E-commerce & retail teams
Connect storefront, payments, marketing and inventory to understand sales, product performance and channel differences.
Data analytics for Canadian SMEs
Make your business data work in one clear view.
For growing Canadian businesses managing reports across spreadsheets and disconnected systems. Bring sales, marketing and operations together to see performance clearly and make the next decision with confidence.
Scope and fees are discussed after an initial consultation.
A connected view of your business
Illustrative view
Signals, brought together.
A clearer picture across the metrics that matter.
Illustrative concept only—not client data or a performance claim.
Built around your data and goals
Privacy-aware data practices
Clear reporting, not more spreadsheets
Practical insights for action
Who we help
For teams that have outgrown manual reporting.
NextLens is a fit for Canadian small and mid-sized businesses that need a clearer view across the tools they already use—not another disconnected report.
Finance & operations teams
Replace recurring spreadsheet consolidation with consistent reporting, mapped financial categories and repeatable data workflows.
Growing multi-location businesses
Compare performance across locations and channels, then add public Canadian market context where useful data is available.
Services
Build a reliable data foundation. Start with the right first step.
Our core work is business intelligence and data engineering. Focused dashboards can be a practical starting point, with additional analytics scoped to your systems and priorities.
01
Core data & BI services
Connect business systems and turn trusted data into useful reporting.
NextLens at its core: data engineering, system integration and decision-ready business intelligence. Productized dashboards below can provide a focused first engagement.
Core expertise
Data Engineering & Systems Integration
Connect, transform and validate data across ERP, accounting, commerce and operations systems.
Business value: Create a more dependable foundation for reporting and reduce fragmented data handoffs.
Explore implementation
Typical building blocks
Python, SQL, APIs, databases and repeatable data workflows, selected to fit your environment.
Project focus
Source access, data quality, business definitions and maintainability are reviewed before the solution is scoped.
Core expertise
Business Intelligence & Custom Dashboards
Translate agreed KPIs into clear, role-appropriate reporting for leaders and operating teams.
Business value: Give teams a consistent view of performance and the measures behind key decisions.
Explore reporting options
Potential tools
Power BI, Looker Studio or Tableau, selected according to your users, data and current technology.
Project focus
KPI definitions, source mapping, reporting access, refresh needs and handover are agreed before delivery.
02
Ready-to-adapt business dashboards
Productized reporting foundations tailored to your platforms and measures.
Commerce
E-commerce Health Dashboard
Bring storefront, marketing and payment data into one operating view of digital performance.
Decision supported: See which products and channels contribute to sales and net margin.
Explore metrics & data sources
What it can track
Sales trends, average order value, cart conversion, top products, SKU-level margin and customer retention.
Potential data sources
Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, Stripe, PayPal and Google Analytics 4.
Net margin depends on agreed cost inputs, such as product costs, returns, fulfilment and payment fees.
Marketing
Social Media & Ads ROI Tracker
Compare campaign outcomes and lead journeys across paid and organic channels.
Decision supported: Compare channel efficiency before adjusting campaign allocation.
Explore metrics & data sources
What it can track
Cost per click, cost per acquisition, channel and blended return on ad spend, organic engagement and lead conversion.
Potential data sources
Meta Ads, Google Ads, TikTok Ads, LinkedIn Ads, HubSpot and ActiveCampaign.
Channel comparisons depend on agreed attribution windows, conversion definitions and platform data access.
Omnichannel
Omnichannel Sales Auditor
Unify in-store and online sales to understand performance across locations and channels.
Decision supported: Spot location, inventory and channel differences that need investigation.
Explore metrics & data sources
What it can track
Channel and location revenue, shared inventory, product movement and cross-channel customer patterns.
Potential data sources
Clover, Square, Lightspeed, e-commerce platforms and inventory spreadsheets.
Consistent definitions make channel comparisons more meaningful and reduce reconciliation gaps.
03
Canadian market intelligence
Put your internal performance in local economic and industry context.
Local context
StatCan Geo-Market Insights
Layer public Canadian economic and demographic indicators alongside your own sales and customer patterns.
Decision supported: Compare regional performance with relevant local market context.
Explore metrics & data sources
What it can explore
Provincial consumption trends, relevant CPI measures, population growth, and age or income profiles at an available geographic level.
Potential data sources
Statistics Canada public tables and APIs, combined with client-provided sales and location data.
Geographic detail depends on public-data availability and privacy thresholds; postal-area analysis is used only where appropriate.
