What is Canva? Features, Pricing, + Uses for Ecommerce

Canva is a do-it-yourself design platform that lets you create visual assets for your ecommerce business, including product images, digital ads, email graphics, and social media content. 

Strong visual branding can help a business create a recognizable identity and present a consistent image across customer touchpoints. However, startups and small businesses may not have the budget or in-house expertise to rely on professional design services for every asset. With customizable templates and beginner-friendly tools, Canva provides a way to fill that gap.

So, exactly what is Canva? This guide explores the software platform in depth, covering features, pricing, and how it can help your ecommerce business.

What is Canva?

Canva is a web-based graphic design platform that lets users create visual content through customizable templates and a drag-and-drop interface. Businesses can use Canva to create social media graphics, presentations, videos, marketing materials, websites, documents, and other visual assets without advanced graphic design skills. 

The platform also includes mobile apps, AI-powered design tools, collaboration features, and integrations with other business applications. It has more than 265 million monthly active users. 

Canva features

Canva includes many core design features in its free version, but to scale up or access premium features, you’ll need to choose a paid plan. 

Features include:

• Design and publishing: Create social media graphics, brand logos, website assets, presentations, and videos using a drag-and-drop interface, photo and video editors, as well as millions of templates and stock assets. Set custom dimensions, export assets, share on socials , and create print-ready files.
• Workplace: Use in-app tools like Canva Email, Canva Sheets, Canva Docs, and whiteboards, and print assets like business cards, posters, and flyers. 
• AI: Use built-in AI tools like Magic Write (for SEO descriptions), Magic Insights (to analyze data trends/patterns), Canva Code (to generate code for interactive digital experiences). Additional features include background removal and image/video generation. 
• Brand and collaboration: Use Brand Kits to store and organize your brand identity and Brand Templates to make templated assets to suit your brand identity. Collaborate in real time with your team through file sharing, task assignments, comments, and approvals. 
• Apps and integrations: Add third-party apps to your design workflow through Apps Marketplace, integrate with and publish to other platforms (Google Workspace, Meta, YouTube, Dropbox, Shopify), and pull data from other platforms into Canva with data connectors.

Canva pricing

Canva has four plans, ranging from a free option for individual users to an Enterprise plan for larger organizations:

• Canva Free: $0 for one person. Includes a drag-and-drop editor, more than 1.6 million templates and over 4.7 million stock assets, limited AI usage, 5 gigabytes of cloud storage, and basic Brand Kit.
• Canva Pro: $180 per year or $18 per month per person. Adds premium design tools, such as background removal and resizing, more than 3.6 million templates and over 141 million stock assets, five Brand Kits, social media scheduling, expanded AI usage, and 100 gigabytes of cloud storage.
• Canva Business: $250 per year or $25 per month per person. Adds collaboration and team administration tools, up to 100 Brand Kits, design approvals, advanced AI usage, and 500 gigabytes of cloud storage.
• Canva Enterprise. Custom pricing. Adds advanced security and administrative controls, custom apps, up to 1,000 Brand Kits with tiered approvals, multiteam management, priority support, and 1 terabyte of cloud storage.

Canva’s pricing page has the full breakdown of pricing and features. 

Advantages and limitations of using Canva

Canva makes professional-looking design more accessible to businesses without extensive design resources, but, like any design tool, it may not meet every business’s creative needs.

Advantages

Canva's main advantages for ecommerce businesses:

• Its beginner-friendly tools don’t require formal graphic design skills or training.
• There is a vast library of customizable templates and stock assets.
• It has tools for creating many types of content within one platform.
• It integrates with Shopify and other commonly used business apps.
• The free plan covers many basic needs.

Limitations

Canva has a few limitations to keep in mind:

• Its complex or highly customized design process may still require professional design expertise.
• Relying on templates means your brand’s visual content may not feel as original as you’d like.
• Many premium assets, AI tools, and brand and collaboration features require a paid plan.

6 ways your ecommerce business can use Canva 

1. Social media content
2. Email marketing and newsletters
3. Presentations
4. Printed materials
5. Logos
6. Videos

Canva has an extensive template library, as well as a range of design tools, that can help you develop visual content for different purposes and areas of your business. The templates can be customized with your brand colors, logos, typography, photography, and other assets. 

Here are six ways to put Canva’s design tools to work:

1. Social media content

Canva has social media templates for static posts, along with tools for editing video and animated graphics. Templates can provide inspiration for what to post. For example, a matcha brand could customize the how-to template above to show followers how to prepare its product, creating educational content for social media platforms that promotes what it sells.

2. Email marketing and newsletters

Email marketing gives ecommerce businesses another opportunity to reinforce their visual identity while promoting products, announcing sales, and sharing company news. Canva’s email marketing and newsletter templates, like the one above, provide ready-made layouts for displaying products, calls to action, and other email content.

3. Presentations

Canva’s presentation tools and templates can help you create pitch decks, sales presentations, internal training materials, and other business documents. Start with a template and use Canva’s drag-and-drop editor to add text, charts, video, and more. You can also create a brand guidelines presentation, like the template above, to document how your team should use your logo, colors, imagery, and other elements of your visual identity. 

4. Printed materials

Printed materials can extend your ecommerce brand beyond the screen and add a physical touchpoint to the customer experience. Use Canva to design package inserts, thank you cards, product information cards, and posters or flyers, like the ones above, to promote your business offline. You can download designs and arrange printing yourself or order eligible products directly through Canva Print.

5. Logos 

Canva has customizable logo templates that can give you a starting point for developing your brand’s visual identity. Browse templates by industry or style for inspiration, then experiment with colors, shapes, and other design elements to create a logo that reflects your brand. 

Using Canva library content can affect your ability to trademark the finished design, so review the platform’s licensing guidelines if trademark protection is important for your business.

6. Videos

Canva can help you create product demonstrations, how-to videos, social media content, video ads, and other promotional content for your ecommerce business. Start with a video template or create your own design, and use Canva’s video editor to trim and combine clips, add text and transitions, incorporate audio, and add animation and effects. 

How to use Canva with Shopify

The Canva Connect app connects your Canva and Shopify accounts so you can use content from one platform within the other. From Shopify, you can search and access your Canva designs and media without downloading files from Canva and uploading them separately. You can also open Canva to edit designs from within Shopify. 

The integration works in the other direction as well. Within Canva, you can access your Shopify products and bring product images and information directly into designs for social media posts, ads, presentations, and other marketing materials.

Canva alternatives

Canva has a broad range of design tools, but you can also choose from other graphic design platforms, depending on the content you create, the software your team already uses, and the features you need: 

• Adobe Express: A Canva alternative for creating social media content, videos, flyers, and other visual assets. It may be particularly useful for businesses already using other Adobe products and services. 
• Visme: Includes design tools for presentations, infographics, data visualizations, and reports, making it an option for businesses that frequently create data-heavy materials.
• Snappa: Focuses on straightforward graphic design for social media, ads, blogs, and other online content, with less expensive plans than Canva. It may be more suitable for businesses with simpler design needs.