Shipping from UK to Canada - Everything You Need to Know

How much is postage from the UK to Canada? It depends on the size and quantity of the parcels, along with the exact destination to which they should be delivered. What are the most important driving factors for e-commerce in the Canadian market? Delivery speed, product range, and low prices. What industries dominate in cross-border shipping? Clothing, electronics, personal care, and beauty products. How to ship your products to Canada? We will explain everything here, so read on!

How to Ship Your Products from the UK to Canada?

In order to ship parcels from the UK to Canada effectively, you will first need to adjust your shipping strategy. For that, you need to:
 

• calculate your parcel volume,
• define your optimal shipping speed,
• estimate shipping distances,
• come up with shipping rates and methods that you will offer your customers,
• calculate your shipping costs.

This might be relatively easy if you are already shipping your products to Canada, as in such cases, you have data to support you in the process. But, if you are just entering this market, you might need to rely on predictions based on the information you have – your most commonly sold products vs. the most popular product types in Canada, your regular parcel sizes, etc.

After that, you’ll need to decide on your logistics partners. While Canada is a large country, most citizens live in the southern part of it, so you should collaborate with companies that have the proper infrastructure in these regions.

Also, consider your final mile carriers thoroughly. Since 77% of Canadians like their parcels delivered to their homes.

Shipping from UK to Canada – Market Insights

Now, let’s look at some market insights regarding Canada, which will help you decide on the specifics of your strategy.

How Much Does it Cost to Post/Ship Products to Canada?

How much postage is from the UK to Canada? While we cannot give you the exact prices, since there are too many variables, we can explain what affects the costs.
 

• Parcel size – weight and dimensions.
• Parcel quantity.
• The exact location in the UK from which the products are sent.
• The exact final destination in Canada.
• Frequency of returns (you need to count them in your shipping costs).

For example, shipping a package weighing 2.27 kg can cost anywhere from $30 for standard service to $170 for express service.

Payment Methods and Parcel Costs in Canada

What are the trends regarding payment methods and average parcel costs?

When it comes to payment:

• credit card - 47% overall.
• PayPal, Alipay, or their equivalents - 14%,
• debit cards - 14%,
• Interac - 7%,
• Apple Pay - 5%
• Bank Transfer - 4%
• Google Pay - 3%

In practice, this means that you don’t have to diversify your options too much – including credit and debit cards + PayPal should, in most cases, be enough.

What about the parcel costs? Here, we have yet another interesting trend. Most Canadians purchasing products cross-border opt for high-value, C$70+ orders (47%). Middle-value orders (C$10-C$34 and C$35-C$69) are distributed evenly (23% and 24%, respectively), and just a small percentage of the cross-border sales is made on parcels worth less than C$10 (6%). This means that you should optimise your store to incentivise additional purchases since Canadians are willing to get bigger orders.

Delivery

While you might know the most essential facts about UK e-commerce in 2024 and how the cross-border logistics work there, it can be quite different for Canada. So, what are the trends there?

As many as 43% of consumers indicate delivery speed as the main factor influencing their choice of store, while 38% pay particular attention to a wide range of products and brands. Canadians increasingly appreciate the ease of discovering products and the reliability of delivery, so expectations towards retailers are growing. Low product prices also remain an important factor, with 33% of consumers paying attention to this aspect. In this context, online stores that offer fast, reliable delivery and a wide selection at affordable prices are gaining an advantage in the Canadian market.

This means that you need an optimised, reliable logistics solution to cut down the costs and make ground delivery faster, comes with a monitoring system and is delay-free. A solution that we can provide you with at Landmark Global, thanks to our Mercury tracking system, multiple entry gateways (including those in the US), and airline carriers used, plus our partnership with the local carriers.

What about the final destination? In Canada, parcel delivery preferences indicate various options that consumers choose depending on convenience and location. Here are the most popular delivery methods:

• At home: at the door: 79%
• At home: in the mailbox: 65%
• Post office: 42%
• At home: in a secure location: 24%
• Post office: 17%

What are the conclusions here? You need to deliver your packages to a variety of locations. This is why at Landmark Global, we work with different local commercial and postal operators, including the market leader Apple Express – we can get your parcels delivered exactly where your customers want them!

Most popular marketplaces in Canada

In Canada, 97% of consumers make purchases on sales platforms. They often use more than one store:

• Amazon – as many as 90% of Canadian consumers shop on this platform, making it the leader in the e-commerce market.
• Walmart – 48% of people choose this chain, which shows its strong presence, especially among consumers who are looking for proven places to shop online.
• Temu – although it is a relatively new player, 29% of Canadians have started using this platform, which proves its growing popularity.

Online shopping devices in Canada

While mobile devices are typically most frequently used for online shopping in most markets…it’s not this way in Canada. Surely, 46% of Canadians do use their smartphones for online purchases, but with only 8% using tablets and the rest being shared between desktops (20%) and laptops (26%), computers are still a slightly more popular option.

This means you have quite a bit of a challenge here – your site must be perfect for both mobile devices and PCs. Disregarding either of these will deter hundreds of clients.

Excel in the Canadian Market with Landmark Global

At Landmark Global, we have everything you need to ship your packages from the UK to Canada. Why should you choose us?
 

• We have 7 storage facilities both on the West and East Coast of the country, to ensure that ground transportation goes smoothly.
• We ship products via aircraft from the UK to Canada daily.
• We utilise several airlines to prevent flight disruptions from affecting your deliveries.
• We offer deliveries six days a week.
• We work with multiple final mile carriers, including postal operators and our own carrier – Apple Express – which covers 60% of the whole population.
• We provide you and your customers with tracked parcel solution from origin to proof of delivery.
• Our customs agent is ready to help you with the formal aspects of your deliveries.
• We manage both forward and reverse flows – with us, you don’t have to worry about returns management!
• We’ve gathered extensive experience in the Canadian market with Landmark Global US
   

Select Landmark Global and discover how easy it is to ship and sell products in Canada with a reliable, trustworthy and experienced logistics partner!

You may also read about our e-commerce delivery solutions and learn how they can help you sell your goods in Canada!

Sources:

• IPC Cross-border E-commerce Shopper Survey 2023 – Canada report
• Statista
• Trade.go