Industry context
NAICS Industry Benchmarking
Compare selected business indicators with relevant public Canadian industry measures.
Decision supported: Put internal performance in context before setting operational goals.
Explore metrics & data sources
What it can compare
Revenue and operating-efficiency indicators against suitable historical industry benchmarks.
Potential data sources
Canadian NAICS classifications and publicly available Statistics Canada or BDC industry research.
Benchmarks are selected to match your industry and clearly labelled with their period and source.
04
Competitive & reputation intelligence
Turn permitted public signals into structured, decision-ready analysis.
Market watch
Competitive Pricing Intelligence
Track public product listings from a defined set of competitors and follow changes over time.
Decision supported: Review market positioning and promotion timing—not automatic price changes.
Explore metrics & data sources
What it can track
Observed product prices, availability signals and historical changes for an agreed selection of competitors.
How it works
A scheduled data collection workflow monitors up to five agreed competitor websites, subject to technical and access constraints.
Collection is designed around each site's terms, access rules and applicable requirements.
Customer voice
Brand Sentiment & Reputation Analytics
Organise public customer feedback into themes and sentiment trends for your brand and competitors.
Decision supported: Prioritise recurring customer concerns for human review.
Explore metrics & data sources
What it can surface
Positive, neutral and negative mentions, recurring topics and changes in customer feedback.
Potential data sources
Public reviews on Google Maps, Yelp, G2, Capterra and other suitable sources.
AI-assisted classification can make large feedback sets easier to review; findings remain a guide, not a substitute for human judgement.
05
Financial & operations analytics
Make finance, inventory and data quality easier to understand and act on.
Finance
Financial & Management Reporting
Bring key financial measures together for a clearer view of business performance.
Decision supported: Review revenue, expenses, cash flow, margins and budget-versus-actual performance.
Explore scope & considerations
Potential inputs
Accessible accounting, ERP and spreadsheet data, aligned to agreed reporting periods and definitions.
Management reporting supports business decisions; it does not replace accounting or financial advice.
Planning
Inventory & Demand Planning
Understand stock movement and historical demand to support more informed inventory decisions.
Decision supported: Identify possible overstock, stockout and replenishment signals.
Explore scope & considerations
Potential inputs
Product, sales and inventory history for retail and e-commerce operations.
Forecasts are estimates, not guarantees, and depend on data quality and changing business conditions.
Data confidence
Data Quality & Reconciliation
Find inconsistencies and improve confidence in the numbers behind your reports.
Decision supported: Investigate missing records, mismatched totals and recurring spreadsheet issues.
Explore scope & checks
Potential checks
Missing, duplicate or inconsistent records, cross-system totals, reporting logic and agreed KPI or reconciliation rules.
Potential inputs
Accessible business systems and spreadsheets, subject to source quality, permissions and agreed scope.
A useful outcome
Clear inputs. Useful reporting. A practical handover.
Depending on the agreed scope, a project may include a configured dashboard, documented KPI definitions, source mapping, a refresh workflow and handover guidance. We confirm deliverables before work begins.
Configured dashboard
Agreed KPI definitions
Data-source mapping
Refresh & validation workflow
Handover guidance
Engineering & custom solutions
Connect systems and automate the work behind reliable reporting.
Build custom data workflows around your business tools—from Python and SQL integrations to automated refreshes and tailored reporting. We scope each project to your existing systems and operational priorities.
PythonSQLAPIsPower BI
Looker StudioTableauPower Query
Dynamics 365 Business CentralSAP / SAP HANA
Sage 300 / Sage IntacctIBM TM1 / Planning Analytics
CognosQuickBooks Online / Desktop
PostgreSQL / SQLiten8n
Data engineering & ERP integrations
Connect, transform and validate data across business systems with practical Python, SQL and API workflows.
Custom BI & dashboard solutions
Build tailored reporting in Power BI, Looker Studio or Tableau around your KPIs, data structure and team workflows.
Workflow automation & ongoing care
Automate recurring refreshes and operational checks, then scope support around the agreed solution and service needs.
How we work
A practical path from disconnected data to confident decisions.
Start with a conversation, define a useful first step, and expand only when it creates value.
Understand the picture
Discuss your goals, reporting pain points, systems and the decisions you need to support.
Map the data
Review data sources, definitions, access needs and any constraints before choosing an approach.
Build the first view
Connect and shape the agreed inputs, then create a focused dashboard or workflow to validate.
Improve with confidence
Review what is useful, refine the solution and discuss ongoing support where it makes sense.
