In 2025, the global ecommerce space is borderless. With high Internet penetration and increased mobile phone usage, businesses can now reach customers worldwide. Moreover, innovative technologies have made online payments much safer and easier. The increased convenience consumers enjoy today has encouraged many to embrace online shopping, especially in the wake of the pandemic.
Global expansion, once considered solely an option for multinational giants, is now within reach for all businesses. For merchants who want to succeed and outpace their competition, going global is not just a want but a must.
The cross-border ecommerce market is on an upward trajectory. Between 2022 to 2028, global ecommerce sales are projected to rise from USD 5.13 trillion to USD 8.09 trillion, a nearly 60% increase. In The Paypers’ latest webinar with Ecommpay, ‘Unlocking global growth: How merchants can seize the future of e-commerce payments', experts Willem Wellinghoff and Carmen Caballero break down the complexities of market expansion and offer a blueprint of what merchants can do to ensure a successful outcome.
Building on Ecommpay’s recently launched report, the first challenge tackled by the two experts concerned localisation. As underscored in the discussion, localisation should not be seen as limited only to payments; it also encompasses regulatory, tax, logistics, fulfilment, and even cultural aspects.
With a reported 20% of consumers abandoning their purchase if the seller doesn’t offer their preferred payment method, Carmen Cavallero from Nestlé emphasised that payment method selection requires a data-driven approach combining insights from payment processors, industry reports, and local market expertise.
As part of the discussion, the two experts also touched on what factors to consider when selecting a partner for a new market expansion, with Carmen highlighting what capabilities are a must and what value a new market partner should bring to the table.
With no single provider being able to offer comprehensive global coverage across borders, payment orchestration is now becoming a key part of merchants’ global expansion strategies. As highlighted in the webinar, while big, established merchants usually have their in-house orchestration layers built before orchestration solutions were widely available, for new businesses that want to expand rapidly, building an orchestration solution from scratch can be costly and time-consuming. That is why, for the latter category, buying is the choice that will help them go to market faster.
The two experts stressed that regulatory requirements vary significantly across regions, which is why having a solid grasp of market-specific nuances is essential. For instance, while mandatory in the EU and UK, 3DS adoption differs globally, requiring merchants to balance fraud protection with customer experience.
As statistics show, cross-border fraud rates are nine times higher than domestic transactions (for both cards and credit transfers), making AI-powered fraud prevention solutions essential. For a successful expansion, merchants need to be aware of specific fraud patterns in the markets they are entering in order to tailor their fraud strategies accordingly.
Willem explained that the choice between setting up a legal entity or using a Merchant of Record (MoR) model depends on the particularities of each business. He also mentioned that one trend among merchants is to test new markets through a MoR model before establishing local entities. This approach allows businesses to gauge market viability while the MoR handles local compliance, tax obligations, and payment processing.
To succeed when expanding to new markets, merchants need to have a strategic approach. Payments are the root of a business's success, and expanding across borders requires a mix of comprehensive localisation of payments, compliance strategies, and fraud prevention tailored to each market. Some of the key takeaways of the webinar include:
Be strategic about where you expand;
Offering localised payments isn’t optional: 42% of shoppers want to see prices in their own currency, and 54% prefer using local payment methods;
Payment orchestration enables rapid market entry without extensive technical resources;
Partner selection is critical; choose providers with genuine local expertise who act as team extensions;
Stay compliant with tax and regulation;
Cross-border fraud requires market-specific strategies and AI-powered prevention tools;
MoR models offer low-risk market testing before full commitment;
Success requires balancing localisation, compliance, and operational efficiency.
This webinar recap only highlights the key points of the discussion. For the complete take on merchant expansion strategies, including the Q&A at the end, watch the webinar recording here.
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.
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