Meet Four Canadian Small Businesses Selling on Amazon

Did you know that more than 60% of sales in Amazon’s online stores globally come from independent sellers—most of who are small and medium-sized businesses? How did we get to where we are today? And why? The answer lies in our mission: To be Earth’s most customer-centric company.

Over 20 years ago, we made the decision to open the Amazon Canada online store to independent sellers and to help them sell directly to customers. Today, more than 41,000 Canadian selling partners sell in the Amazon Canada online store, including small businesses. The small businesses selling and thriving in our store are at the heart of their local communities, and they include many women, families, and artisans who create handcrafted goods. They are neighbourhood shop owners, local restaurants selling spices and cookbooks, innovators who have created entirely new brands and types of products, rural business owners that are now able to reach customers around the world, employers providing great jobs in their local communities, builders of economic opportunity, non-profit organizations, and so much more.

While small businesses continue to thrive by selling in the Amazon Canada online store, running a small business has never been straightforward, and the past few years brought new challenges that businesses of all sizes have had to navigate. The economy saw rising interest rates and inflation not seen in nearly 40 years, and many businesses continued to face supply chain issues as a result of the global pandemic and its after effects. Despite these challenges, sellers in our store continued to provide a vast selection of amazing products, low prices, and great convenience for customers, and we continue to invent on their behalf, help them navigate challenges, and support their business growth.

It takes a lot to run a small business. We’ve invested a lot over the years to build the right customer experience and tools and services for independent sellers, who are now critical to our success.

Partnering with Amazon allows sellers to benefit from powerful, cost-effective capabilities that leverage our scale and technological innovation. As a result, sellers can spend more time focused on inventing amazing products and driving customer delight and less time dealing with complex logistics, warehousing, fulfillment, customer service, or other more challenging aspects of running a business.

We know that small businesses have more choices than ever when it comes to where they sell their products. So why do so many independent sellers keep choosing the Amazon Canada online store? While there are lots of reasons, most sellers tell us they choose to sell in our store because it offer them great value. Sellers get to sell in a store that many customers trust, they get access to powerful tools, services, and programs to drive their business growth, and sellers can do all of this at a cost that is typically lower than their alternatives. Amazon invests billions of dollars in people, resources, and services that support entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey. As a result, sellers have a compelling opportunity to grow their business by partnering with Amazon, and Amazon continues to foster that relationship by inventing and innovating on behalf of our selling partners.
 
A look at Amazon selling partner performance in Canada in 2021** showed:

• Canadian selling partners averaged over $85,000 in sales – an increase of more than 13%
• More than 4,000 Canadian sellers had over $100,000 in sales.
• Additionally, more than 1,000 Canadian sellers had over $500,000 in sales.
• In 2021, Canadian selling partners sold more than 100 million products (more than 200 every minute).
• During 2021, more than 25,000 selling partners selling on Amazon.ca chose to use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) in Canada, representing more than 20% year over year growth.

The value that Amazon provides to support this level of seller success comes down to three things: 1) Our commitment to customer trust, 2) The breadth of tools and services we provide all professional sellers, and 3) The set of opportunities we offer through optional programs like Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), Amazon Ads, and many more, which sellers don’t need to use to succeed on Amazon, but many choose to use because they enable them to drive their business growth at lower cost.

“I’ve been able to show my work to such a wider range of customers through Amazon. It’s such a delight to have customers from Nunavut to Prince Edward Island be able to easily find Hunter & Trove pieces and have our jewelry quickly shipped to their door.” -Yulee Harris, from Hunter & Trove, a jewelry small business based in Vancouver, BC.

“Amazon Canada is the reason why our small business has grown to become who we are today. Amazon has been with us since day one and provided the advice, tools, and opportunity to connect with Canadians who made us a top-selling skin care company.” - Stephen Aikman, from All Natural Advice Skin Care, a Canadian organic and natural skin care company located in Oakville, ON.

“As passionate wholesale entrepreneurs, it was difficult for us to get the consumer’s direct feedback on the brands that we love and proudly represent. Amazon gives us the opportunity to reach a variety of savvy consumers and hear directly from them what they love most about our products. Having access to Amazon’s wide, efficient and ultra-fast fulfillment centres also allows us, as proud local Montreal business owners, to continue focusing on our team and partners who help us put together the best baby and kid products on the market, without having to worry about managing the complex tech platform, warehousing nightmares, logistics surprises, high shipping fees, returns and more.” - Natasha and Stephan Maighan of Maighan Distribution Inc. in Montreal, Quebec, which specializes in baby, children’s and mothers’ products from BIBS, Greensprouts and Haakaa.

“For any small business, but particularly for one like mine, whose invention is becoming increasingly popular, there is a significant risk of competitors copying or stealing your hard work and capitalizing on your growth. As a small business owner, I have many urgent day-to-day priorities that can prevent me from pursuing complicated matters like trademark protection. I am encouraged to see initiatives like IP Accelerator, which connects businesses like mine with specialized legal expertise at a reduced cost.” – Jennifer Pratt, Seeding Square, a gardening tool business based in Vancouver, BC.

Learn more about how to launch your Amazon Canada online store in our Sellers site. Look for the Small Business badge and shop the Support Small storefront to support small businesses while you shop on Amazon.ca.

 *All dollar figures are USD
**All data reflects the 12-month period ending December 31, 2021