News releases

(Toronto, ON) – Five companies that excel at giving Canadians what they value most in the online shopping experience have been named the country’s best retailers in this dynamic and growing sector.

The winners impressed an expert panel of judges by offering outstanding end-to-end customer experiences. Far beyond simply creating great websites, the winners set the gold standard at such practices as engaging customers online, integrating the online and in-store experiences and satisfying customers’ needs for easy and convenient delivery and returns.

“Our research says roughly 40 per cent of Canadians made a purchase online in the last three months,” says René Desmarais, Senior Vice-President, Parcels, at Canada Post. “Online shopping is mainstream, which tells me retailers are giving Canadians the satisfying experience they want—right up to the moment they open their parcel. And these winners are leading the way.”

While one winning company is more than 40 years old, all of the others are less than four years old—a sign of how dynamic and entrepreneurial this sector is. The winners are:

• Best Multi-channel Retailer of the Year – Large: Mountain Equipment Co-op (Vancouver, B.C.)
• Best Multi-channel Retailer of the Year – Small: Rent frock Repeat (Toronto, Ont.)
• Best Online Retailer of the Year – Large: Well.ca (Guelph, Ont.)
• Best Online Retailer of the Year – Small: CharmJunction.ca (Langley, B.C.)
• Outside the Box Achievement Award: Well.ca (Guelph, Ont.)
• Best New E-business: ShirtPunch (Whitby, Ont.)
• Consumer Champion Award (chosen by Canadians in an online vote): ShirtPunch (Whitby, Ont.)

Canada Post, the market-share leader in business-to-consumer delivery, honoured the companies at a prestigious gala dinner in Toronto. The winners will receive a total of $1 million worth of free shipping and Direct Marketing mail, among other prizes.

This was the first year for the awards, which attracted submissions from e-commerce retailers across the country. The judges were Facebook Canada’s Managing Director, Jordan Banks; PayPal Canada’s Managing Director, Darrell MacMullin; Dr. Robert W. Helsley, Dean of the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia; Denyse Chicoyne, corporate director; Jacques Côté, Canada Post’s Physical Delivery Network Group President and Mr. Desmarais.

About Us
Canada Post is the country’s leading provider of business-to-consumer delivery. By reaching more than 15.1 million addresses, and operating the country’s largest retail network of nearly 6,500 post offices, Canada Post is ideally positioned to offer affordable and reliable service, with convenient pickup and return options. Together, Canada Post, Purolator Inc. (Canada’s largest logistics company) and SCI Logistics offer market-leading end-to-end solutions for e-commerce shippers by leveraging the assets and expertise of the Canada Post Group of Companies.