Upgrade your Ecommerce Website with the Launch Online Grant Program

The Launch Online Grant program provides funding to B.C.-based small and medium sized businesses to create an online shop and/or improve their ecommerce website experience. This should attract new local customers and expand to new markets. The grant will pay for up to 75% of eligible expenses, up to a maximum of $7,500 per business.

This is a great opportunity for any business in British Columbia to improve their e commerce by upgrading their website and is equal to a 75% discount

Who is eligible for this ecommerce website grant?

All applicants must meet the following criteria

• The business is owned by a B.C. resident or residents;
• The business’s sole or primary operations are located in B.C.
• The bc based business:
  • Is currently operating;
  • Is registered in B.C.;
  • Employs less than 149 B.C. residents;
  • Pays taxes in B.C.
  • Maintains a
    • Business number
    • GST number
    • PST and WorkSafeBC number (where applicable)
  • Generated sales of more than $30,000 in the past year (in 2019, or in the year preceding the application)
  • Has repeatable products, or in the case of artists and jewellers, individual items that have slight differences (i.e. paintings or rings)
  • Does not currently have an online store or has an online store that has no more than 3 of the following 5 identified online store features
    • Customer registration and information security features
    • Shopping cart and order management capabilities
    • Payment processing options including application of appropriate taxes and shipping costs at time of ordering
    • Product catalogue, search and inventory status
    • Website analytics and reporting capabilities

Funding will help cover up to 75% of costs for expenses such as:

• Service provider costs:
  • Platform and website development
  • Copy and online content writing
  • Developing an online inventory of goods and products
  • Pictures (including hiring a photographer), stock photos or related graphics needed
• Digital customer costs:
  • E-commerce platform subscription (up to 1 year)
  • Online advertising (up to 1 year)
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
  • Creating banners and other embedded advertising
• Staff training to manage the online shop, learn about digital marketing, etc.

Expenses to build an online shop, to improve existing e-commerce platforms and digital customer acquisition activities, are eligible for funding. The grant will pay for up to 75% of eligible expenses, up to a maximum of $7,500 per business. The grant recipient must cover 25% of the cost, which can be covered from other programs or directly by the businesses. The funds must be used to hire B.C.-based company(ies) develop the online store

Program timelines

The building of the online shop and all other activities related to the program must be completed within twelve weeks after approval. Following project completion, the business must submit an expense summary report to Alacrity Canada. The expense summary report must list all expenses incurred in completing their online shop and improvements to the existing online shop. 

How do I know what I need to get started with an ecommerce website?

This is where an experienced website and marketing company can help you define what you need to get started and build up your online sales

We have already started helping customers with their grant proposals and applications. We can run a free audit of your existing website and suggest eligible upgrades, or talk with you about getting your ecommerce website up and running

We already have an ecommerce website – what improvements can we make that are covered by the grant?

An effective, easy to navigate ecommerce website is essential for success in online sales. From showing in search results pages, clicking through to your site (Customer Acquisition) to finding the product they want (Store catalogue, search / filter and inventory status). As well as easily being able to purchase (customer registration, payment processing, order fulfilment and shipping. 

Examples of eligible Ecommerce website functionality and enhancements are

1. Customer Registration
2. Synching customers with customer database via a CRM  / Email marketing too
3. Targeting and segmenting customers for automated email followups (feedback, new customer welcome gifts, repeat customer rewards) or product recalls
4. Setting up Cart abandonment capture and follopwup
5. Training videos product usage
6. Setup logic for cross-sells and upsells via the cart
7. Create Retail and wholesale pricing options
8. Order management – shipping calculators for automatic shipping calculation / timings / tracking numbers based on cart contents
9. Payment processing (options of credit cards, paypal, COD, invoiced, local pickup
10. Improve UX (user experience) on mobile
11. Improve product search, filtering (“to be like amazon”)
12. Search Engine optimization so that new customers find your products
13. Analytics and reporting – setting up google analytics / facebook pixel properly to track site visitors, conversions and sales in real time, and keep a cost of conversion

In summary, this is a fantastic opportunity to upgrade your online store (or to start an online store) at a 75% discount.

We would love to help our fellow British Columbians get started on their ecommerce website upgrade, and will work with you to write the proposal to accompany your application. Let our expertise with ecommerce combine with your company and product knowledge to boost your bottom line with online sales