Keeping Up with Demand: Strategies for Scaling Operations in the U.S. and Canada

E-commerce continues to dominate the North American shopping landscape. In the United States alone, sales totalled $1.19 trillion USD in 2024, an increase of around 8% from 2023. In Canada, retail E-commerce sales reached approximately $48.86 billion CAD in 2024, representing an increase of around 8% year-over-year from 2023. 

This surge is pushing businesses to scale operations with greater efficiency. Whether you’re a Canadian retailer shipping to the U.S. or a U.S. brand entering the Canadian market, meeting rising customer expectations requires both infrastructure strength and logistical agility.

But scaling isn’t just about footprint, it’s about building a system that’s responsive, efficient, and resilient. For companies operating across the U.S.–Canada border, that means navigating customs compliance, warehousing strategies, and diverse customer preferences.

Understanding the Market Landscape in the U.S. and Canada

With E-commerce now entrenched as a dominant retail channel in both countries, businesses are under pressure not only to meet rising delivery expectations but also to ensure smooth, cost-effective cross-border movement of goods. This sustained growth has made logistics efficiency a competitive necessity rather than a backend concern.

What makes this growth more complex is the diversity in customer expectations. A 2024 Payments Canada report shows Canadians leaning further into digital-first shopping and delivery, while Statista notes that U.S. consumers increasingly expect ultra-fast fulfillment, often within two days or less.

To succeed, businesses must tailor operations to these nuanced demands. Market research becomes critical, informing decisions around inventory placement, warehousing proximity, and transportation strategy.

Strategies for Scaling Operations

Infrastructure and Technology: Building the Foundation

Scaling starts with infrastructure that can handle higher volumes without sacrificing reliability. Both countries are investing in modernizing transportation and logistics systems, with Canada’s national transportation strategy being one such initiative.

Private businesses are automating rapidly, using Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), Transport Management Systems (TMS), and real-time inventory tools to streamline fulfillment while increasing accuracy and throughput. A 2025 thesis from the University of Waterloo by Jiwoo Christian Suh found that automation, specifically algorithmic order batching, can reduce pick-up sequences by nearly 50% compared to traditional methods. These improvements go beyond efficiency gains; they redefine how work is structured in high-volume environments.

As operations scale across the U.S. and Canada, such automation becomes essential. It allows businesses to handle increased order volumes without proportional increases in labour or space. Smart systems that optimize movement and scheduling help reduce bottlenecks, manage peak demand, and support sustainable, responsive growth across broader service areas.

Flexible Warehousing Solutions

Scalability often hinges on warehouse adaptability. Multi-location warehousing—especially when it spans both U.S. and Canadian borders—helps businesses store inventory closer to key markets, reducing delivery time and cost.

The 2025 Warehousing and Fulfillment Pricing Survey shows a strong shift toward flexible and seasonal warehouse leasing, giving brands room to scale storage around peak seasons and product launches, without committing to long-term overhead.

SFI’s approach to Section 321 fulfillment exemplifies this adaptability. By leveraging Canadian-based inventory to fulfill U.S. orders duty-free under Section 321, businesses gain a competitive edge while minimizing customs costs and processing time.

Optimizing Supply Chain Networks

Efficient operations require tight control over supply chain routes and partners. Tools like AI-driven transportation planning can enable companies to reduce miles driven, fuel used, and delivery times.

Strategic partnerships also matter. As noted by Export Development Canada, working with the right carriers and customs brokers helps streamline compliance and reduce unexpected delays at the border.

For cross-border operators, route optimization and the placement of regional offices and warehouses, like SFI’s facilities in Ogdensburg and Prescott, offer powerful levers to reduce cost-per-order and time-to-door.

Strategy	Key Benefit	When to Use It	Operational Impact
Multi-location Warehousing	Faster delivery and regional flexibility	When customers are spread across multiple regions	Shortens delivery times by storing inventory closer to customers
Section 321 Fulfillment	Duty-free U.S. shipping from Canada	For high-volume U.S.-bound E-commerce orders	Minimizes import fees and speeds up customs clearance
Automation (WMS/TMS)	Streamlined workflows and fewer manual errors	When managing large volumes or complex orders	Improves speed and accuracy in fulfillment
Strategic Carrier Partnerships	Reliable, scalable transportation	When consistency and efficiency are mission-critical	Strengthens cross-border reliability and reduces delays
Agile Methodologies	Faster response to disruptions and change	In volatile or seasonal logistics environments	Enables real-time decision-making and responsive logistics

Agility and Adaptability

The ability to pivot during disruption (e.g., labour shortages, weather events, global pandemics) often determines whether businesses thrive or stall. Insights from HBR and SCMR emphasize the role of decentralized fulfillment and flexible networks in weathering supply chain shocks.

Agile methodologies, originally developed for software development, are now widely embraced in logistics. As explained in an analysis published in The International Journal of Logistics Management in 2024, agile supply chains enable faster decision-making, responsiveness to disruption, and more adaptive planning by leveraging digital transformation and real-time data.

The significance of this shift lies in how agility transforms supply chains from rigid, forecast-dependent systems into responsive, continuously adapting networks. According to the analysis, key enablers include digital tools such as IoT, cloud computing, and AI; technologies that allow businesses to anticipate disruptions, reroute logistics, and realign inventory in real time. As companies scale operations, agility ensures they aren’t just growing bigger, but growing smarter and more resilient.

Overcoming Challenges in U.S.–Canada Scaling

Cross-border expansion introduces significant challenges, including regulatory complexity, shifting tariffs, carrier limitations, and ongoing labour shortages. According to Transport Canada, the transport and warehousing sectors are under immense strain due to skills gaps and high turnover.

Furthermore, border tariffs and cross-jurisdictional rules add layers of complexity to logistics strategies. Ongoing tariff policy shifts, particularly recent U.S. increases targeting key sectors, are altering cost structures, disrupting supply routes, and forcing businesses to reconfigure how goods are sourced and delivered.

To overcome these challenges:

• Diversify supplier networks to reduce reliance on single corridors
• Use scalable workforce strategies (e.g., temp labour pools, robotics)
• Invest in compliance partnerships and data-driven customs management

Canada’s Supply Chain Task Force also underscores the importance of collaboration between the public and private sectors to future-proof national logistics through shared infrastructure investment and policy alignment.

Before you scale cross-border operations, ask yourself:

Do we have warehousing infrastructure close to our biggest customer bases?

Are our order management and inventory systems fully integrated?

Can we meet both U.S. and Canadian delivery time expectations?

Are we leveraging Section 321 where applicable to reduce duty costs?
→ Learn how SFI can support this

Do we have contingency plans in place for labour, tariff, or policy shifts?

Are we working with partners who understand both sides of the border?
→ Talk to our team about cross-border scaling

Ready for What’s Next

Scaling operations across the United States and Canada requires vision, flexibility, and the right partners. As the pace of E-commerce and logistics innovation accelerates, businesses must continually refine their strategies to keep up with shifting demand and evolving infrastructure.

Whether it’s investing in automation, expanding warehousing capacity, or optimizing cross-border routes, sustainable growth hinges on making the right moves early. For businesses ready to scale smartly, the North American market offers not just opportunity, but real advantage.

Ready to move faster, smarter, and further? Talk to our team about scaling your logistics with confidence.