Omnisend Study: Canadian Ecommerce Orders Grew 20% in 2025, With the Top 10% of Brands Driving Half of Growth

Ecommerce order volume across all channels in Canada grew 20% year over year in 2025, according to a new report from Omnisend. Analysis of over 5,000 Canadian ecommerce brands found that growth was uneven across the market. The top 10% of brands generated 50% of total order growth, showing that demand was concentrated among higher-performing brands during the year.

Omnisend’s Canadian marketing data helps explain this shift. Shoppers clicked on marketing messages less often, but when they did, they were more likely to buy and spend more. With fewer chances to reach shoppers, timing became more important, and brands that could react quickly to customer behavior captured more sales. As a result, behavior-based automated emails generated 27% of email revenue from just 2.1% of sends.

“What we saw in 2025 reflects the broader economy — growth came back, but it didn’t reach everyone,” says Marty Bauer, Ecommerce Expert at Omnisend. “After years of inflation and uncertainty, people were still willing to spend, but they were much more intentional about where they spent their money. Brands that were able to react quickly to customer behavior had a clear advantage, while others found it harder to keep up.”

Shoppers engaged with marketing less often, but bought more when they did

Marketing performance data from Omnisend shows that quality mattered more than quantity for Canadian brands. While it became harder to earn clicks, each interaction was more valuable, reflecting a shift toward more intentional shopping behavior.

Year over year:

• Average order value from email rose from $172 to $196, a 14% increase
• Average revenue per email increased by 41%, from $0.12 to $0.17
• Email click-to-conversion increased by 28%, rising from 6.23% to 9.24%
• At the same time, email click rates declined by 22%
  

“Clicks became harder to get in 2025, but they also became more valuable,” says Bauer. “Shoppers were more selective, but when they did engage, they were ready to spend more. That’s why fewer interactions still produced more revenue — each click carried more intent than it did before. That shift rewarded brands that focused on efficiency and relevance, rather than volume.”

Behavior-based marketing captured a disproportionate share of revenue

The data shows that many of the Canadian brands that grew the fastest used automation to respond to customer behavior in real time. As shoppers became more selective, brands that reached customers when they were already close to buying saw better results.

Key automation findings:

• Automated emails generated 27% of total email revenue while representing just 2.1% of email sends
• Revenue per automated email send: $3.32
• Revenue per scheduled email send: $0.16
• Automated messages delivered higher conversion efficiency across channels:
  • Email click-to-conversion: automated 31.23% ; scheduled 9.24%
  • SMS click-to-conversion: automated 3.38% ; scheduled 0.89%
    Push notification click-to-conversion: automated 20.21% ; scheduled 1.87%

“Brands that relied on automation weren’t trying to convince people to buy — they were responding when customers had already shown intent,” says Bauer. “In a year when attention was limited and shoppers had more options than ever, that approach worked better. Automated messages performed well because they fit naturally into how people shop today, rather than interrupting them.