What to put on your first pallet into Canada

The most common mistake we see is a brand sending everything. Forty SKUs, three sizes each, one pallet of every colour. Then Canada does 60 orders a month and half the stock sits on a shelf paying storage.

Pulling inventory back out of Canada is expensive. Freight, duty on re-export, and the opportunity cost of stock that could have sold in the US. So the goal of the first pallet is not to serve every Canadian customer perfectly. It is to learn what Canada wants without overcommitting.

The crawl

Pick your top 15 to 20 SKUs by US sell-through. Send 90 days of Canadian demand, estimated from your current Canadian orders plus a lift of about 30 percent for the faster shipping. Anything you are unsure about, leave out. A Canadian customer who wants a niche SKU can still buy it from your US store for now.

The walk

At 60 days, look at three numbers per SKU: units sold, days of cover left, and the Canadian conversion rate on the product page compared to the US rate. SKUs that are moving get topped up on the second pallet. SKUs that are not get pulled from the Canadian catalogue and sold down.

The run

Once the second pallet is in, you know your Canadian velocity. That is when it makes sense to add the long tail, set up Canadian returns properly, and turn on the fast-shipping badge at checkout, which is where the conversion lift actually shows up.

What we need from you before the first pallet

• A commercial invoice with the wholesale value per SKU
• HS codes if you have them (we can help if you do not)
• Whether you have a Canadian business number, or want us to act as importer of record
• Your store's admin access for the integration, or an API key

That is it. The pallet crosses once, clears once, and from then on every order is a domestic shipment from Hamilton. Start the scoping form and we will reply within one business day.