TORONTO — As much as e-commerce is taking North America by storm, sometimes a few bricks can help the clicks and mortar run a little smoother.
That’s the thinking behind a new agreement by Magento, a global e-commerce retail platform provider, and Canada Post. Magento merchants will have access to Canada Post’s retail network and its shipping and delivery features. The agreement was announced at today’s DX3 conference in Toronto.
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Magento, a division of X.commerce, an eBay Inc. company, said integrating into Magento’s e-commerce platform, will help provide a satisfying shopping experience through a range of shipping, delivery, tracking and returns options well after the online transaction is made.
“Canada Post is taking another step to push e-commerce forward in Canada,” says René Desmarais, senior vice-president, parcels at Canada Post, in a statement. “By integrating with leading retail platform providers, we are enabling retailers to offer the most convenient end-to-end online shopping experience in a seamless manner.”
Magento is touting a number of benefits for customers from the integration, including:
- Precise expected delivery dates for customer shipments
- Convenient delivery options, including delivery to the Canadian post office of choice
- Tracking orders directly from the merchant’s online store
- Self-service return labels from the online store to simplify the return process
- Automated order fulfillment by printing shipping labels directly within Magento
“E-commerce is booming in Canada,” said Ryan Thompson, director of partnerships for X.commerce and Magento, in a statement. “Our relationship with Canada Post can better enhance the Canadian consumer’s online shopping experience with Magento functionality and convenient, flexible and efficient delivery options from Canada Post.”