Best E-Commerce & Shopify Agency in Montréal: How to Choose

Short answer: the best e-commerce agency in Montréal for you is one that has launched stores like yours, recommends Shopify or a custom build for clear reasons, sets up a properly bilingual store with Québec sales taxes, integrates inventory and fulfilment, and leaves the store, domain and data in your accounts. Disclosure: we're Algoseed Labs, a Montréal e-commerce development team, so we're one of your options. This guide gives you the criteria to judge us and every other company the same way.

Shopify or a custom build?

For most retail stores, Shopify is the practical choice: hosting, checkout, payments and security are handled, and themes and apps cover common needs. Shopify's built-in multi-language support makes a French and English store straightforward. A custom or extended build makes sense for marketplaces with many sellers, B2B pricing and ordering, unusual product configuration, or deep integration with ERP and warehouse systems. A good agency explains which parts should be standard Shopify and which need custom development.

What to compare

Stores launched. Ask for live stores in your category, and buy something to test the checkout.
Theme vs custom work. Know whether you're paying for a configured theme or custom development, and price them accordingly.
App discipline. Every app adds monthly fees and page weight. Good agencies keep the app list short.
Integrations. Inventory, point of sale, accounting, shipping and ERP connections are where projects succeed or fail.
Migration. If you're moving platforms, ask how products, customers, orders and URLs (for SEO) will be migrated.

What's specific to selling online from Montréal?

Bilingual store. Product pages, checkout and emails aimed at Québec customers generally need to be in French under the Charter of the French language.
Sales taxes. Québec customers are charged GST (5%) and QST (9.975%); other provinces use GST or HST and their own provincial taxes. Configure taxes with your accountant before launch.
Consent for tracking. Advertising pixels and analytics need consent under Law 25. See our Law 25 checklist.
Shipping across Canada. Plan rates and delivery zones early; distance drives cost.

How much does an e-commerce store cost?

A store on a configured Shopify theme costs far less than a custom marketplace. Custom work is estimated in hours; our published rate band on Clutch is $50–$99 USD per hour. See our cost guide for typical hour ranges, and budget for monthly platform and app fees.

Questions to ask

Which stores like ours have you launched, and how are they performing?
What will be standard Shopify, and what will be custom?
Which apps will we pay for each month?
How will you set up French, English and Québec taxes?
How will you connect inventory, fulfilment and accounting?
Will the store, domain and data be in our accounts?

Red flags

Be careful with stores registered under the agency's account, a long list of paid apps for basic features, no plan for redirects when migrating (which can lose your search rankings), and a French version done by automatic translation.

How Algoseed Labs fits

We build e-commerce that goes beyond a theme. We built the Making Vinyl Marketplace, a Shopify-based B2B marketplace for the vinyl record manufacturing industry; a hyper-local marketplace with postal-code delivery routing for Simcoe County merchants (case study); and a multi-provider payment system with 99.99% availability (case study). See our e-commerce development services or tell us about your store.

Frequently asked questions

Who is the best Shopify or e-commerce agency in Montréal?

There's no single best agency for every store. Choose one that has launched stores like yours, explains what will be standard Shopify and what will be custom, sets up a bilingual store with Québec sales taxes, integrates inventory and fulfilment, and keeps the store and data in your accounts.

Should a Montréal business use Shopify or a custom e-commerce platform?

Shopify suits most retail stores and supports French and English. A custom or extended build makes sense for multi-seller marketplaces, B2B pricing and ordering, complex product configuration, or deep ERP and warehouse integration.

Which sales taxes apply to online sales to Québec customers?

Québec customers are generally charged GST at 5% and QST at 9.975%. Other provinces use GST or HST and their own rules, so confirm your tax setup with your accountant before launch.