Use the official integration
A Canadian Shopify store owner should connect a payment gateway on Shopify or WooCommerce through the official plugin so online payments stay off the theme. Every major platform, Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and BigCommerce, supports gateway plugins. Use the supported integration so updates, refunds, and reporting work with the order. A custom form pasted into the theme can fail when the theme updates, and it leaves card numbers on the store server. Armour Payments connects to 100+ platforms; see integrations. Install the official plugin, place a small live order, and refund it in the store admin so you can see the two records match. If your platform is on that list, start there before anyone rebuilds the card form by hand.
Keep PCI scope small
Choose an integration that hosts the card fields, using tokenization or an iframe, so raw card data never touches your servers. This shrinks your PCI burden and is safer for customers, because a font-matched form in the theme does the opposite and lands numbers on your server. Hosted fields can still sit on a page that looks like the shop. More on the annual checklist is in PCI compliance for small stores. Make this choice when you connect the gateway, before the first real order. Remove any plugin that asks you to collect card numbers on your own page.
Optimize for conversion
Enable Apple Pay, Google Pay, and saved cards at checkout so a returning shopper can pay without typing the card, especially on a phone. Put the wallet button where it is visible before any request to create an account. Minimize form fields, show tax and shipping once you know the postal code, and never add a surprise fee at the last step. Those changes lift completed orders because they remove work, and they depend on the official plugin offering the wallets. See the anatomy of a high-converting checkout. Place a test order on a phone after the buttons are on.
Reconcile cleanly
Match your gateway's settlement reports to your store orders so payouts, refunds, and fees line up. Do the match by hand for the first few payouts. A missing refund is often a payment captured in the gateway and cancelled only in Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, or BigCommerce. Note the billing descriptor shoppers will see on the statement. If you also take cards at a counter, label the online batch so those sales stay distinct from in-person taps. A clean reconciliation saves a confused month-end. If your platform is missing from the integration list, Contact sales.
A WooCommerce cart that lost the sale at the card form
A WooCommerce theme carried a custom card form that posted numbers to the store server. A theme update broke the form on a Friday, and the card numbers had been in the wrong place the whole time. Replacing it with the official gateway integration and hosted fields put card entry back on the processor side. Apple Pay could sit at the top of checkout because the plugin supported it, which mattered on phones. Refunds then matched the WooCommerce order instead of a separate spreadsheet. That is the job of the supported plugin. The same pattern holds for Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce. Armour Payments connects to 100+ platforms, listed on integrations. If you want to keep a custom form so it matches the brand, read PCI for small stores first.
Reconciliation after the first payout
When the first payout lands, open the gateway report and the store orders for the same dates. Match gross sales, refunds, and fees on Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, or BigCommerce, whichever one you run. A missing refund is often a card captured in the gateway and cancelled only in the store admin, or the other way around. Fix that habit in week one. Do the match by hand for a few days even when you trust the plugin. Note the billing descriptor shoppers will see on the statement. If you also take cards on a counter, keep the online batch and the in-person batch identifiable so a Saturday's taps are not blended into the store payout with no label. Contact sales if your platform is missing from integrations.