More U.S.multi-channel retailers eyeing Canadian market, Borderfee says

Armed with data on the Canadian sources of online sales, more U.S. retailers are planning to open stores north of the border, says Patrick Bartlett, president of Canada Post Borderfree.

“Many U.S. retailers had strong growth in Canada last year into the Christmas season, and now more are prospecting and setting up stores here,” Bartlett tells InternetRetailer.com. “Online, multi-channel and catalog retailers, everyone is seeing opportunity and putting efforts into selling in Canada.”

Bartlett attributes part of the increased interest in the Canadian market to a change in the currency exchange rate, which currently pegs the Canadian dollar at about 90 cents to the U.S. dollar, up from about 62 cents a few years ago. “That’s making a big difference in the amount of interest in Canada these days,” he says.

Borderfree, which provides logistics and other services to help U.S. retailers like Lands’ End, Brookstone and Sephora sell into Canada. It also provides a Snapshot tool for analyzing the geographic locations of consumers driving up online sales.

Although Bartlett says he isn’t authorized to name the retailers planning expansions into Canada, they fall into categories including home improvement, tableware and high-end home décor products.