Canadian Ecommerce Orders Rose 20% in 2025, with Top Brands Driving Half the Growth: Omnisend

Why It Matters

The findings show that only a minority of Canadian retailers are capitalising on the post‑inflation rebound, underscoring the strategic advantage of data‑driven automation and high‑intent engagement for sustained revenue growth.

Key Takeaways

• Top 10% brands drove half of order growth
• Click-through rates fell 22% while conversion rose 28%
• Automated emails generated 27% revenue from 2.1% sends
• Average order value from email rose 14% to $196
• Brands focusing on trust, free returns, value outperformed peers

Pulse Analysis

The 20% rise in Canadian ecommerce orders signals a broader economic recovery, yet the concentration of growth among the elite 10% of brands reveals a structural shift. Smaller players that failed to adapt to changing consumer expectations saw modest or stagnant sales, while high‑performers leveraged superior logistics, product quality, and omnichannel support to dominate the market. This divergence forces industry analysts to reassess growth forecasts, emphasizing that aggregate volume metrics can mask underlying competitive imbalances.

Consumer behaviour in 2025 reflected heightened purchase intent paired with selective engagement. Overall click‑through rates dropped 22%, but each click became a stronger purchase signal, driving a 28% uplift in conversion and pushing email‑driven average order values from $172 to $196. Marketers who prioritized relevance over volume—tailoring offers to demonstrated intent—reaped disproportionate returns, illustrating that the era of mass‑mail blasts is giving way to precision‑targeted outreach.

Automation emerged as the decisive lever for brands seeking to capture this high‑intent traffic. Behaviour‑based emails, despite representing only 2.1% of total sends, accounted for 27% of email revenue, with revenue per automated send soaring to $3.32 versus $0.16 for scheduled messages. Similar patterns appeared across SMS and push notifications, where automated click‑to‑conversion rates outpaced scheduled ones by three‑fold. Retailers that embed welcome, product‑abandonment, and cart‑abandonment automations while reinforcing value propositions—free shipping, easy returns, social proof—can lock in the lucrative segment of shoppers ready to spend. The data underscores that first‑party data collection and agile, intent‑driven messaging are now essential components of a resilient ecommerce strategy.