About NextLens
Business questions first. Technology in service of the answer.
NextLens focuses on business intelligence and data engineering for Canadian small and mid-sized businesses. The work starts by understanding the decisions a team needs to make, then shaping a practical approach around its data, systems and constraints.
Rather than assume one tool or dashboard fits every company, NextLens discusses the current reporting process, agrees on useful measures and scopes a first step before implementation.
Decision-led
Start with the business question and intended users, not a dashboard for its own sake.
Fit-for-purpose engineering
Choose tools and integrations to suit the available sources, workflows and access.
Transparent scope
Confirm assumptions, measures and deliverables before work begins.
Practical handover
Include documentation and guidance appropriate to the agreed engagement.
Illustrative project scenarios
See how a focused first engagement could take shape.
These examples show possible project approaches—not completed client projects, testimonials or verified outcomes.
Illustrative only: The scenarios below are not claims about past clients or achieved results. Actual feasibility, scope and deliverables depend on your data, systems, access and goals.
E-commerce sales & payment reconciliation
Example situation: Storefront orders, payment settlements, returns and product costs are reviewed in separate reports.
Possible first phase: Map the relevant sources, agree on sales and margin definitions, and validate how orders, fees and refunds should be reconciled.
Potential deliverable: A documented KPI model and a focused commerce performance view, if supported by the available data.
Monthly management reporting
Example situation: A team combines accounting exports and spreadsheets each month to prepare internal reporting.
Possible first phase: Review reporting categories, source fields, periods and budget-versus-actual definitions with the team.
Potential deliverable: An agreed reporting structure, source mapping and a repeatable refresh or validation workflow.
Inventory & demand visibility
Example situation: Product sales and stock history are held separately, making it harder to review movement and possible replenishment needs.
Possible first phase: Check product identifiers and history coverage, then define suitable stock movement and demand measures.
Potential deliverable: An inventory reporting view with clearly labelled assumptions; any forecast remains an estimate, not a guarantee.
Helpful details
Clear answers before we get started.
Every solution is shaped around your systems, the quality of available data and the outcome you need.
Do you offer fixed-scope dashboards or custom projects?
Both. A focused dashboard can be a practical starting point, while integrations, custom data models and ongoing support can be scoped to your requirements.
Are the project examples on this site completed client projects?
No. They are illustrative scenarios to show how a project might be scoped. They are not client case studies, testimonials or claims of achieved results.
Which platforms and data sources can you connect?
Potential sources include e-commerce, advertising, payment, CRM, POS, accounting and ERP systems, as well as databases, public datasets and spreadsheets. Access and connector availability are confirmed during discovery.
What affects project scope?
We discuss your business goal, number and complexity of data sources, data quality, KPI definitions, refresh needs, access and security requirements, and any ongoing support needed. Scope and fees are agreed after consultation. No rates or package amounts are published on this site.
What can be included in a dashboard engagement?
Depending on the agreed scope, this may include a configured dashboard, documented KPI definitions, source mapping, a refresh and validation workflow, and handover guidance. Deliverables are confirmed before work begins.
Can you support financial reporting and inventory planning?
Yes. Management reporting can combine revenue, expenses, cash-flow views, margin and budget-versus-actual measures using accessible source data. Retail and e-commerce work can also analyse stock movement, overstock or stockout signals and historical demand. Forecasts are estimates, and scope depends on data quality and business requirements. These services do not replace accounting or financial advice.
How do you check data quality before building a dashboard?
We review source fields and definitions, identify missing, duplicate or inconsistent records, compare totals across systems where possible, and document agreed reconciliation rules. The checks and any remediation are scoped to the sources and data access available.
How do you define margin, ROAS and other KPIs?
We agree on definitions and source data before reporting. Margin calculations may require product costs, returns, fulfilment and payment fees. ROAS comparisons depend on platform attribution and the conversion window. Dashboards document relevant assumptions so teams can interpret the results consistently.
Can you use Canadian public data in our reporting?
Where suitable data is available, public Statistics Canada and other Canadian industry sources can add context. Geographic detail and comparisons depend on source coverage, methodology and privacy safeguards.
How do you approach privacy and security?
Access, data handling and retention requirements should be agreed for each engagement. We discuss your environment and applicable obligations before connecting sensitive sources; no specific certification is implied by this overview.
Start with a conversation
What would you like to see more clearly?
Prepare a short inquiry that describes your business, the systems you use and the decision you want to improve. Scope and fees are discussed after consultation.
No published rates or package amounts
Scope discussed after consultation