It’s never been a better time for Canadian brands to start selling in Europe. The USA’s new tariffs are an obvious reason why you might want to look to Europe for new customers, but it’s far from the only one. For long-term growth and stability, Europe’s where you should be looking. After all, one thing I can promise you is that EU legislation moves slower than Presidential Executive Orders.
The EU alone has 450 million consumers. Every year more people in Europe shop online, and the amount they’re spending is increasing too. Plus, the EU is already Canada’s second-largest export market. The infrastructure you need to get your products to Europe is already in place.
That infrastructure includes some very beneficial trade deals for Canadians: The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). CETA removes a lot of barriers for Canadian businesses looking to sell to the EU. The headline is that 99% of customs duties have been removed for Canadian-origin goods being exported to the EU.
So, what do you need to take advantage of all the benefits?
What Does the European Market Look Like?
As any seasoned ecommerce seller knows, localisation is key to converting international customers. Let’s break that down into two sections: your product and your store.
What should Canadian Brands Sell in Europe?
Whatever you’re selling, there’s probably a customer for it in Europe. Having said that, Health, Wellness, Fashion and Electronics are our most popular categories for shopping with international brands. The ‘Specialty Foods’ category is also growing as the social internet drives us to seek products from outside the continent. Have you ever seen a recipe you’ve just got to try and not been able to find a local alternative to that one ingredient?
Sustainability is also huge in Europe. Most of us are looking for the most sustainable version of our favourite products. Over half of Europeans shopping online are willing to pay more for the environmentally friendly version of a product.
What do Europeans Expect from Online Stores?
Good localisation builds trust and converts browsers into customers. For selling in Europe, the three main pillars of localisation are language, pricing and payment. Just remember: Europe isn’t a cultural monolith. What works in Belgium might not in Bulgaria, and vice versa. Make sure to do your research!
Presenting your store to your customer in their own language goes a long way towards making sales. If you’re one of the Canadians who speaks both French and English, then you’ve got a head start! Both languages are official languages of the EU and between them, you’ve covered most of the population of western Europe.
Europe uses VAT (Value Added Tax), which is similar to GST/PST/HST. One of the big differences is that VAT is included in the listed price unless otherwise specified. When they’re shopping internationally, Europeans want to know how much they’re going to spend before the product reaches them. Cart abandonment is increased when we’re uncertain about the final price. You can mitigate this by showing your customers the price that’s local to them (every country’s VAT rates are different).
There are a lot of payment methods unique to Europe and some unique to specific countries. People trust their money with names they recognise, so being able to offer local options might be the final needed to earn you a sale.
If you’d rather sell through a marketplace, you have a lot of options. Amazon has five European stores (soon to be six) and its Pan-EU program makes it easy to ship your goods all over Europe. Amazon is only one of the top marketplaces in France, for example.
Do Canadians Need to Register for VAT?
When you start selling your products to customers in Europe you’ll have to deal with VAT. How you need to handle your VAT obligations will change depending on where your goods are at the point of sale, where you’re selling them and where your customers are.
In the EU and the UK, marketplaces like Amazon and eBay have to collect and report VAT on B2C sales on your behalf. If your goods are in Canada at the point of sale this means you can effectively sell to Europe without having to worry about VAT. However, if you’re storing your products in an EU country, you’ll need to register for VAT in that country. You’ll most likely encounter this if you’re using Amazon FBA.
If you don’t want to sell through a marketplace, or it’s just one of your many sales channels, you might need to register for Import One Stop Shop (IOSS). IOSS lets you collect and report VAT on sales to customers all over the EU without having to register for VAT in each state where you have customers.
Shipping Orders from Canada to Europe
Essentially you have two options when it comes to getting orders to your European customers. You can either ship directly from Canada or hold inventory somewhere in Europe and ship orders from there. Each option has its pros and cons.
| Shipping Method | Pros | Cons |
| Direct from Canada | No need for EU storage, flexible | Longer shipping times, import VAT for buyers |
| EU Warehousing (Amazon FBA, 3PL) | Faster delivery, better customer experience | Requires VAT registration in storage country |
You’ll need to choose a logistics partner to get your goods to Europe either way, and you’ll have a lot of familiar options. Canada Post, DHL, FedEx and UPS all offer international shipping to the EU. There are also specialist ecommerce providers like ShipBob that operate in Europe and Canada.
Something to consider when choosing is how you’re going to handle returns. An easy returns process can win you a return customer, so a partner with fulfilment centres that can process EU-based returns is a huge benefit.
EU vs Canadian Product Regulations
It might be easier to sell your products in Europe than you expect. A lot of Canadian-made products are ready for the EU market, thanks to Canada’s high regulatory standards. There’s a lot of overlap and CETA has introduced a lot of mutual recognition, meaning that for some goods meeting Canadian standards equals meeting them in the EU.
The best news is that a lot of the overlap comes in product categories that rank among the most popular in Europe. The Safe Food for Canadians Act (SFCA) and certifications like Canada Organic align with EU regulations like 178/2002. If your supplements meet Health Canada’s Natural Health Product Regulations, they may already comply with many EU standards under EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) guidelines.
Although your products might meet European standards, you might still need to change the labelling or acquire additional certifications. For example, the EU has different language requirements for labelling to Canada. As for certifications, certain electronic goods need CE marking before they can be sold on the EU market.
