How Revolve removed global checkout friction and unlocked growth
Matthew Cannon, Chief Revenue Officer, Reach
International expansion is rewriting the rules for e-commerce, including fashion and beauty brands. Global markets are driving a growing share of e-commerce revenue, especially in categories like apparel, skincare and accessories. As more revenue comes from outside the U.S., brands are under growing pressure to manage new complexities — from higher operating costs and tax compliance hurdles to checkout friction that quietly erodes margins. One misstep at checkout can turn opportunity into loss.
With shifting tariffs and new tax thresholds taking effect in key markets, protecting margins while delivering a seamless customer experience is more urgent than ever. For fashion e-commerce business Revolve, solving hidden friction in payments and checkout became a strategic priority. At the core of its approach is rethinking how international transactions happen in the first place.
Why the checkout is an e-commerce growth engine
Global shoppers expect local experiences — but for brands, delivering on that promise at checkout is easier said than done.
Cross-border transactions often trigger higher fraud scrutiny, lower authorization rates and frustrating checkout experiences that drive cart abandonment. Checkout friction is now one of the leading contributors to lost revenue in international e-commerce.
At the same time, fluctuating currency values and hidden foreign exchange fees can quietly erode profitability, especially for high-volume merchants operating across multiple markets.
“We’re very passionate about customer experience,” said Kai Li, vp of international at Revolve. “Our number one challenge was not only offering a local payments experience but, more importantly, improving our transaction approval rates and reducing checkout frustration and abandonment.”
Managing local payments efficiently, both at checkout and behind the scenes, became critical to building resilience across Revolve’s global business.
Why Revolve turned to a merchant of record to navigate operational complexity
Rather than building out international operations in-house, Revolve partnered with Reach to serve as their merchant of record across global markets.
A merchant of record (MoR) acts as the legal seller to the customer, managing payments, fraud protection and tax compliance locally, serving as an intermediary between a business and its customers. As operational complexity grows and margins come under greater pressure, more fashion and beauty brands are beginning to explore the MoR model.
By accessing Reach’s entity network to localize transactions, Revolve transformed what were previously considered risky international purchases into trusted local transactions.
“Your authorization rate is always going to be higher if the transactions are local as opposed to an international transaction,” Li said. “We rolled out Reach to all markets that we cover. And when we measured our worldwide average authorization rate, the improvement was over 12%.”
For brands operating at a global scale, a 12% uplift represents a meaningful advantage, driving more completed purchases and stronger customer loyalty over time.
How a merchant of record helps brands scale while managing compliance and risk
For online retailers like Revolve, navigating the intricacies of global expansion introduces operational challenges. Managing global fraud, payment processing across borders and compliance with a patchwork of local tax regulations can become overwhelming. This is in addition to the volatile nature of foreign exchange, where even a 5% currency swing can turn a profitable market into a liability overnight
A merchant of record solves these challenges by assuming all responsibility for payment processing, tax compliance and fraud protection. For Revolve, partnering with a MoR allowed them to focus on fashion and customer engagement, with the reassurance that global e-commerce frustrations would be handled.
“Reach is an extension of my team,” said Li. “They’ve saved us on FX fees, protected us against currency risks and provided solutions we trust.”
Revolve’s integration with Reach is built on Reach’s Checkout API, which offers the highest degree of control over user experience, access to strong foreign exchange rates and complete regulatory compliance.
For brands built on popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify, Reach offers the fastest activation pathways that balance ease of implementation with full access to localized payments, tax compliance and fraud mitigation.
“Compared to other solutions, Reach’s solution was the easiest and most complete,” said Li. “We’re constrained by engineering resources, so we have to be very careful with who we pick. That’s why we chose one that gave us minimal integration complexity with maximum impact. Reach really stood out.”
What e-commerce brands and retailers can learn from Revolve
As e-commerce brands and retailers pursue global growth, including fashion and beauty labels, many are rethinking how their operational infrastructure supports the customer journey. Solutions that simplify payments, manage FX risk and ensure tax and regulatory compliance are becoming essential to scaling without compromising customer experience or profitability.
For Revolve, investing in a merchant of record helped future-proof its international business and created a foundation for sustainable expansion.
The brand’s story underscores that success in new markets isn’t just about speed — it’s about building the systems behind the scenes that enable frictionless, localized customer experiences, wherever they happen.
Sponsored by Reach