Ecommpay report key takeaways – unlocking global growth

Diana Vorniceanu, Senior Editor at The Paypers, discusses the key takeaways of Ecommpay’s ‘Unlocking global growth: how merchants can seize the future of ecommerce payments’ report.

The global ecommerce space is shifting. Ecommpay’s latest report, ‘Unlocking global growth: how merchants can seize the future of ecommerce payments’, acts as a blueprint of the most important steps merchants should take in order to successfully enter new markets. This industry guide brings together insights from merchants, payment networks, and payment service provider representatives, and covers a wide range of topics spanning payment localisation and optimisation, tax compliance, market entry strategies, logistics, and fraud prevention.  

Key findings

Global ecommerce is booming

As highlighted by Ecommpay, the global ecommerce market is experiencing rapid growth, with a series of key figures supporting this:

• Cross-border shopping is growing at twice the rate of local ecommerce, with 55% of online shoppers making international purchases over the course of 2022. 
• The shift from physical retail to ecommerce has been on the rise. 
• When it comes to ecommerce momentum, APAC is in the lead, with China accounting for over 40% of the ecommerce spending.
• Regional emerging markets like India, Indonesia, and Vietnam are anticipated to see significant growth and, thus, present strategic opportunities for merchants.

These factors make 2025 the perfect moment for merchants to expand to new markets. As pointed out in the introduction: 

“With sales globally set to soar from USD 5.13 trillion in 2022 to USD 8.09 trillion by 2028, merchants find themselves at the forefront of a vast and expanding global opportunity. But while the potential is immense, success in international markets hinges not just on ambition, but on strategy, insight, preparation and adaptability.” 

To leverage the current landscape and expand across borders, merchants need in-country expertise – from understanding local market conditions to regulations, fraud prevention, and consumer preferences.

Getting localisation right is a non-negotiable

With shoppers trusting what they are familiar with, not offering local payment methods can be a deal breaker. The report underscores that localisation is key to getting global expansion right from the start.  From a payments perspective, localisation is directly correlated with rising conversion rates. More to this point, several studies show that shoppers overwhelmingly prefer paying in their local currency and using familiar payment methods like Alipay in China or Swish in Sweden. Therefore, merchants must adjust their checkout pages accordingly in order to build trust and loyalty in new markets.

However, payment localisation should be part of a wider strategic effort that moves beyond payments to include language, customer support, and shipping. According to Ecommpay, direct-to-consumer models optimised for local markets are the ideal avenue for ecommerce businesses that want to tap new markets whilst maintaining brand identity.

Payment orchestration makes global payments easier

Managing complex cross-border payments is one of the most important pain points for businesses looking to expand internationally. From juggling local payment methods and currencies to having to deal with multiple PSPs, gateways, and processors, merchants face a high level of complexity. 

Payment orchestration solutions address these challenges, enabling merchants to offer region-specific payment methods and helping them reduce cart abandonment and increase conversion rates. Orchestration layers also bring additional benefits like access to analytics and reporting features, cost reduction, and scalability, just to name a few.

Keeping fraud in check is essential

In 2025, fraud continues to be one of the biggest challenges for merchants. Between 2023 and 2027, estimates cited in the report put the cumulative merchant losses caused by online payment fraud at over USD 345 billion. 

Merchants expanding across borders need to rely on robust fraud prevention mechanisms that offer the perfect balance between customer satisfaction and security. Integrating features like payment tokenization is one of the strategies gaining ground in this regard, with Mastercard pushing for 100% adoption by 2030. 

Navigating regulatory compliance and tax complexities

Different countries have different payment regulations, such as the EU’s PSD2, which mandates the use of 3DS. To avoid penalties and ensure efficient operations, merchants must stay updated on these requirements. With many businesses lacking the resources to navigate each country’s regulatory landscape, partnering with experts is one solution to alleviate this burden. Similarly, tax compliance is another major challenge for global merchants, as expanding to a new market involves dealing with varying tax processes and VAT rules.

Merchant of Record (MoR) solutions are one option merchants can explore, as a MoR partner can handle compliance, payment processing, risk management, currency conversion, payment methods, tax regulations, and dispute resolution. 

Optimising logistics and fulfilment strategies 

Efficient order fulfilment drives customer satisfaction. According to recent surveys, fast delivery times are closely tied to customer satisfaction, with most consumers expecting their international parcels to be delivered quickly. 

When expanding globally, merchants have to choose between local fulfilment, which offers faster delivery but requires infrastructure, and centralised fulfilment, which is cost-effective but slower. Third-party providers can also help merchants manage cross-border deliveries:  

“By tapping into their global logistics networks, merchants can fulfil orders quickly and cost-effectively, ensuring timely delivery for customers.” 

Conclusions

Ecommpay’s report sends one clear message: the future of ecommerce belongs to those who are ready to adapt. As the ecommerce landscape continues to evolve and online shopping grows in popularity, merchants are presented with the opportunity to scale their business and reach new audiences worldwide. 

To support this journey, the report concludes with a 16-item checklist for businesses looking to expand across borders, alongside insights into how brands like ASOS, Boohoo, Gymshark, Zalando, or Deliveroo successfully navigated international growth. 

Don’t forget to download your free copy of Ecommpay’s ‘Unlocking global growth: How merchants can seize the future of e-commerce payments’ report to get more insights.

About the author

About Ecommpay

Ecommpay is an inclusive global payments platform designed to help businesses grow. We make online payments as smooth as possible. We’re more than just a provider, we’re business partners dedicated to keeping our clients’ payments flowing, helping them make the most out of every transaction. We offer global and local acquiring, over 180 payment methods, payments processing and orchestration on one platform and via a single API.