:
- Good Car Keeping Month
- Home Schooling Awareness Month
- Mental Health Month
- Gardening for Wildlife Month
- Photo Month
- Moving Month
- Pet Month
- Women’s Health Care Month
May content themes and slants can include motherhood, royalty, Spring, cleaning, renewal, flowers, planting, and the outdoors. Mother’s Day is on May 10th, 2025 (second Sunday of May), and Victoria Day (Canada) is on May 18th.
TIP 6: Business Books Worth Reading
Here we share quick quotes from business books we’re reading to help your knowledge grow with your business, and your business grow with your knowledge.
“Although, in essence, a name squeeze page does the same thing an opt-in offer on a website does, it’s the timing of the offer that differs. An opt-in offer is usually delivered after website visitors have had access to the information on the website’s main page and they have some kind of indication of what the website is about or who’s behind it. Therefore, the opt-in offer doesn’t come across as overly intrusive. The name squeeze page, on the other hand, is often a landing page that provides no information and yet asks website visitors for their contact information before they’re willing to give it.” ~ Web Copy That Sells: The Revolutionary Formula for Creating Killer Copy That Grabs Their Attention and Compels Them to Buy, by Maria Veloso.
Incremental Change
Changes spread out over the year will combine into powerful results. When growth based on technology overwhelms us, we can make small changes to continue growing and develop further as we feel our way through it.
How will you grow your online business in May? Please share your ideas or questions in the comments below, or join us in the Online Business Canada Facebook group.
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7 Recession Proof Online Businesses To Start From Home
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Last Updated on May 1, 2026 by Melody McKinnon, Online Business & Marketing Manager
