How Staples Canada Cut Replatform Time and Cost by Half with Shopify Plus

Overview

Staples Canada had long been frustrated by an in-house commerce system that only allowed one daily update, crashed under peak loads, and demanded hefty maintenance. After the company split from its U.S. parent in 2017, leadership saw an opening to redefine digital operations. They set clear targets: shave replatform time to under a year, cut costs in half, boost site stability, and gain real-time control over promotions. Shopify Plus emerged as the ideal partner.

Identifying the Challenge

By late 2018, Staples Canada began rolling out a new brand identity in stores and online. Yet their prior platform was a constant headache. It required nightly downtime for changes, struggled to handle seasonal surges—especially back-to-school and Black Friday—and ate up developer hours just to launch simple campaigns. The team needed a modern, scalable cloud solution with access to an enterprise app ecosystem and flexible APIs.

Choosing Shopify Plus

After evaluating legacy heavyweights—Salesforce Commerce Cloud, SAP Hybris, Oracle—the tech leadership concluded that none could deliver the speed and cost efficiency they required. Shopify Plus stood out for its rapid time-to-market, transparent pricing, and robust partner ecosystem. Integration into their ERP and migration of 300+ store locations’ data proved straightforward, and the project kicked off immediately.

Rapid Replatforming

In less than 12 months, Staples Canada launched its new Shopify Plus site. The team migrated product catalogs, customer records, and order histories, while custom apps handled loyalty programs and advanced search. This tight timeline freed resources that were previously tied to platform maintenance, allowing marketers and merchandisers to focus on customer-facing initiatives.

Unmatched Flexibility

As the 2019 holiday season approached, Staples Canada’s marketing team experienced real-time control for the first time. Rather than one nightly batch, they could cycle through multiple promotions in a single day. This agility fueled more targeted campaigns and responsive adjustments during live events—no more waiting for the overnight window to correct pricing or banners.

Scaling Through COVID

When the pandemic hit in March 2020, Staples Canada faced 30 consecutive days of Black Friday-level traffic. At 9:30 a.m., Apple announced its retail closures, and within the hour Staples had updated its hero banner and launched curbside click-and-collect across all stores. Shopify Plus handled the surge flawlessly, delivering virtually 100% uptime with no performance dips.

Outstanding Results

During the first Black Friday on the new platform, Staples Canada shattered its previous sales records without any downtime. Seasonal events like back-to-school and Christmas saw year-over-year growth. Over the COVID peak month, traffic, transactions, and revenue more than doubled compared to the prior period—proof that a stable, scalable cloud solution can transform enterprise retail.

Lessons Learned

Modern retailers need commerce platforms that respond instantly to consumer behavior, eliminate maintenance burdens, and integrate seamlessly with existing systems. Staples Canada’s experience shows that with clear goals, executive buy-in, and the right partner, even large enterprises can replatform quickly and cost-effectively.