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The boom of the digital economy has paved the way for Australian technological innovation to shine on the world stage, as local brands including Canva, Atlassian and SEEK power businesses worldwide.
But for Aussie retailers, the path to global success continues to be less travelled. The tyranny of distance, and the cost and complexity of operating overseas, prevents many businesses from making the international leap, capping their customer and revenue potential to the domestic sphere.
Pioneering Australian retailers who have their sights on global markets are partnering with another homegrown tech success story, international payments platform Airwallex, to open their door to new audiences.
One of the advantages of using Airwallex is that an Australian business doesn’t need to set up local entities in overseas markets to make and receive payments in local currency.
This is certainly the case for Melbourne-born fashion brand Paire, whose partnership with Airwallex is fuelling their international growth. Launched in early 2021 with their no-smell, no-sweat, no-slip socks, Paire’s range has since expanded to include t-shirts, towels and underwear. Paire has enjoyed huge success in their home market, which accounts for 90% of their current sales. Their revenue has been doubling year-on-year and now they’re launching into the US and UK.
Advertising is top of mind for Paire as they look to boost their brand in new markets and they’ve turned to Airwallex to deploy their marketing spend.
“Our ad spend is considerable, but we do see a great return on this investment. More than 50% of the customers who initially purchased would return and buy more from us, because of the quality and value they’re getting,” said Nathan Yun, Co-founder of Paire.
“Opening virtual bank accounts with Airwallex in the US and UK has been a game changer for our marketing. Without Airwallex, we’d have to change AUD into a foreign currency, then back again into AUD. You end up losing out twice this way.
“But with Airwallex, we’ve been able to set up virtual accounts in both the US and UK. We can maximise our total spend on marketing, collect customer sales in-market in the same currency, and don’t have to worry about transaction and international conversion fees.”
It’s not just marketing that Paire leans on Airwallex to support its global enterprise.
“Airwallex has transformed us, almost overnight, from a local company to a multinational operation,” said Yun.
“We’re fast-growing but still in the start-up stage. Remaining lean and agile is important to us to maintain this momentum. We work with contractors, agencies and SAAS tools all around the world to get the job done.”
Paire can easily access a global network of talent thanks to the newfound ease of paying suppliers in their home currency.
“We use our Airwallex wallets to pay contractors all around the world, who contribute to the business in many ways. Being able to flex our workforce as and when we need to means we’re not burdened with high labour costs on an ongoing basis.”
The Sneaker Laundry is another Australian retailer who uses Airwallex to support global staff. Founded in 2017, The Sneaker Laundry offers shoe and sneaker cleaning services. With stores in Australia, the Middle East and South America, the business is ramping up and expanding its e-commerce offering in these markets and many more, including the UK, US and Canada.
“The world is your oyster when it comes to talent, but the practicalities of managing and paying a global workforce can be off-putting. Since we’ve opened digital Airwallex wallets, staff and contractor locations have become irrelevant. We can pay staff no matter where they are in the world. This is undoubtedly supporting our increased presence in more and more countries,” said founder Eugene Cheng.
“It’s not just the financial savings that Airwallex offers — it’s the time-saving too. You can open a virtual account in a matter of minutes. As a founder of a small business, you can end up working around the clock. Payroll used to be an arduous and dreaded task for me, but now I get through it in no time at all – and my work-life balance is all the better for it. I can’t put a price on what that means to me,” added Cheng.
Nathan from Paire also echoed the sentiment that saving money is just one component of Airwallex’s offer. “Airwallex has saved us money, but they’ve also saved us time. Being able to open a bank account in a matter of minutes is just something traditional banking providers can’t even begin to compete with. I want to dedicate my time to driving the business forward, rather than settling payments for what’s already happened.”
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Airwallex is a global fintech payment platform with a mission to empower businesses of all sizes to grow without borders, and by doing so, contribute to the global economy. With technology at its core, Airwallex has built a global financial infrastructure and platform to help businesses to manage payments, treasury and expenses internationally, without the constraints of the traditional financial system. Today, the business operates with a team of over 800 employees across 12 global offices.
