Mail service has been disrupted since late September. Canada Post workers went on a national strike, then moved to rotating strikes in October, and businesses that ship products remain uncertain about the weeks ahead. With the holidays approaching, this is a significant problem for anyone selling online from a small community.
We moved to the Petite-Nation this year, and one of the first things we noticed is how many quality products are made in the region that are almost impossible to buy without driving to the right road on the right Saturday: cheese, maple products, crafts, preserves, woodwork. Much of it would sell readily to customers in Montreal, Gatineau or Quebec City. It is simply not online, or it is online in a way that does not allow anyone to buy.
This article sets out how we would build a small online store from a village, with the strike serving as a reminder that shipping is never a detail.
Which language should an online store in Quebec use?
French first, with English welcome. A business located in Quebec must offer its website in French. This is required by the Charter of the French Language, which covers commercial websites along with catalogues and brochures. English may be offered as well, but the French cannot be the lesser version. The Office québécois de la langue française provides clear explanations of the rules that apply to businesses, and they are worth reviewing, particularly since the newer rules on signs and trademarks took effect on June 1 this year.
Beyond the legal requirement, it is sound business practice in this market. Most customers search, read and buy in French. We recommend writing the French first, carefully, and then the English, rather than pasting in a machine translation and leaving it unreviewed. Genuine bilingual copywriting means each version reads as though written by someone from the region.
English is nonetheless a worthwhile addition. Ottawa is nearby, summer visitors and cottage owners come from Ontario, and English-speaking Montrealers also buy from the regions. A good English version opens a door for very little additional work.
How should the store be set up?
Simply, without overbuilding it. For most small producers, we recommend Shopify or WooCommerce on WordPress. Both support bilingual stores, Canadian taxes and reasonable shipping options. Shopify is easier to manage day to day. WooCommerce offers more control and usually lower monthly costs, but places more responsibility on the owner for keeping it updated.
We advise against spending months on the build. Start with the products that sell best in person and ship well. Ten good product pages are more effective than sixty half-finished ones. Get the photos, the descriptions and the checkout right, then launch. When planning a small e-commerce project, that simplicity should guide the work from the start.
Taxes and administrative details
Configure GST and QST correctly before the first sale, not after. Write down the return policy. Decide whether to ship outside Quebec, and outside Canada. These decisions take an hour and prevent awkward exchanges with customers later.
How can a small-town business ship reliably?
By not depending on a single carrier, and by offering local pickup. This fall provides a clear lesson: if an entire online business depends on one carrier, a single strike can stop it.
We recommend the following measures:
- Have a second carrier set up and tested: Purolator, UPS, a regional courier, or whichever service covers your area. Compare rates using your actual box sizes and weights.
- State clearly on the site what is happening. When there are delays, a short notice at the top of the page is preferable to twenty concerned emails.
- Offer local pickup: at the shop, at the farm, at the Saturday market, or at a partner business in the next village.
Local pickup is underused. It costs nothing. It allows a customer in the neighbouring town to order online at eleven at night and collect the order on Thursday. It also performs well in local searches, because the store presents itself as what it is: a real business with a real address. Combined with a complete Google Business Profile and basic local SEO, it helps nearby customers find the business before they find a large chain.
For fragile or perishable products, pickup may well become the main channel, with shipping reserved for what travels well. That is a perfectly sound approach: selling online does not necessarily mean shipping.
How can product pages stand out from large retailers?
By presenting the local story. This is where small producers have a real advantage over large retailers, and most do not use it.
A customer in Montreal buying maple butter online can find it from many sources. What they cannot find elsewhere is your sugar shack, your family's method, the river down the road, and the fact that the jar comes from a specific place, made by specific people.
Include that on the product page: a few accurate sentences about where the product is made and by whom, a photo of the actual place rather than a stock image, and the name of the village. People buy from the regions partly because they want a connection with them, and the product page can provide it.
Restraint is important. Customers do not need three paragraphs of prose before seeing the price. Short, accurate and specific content works best.
What can be done before the holidays?
For businesses considering online sales this season, it is late for a complete store, but not too late for a simpler solution: a page presenting your holiday products, a clear order form, local pickup dates, and a transparent explanation of the shipping situation. That alone would place a business ahead of most small businesses in the area.
In January, once the season is over, the complete store can be built.