The team at Magic Bag, a Montreal-based maker of heat and cold therapy products, noticed something unexpected during the pandemic: their Amazon sales were surging. Consumers were staying home and discovering their products online in record numbers. What started as a modest presence on Amazon a decade earlier suddenly became a massive opportunity.
“We only really started paying attention to it when we saw that consumers couldn’t get to their pharmacy,” recalled Jennifer Neveu, Magic Bag’s marketing director. “That’s when we really saw the importance of using some of the Amazon tools.”
The decision to lean into Amazon would prove transformative. Over the next four years, their Amazon sales grew from just 1% of Magic Bag’s total sales volume in Canada to 10%, representing a tenfold increase that reshaped the 35-year-old company’s business strategy.
The brand started with three Quebec inventors testing different containers and fillings to create a better pain relief solution. The product began as a cotton bag filled with natural oats designed to release humid heat that penetrates muscles better than traditional hot water bottles. It has since evolved into a thriving business reaching customers far beyond the thousands of pharmacy stores where Magic Bag has long been a fixture.
The business, which operates under health, beauty and wellness parent company Masdel Inc., strategically deployed Amazon’s seller tools to continue their 2020 momentum. With approximately 20 Magic Bag products listed in the Amazon store, including their classic rectangular heat packs to innovative pelvic compresses and their children’s Warmy collection, they needed to stand out.
They tapped into Amazon Ads, running cost-per-click campaigns alongside Sponsored Brand and Sponsored Product campaigns, focusing on high purchase-intent keywords like “heat packs,” “cold packs,” and “neck pain.” They quickly saw faster conversion rates.
“We find that the stronger the purchase intent keyword, the quicker it is to a conversion,” Neveu explained. “People are coming to the platform and if they’re looking for something for neck pain, then they’re more likely to purchase.”
A+ Content has also been particularly valuable for Magic Bag, allowing them to visually showcase what sets them apart: an innovative product that uses natural oats for heating and cooling relief, as well as local manufacturing and Canadian-sourced materials. “It helps us visually show some of the key attributes of the product and the brand itself,” Neveu noted. “People don’t tend to want to read as much as look at product visuals and learn that we’re a Canadian small business, and we produce local and create jobs.”
Magic Bag plans to launch new products in their Warmy and spa collections and expand into Europe and possibly South America.
The strategy is working. Magic Bag’s top four products have accumulated over 10,000 reviews with ratings of 4.6 stars or above. This has been a powerful differentiator against competitors who entered the market with similar products after Magic Bag’s original patent expired in 2016.
At the heart of Magic Bag’s success is their Montreal manufacturing facility, located in an industrial zone about 20 minutes from downtown. The company employs 35 people, with approximately 15 dedicated to production. Their process combines traditional craftsmanship with modern automation: fabric sourced from a local supplier is cut and sewn by both veteran sewers and robots, then filled with oats from Canadian farms using an automated system that removes dust and measures precise amounts for each bag. Each product is packaged in responsibly sourced paper materials.
“We’re locally made, filled with local grain,” Neveu said. “We buy from Canadian farms, we print packaging at a printer that’s just 30 minutes away on FSC certified board.”
This local manufacturing gives Magic Bag agility to innovate new products. When they wanted to develop their pelvic compress, which was designed to be compact enough to slip discreetly between clothing, they went from sketch to sample in just one hour. “It’s nice that we can just go down [to the production line] with a sketch, and they brought me the sample an hour later,” she recalled.
Beyond business metrics, Magic Bag has built community impact into their model. A portion of proceeds from their children’s Warmy collection goes to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. To date, they’ve raised $160,000 for the cause, with an annual check presentation every August that energizes the entire team.
“It’s really nice for the team to see, and it just makes you feel good about commerce and business in general,” Neveu said. “You’re not just selling a product; you’re making an impact.”
Magic Bag plans to launch new products in their Warmy and spa collections in the fall of 2026, including heatable slippers. There are also plans to expand into Europe and possibly South America, driven by their new owners, who see Amazon as a springboard for international expansion.
“We’re ready to share our products with customers around the world, and Amazon has been instrumental in making this possible,” Neveu said. “We’re leveraging our sales growth momentum and Amazon’s global infrastructure to fuel our international expansion while continuing to grow our presence in North America.”