E-commerce websites built to sell, integrate, and keep operating.
North Star designs and develops online stores for Canadian businesses. We handle platform selection, product structure, payments, shipping, analytics, integrations, launch, and ongoing care without trapping you in a rented proprietary system.
An online store is an operating system for revenue.
E-commerce design is not only a homepage and product grid. Catalogue structure, search, checkout friction, taxes, shipping logic, inventory, returns, email flows, analytics, and staff administration all affect whether the store works as a business.
We design around the buying journey and the back-office workflow together. That means customers can find and purchase products while your team can manage inventory, fulfilment, promotions, reporting, and content without creating a support ticket for every change.
North Star works with Shopify and WooCommerce, and can connect stores to accounting, CRM, inventory, shipping, email, and internal systems when off-the-shelf workflows are not enough.
A complete, documented service.
The exact scope is written before work begins. These are the core workstreams we plan around.
Platform and architecture decisions.
We map products, variants, markets, transaction volume, internal workflows, integrations, and ownership requirements before selecting the platform.
Product discovery and checkout.
Navigation, collection structure, search, product pages, trust signals, cart, and checkout are designed around clear purchasing decisions.
Canadian payment configuration.
We configure supported gateways, currencies, taxes, receipts, refund workflows, fraud controls, and the access boundaries around payment systems.
Shipping, inventory, and fulfilment.
Rates, zones, pickup, notifications, inventory rules, and fulfilment handoffs are documented and tested against real scenarios.
Connect the systems behind the store.
Accounting, CRM, email, ERP, inventory, and custom APIs are integrated with monitoring and failure handling appropriate to the business risk.
Security and ongoing maintenance.
Launch is followed by monitoring, updates, backups, performance work, merchandising support, and an agreed change process.
How the work moves from risk to release.
Commerce discovery
We map the catalogue, customers, markets, payment requirements, fulfilment process, data sources, and success metrics.
Experience design
Information architecture, wireframes, product templates, collection paths, and checkout decisions are reviewed before build.
Build and integrate
The storefront, content, structured data, analytics, payments, shipping, and required integrations are implemented on staging.
Test and launch
We test devices, browsers, products, discounts, taxes, shipping, payments, notifications, analytics, and staff workflows before cutover.
Delivered across Canada, supported from two dispatch locations.
E-commerce projects are delivered across Canada in Canadian dollars. Remote workshops, staging reviews, and recorded training make geography irrelevant, while Prince George and Grande Prairie provide dispatch locations when a project needs planned on-site work.
Start with our Canada-wide website design service, review live project examples, or read what a small-business website costs in Canada before requesting a scope.
Build the right website service stack.
Website Maintenance Services
Website maintenance services across Canada: updates, security, backups, monitoring, content changes, and Canadian hosting from $149 per month.
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For complex functionality, data flows, APIs, portals, and application-like website requirements.
Explore custom development →Frequently asked questions
Which is better for a Canadian business, Shopify or WooCommerce?
Shopify is often the simpler choice when a business wants a hosted commerce platform with a predictable operating model. WooCommerce can be a better fit when WordPress content flexibility, ownership, or specialized integrations matter more. We choose after reviewing the catalogue, workflows, internal skills, and total operating cost.
How much does an e-commerce website cost?
Cost depends on catalogue size, content readiness, design depth, data migration, payment and shipping rules, integrations, and custom functionality. North Star scopes the build as a fixed-fee project and provides the written number before development begins.
Can you migrate an existing online store?
Yes. A migration plan covers product and customer data, URL redirects, SEO metadata, analytics, payments, integrations, order-history requirements, testing, and a rollback plan. We do not treat migration as a simple theme replacement.
Do you maintain e-commerce websites after launch?
Yes. Ongoing care can cover platform updates, backups, security, uptime, performance, merchandising changes, integration monitoring, and technical support. E-commerce plans are scoped according to transaction risk and operational complexity.
Scope the website work before committing.
Tell us what you have, what is not working, and what the business needs next. We will respond with a practical first step and a written scope.
Book a free website scope call