We Are Knitters (WAK), the Madrid-based provider of knitting kits and supplies, has been at the forefront of that growth. In 2021 alone, its sales increased by 75%, while its social media followers and YouTube subscribers increased by 50%. Following endorsements from Elle, Vanity Fair and Vogue, the company is looking to capitalize on its position as the contemporary knitting brand of choice and bring its products to an international audience.
However, expanding internationally is fraught with challenges, not least regarding payments. The team at WAK was particularly aware of the potential impact of unmanaged foreign exchange costs, given the company operates in over 20 countries. They also knew they'd need to offer their customers various payment options.
For WAK to achieve its expansion goals, finding a payment provider with global experience and local support was essential. But that global experience also needed to be counterbalanced by deep local support to handle its payments complexity so the WAK team could focus on its core business. After careful consideration, WAK selected Checkout.com as that provider.
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Checkout.com data finds consumers are keen to pay in their local currency. 56% of consumers will abandon a purchase if they can't. However, allowing customers to pay in local currency can be incredibly expensive if merchants cannot also settle in the same currency.
For businesses like WAK, which operate with fine margins, even incremental FX cost increases can force them to realize less revenue or pass costs on to customers.
"We choose to work with Checkout.com because it removes this problem," says Pepita Marín, CEO & Founder of WAK. "Checkout.com supports over 150 processing currencies. And it allows us to settle in various currencies, including USD, EUR, GBP and others. These capabilities allow us to nearly always settle in the same currency for our major markets, avoiding foreign exchange costs." WAK's FX costs have decreased 4x since switching from Checkout.com from its previous payments provider.
In parallel to reducing its FX costs, WAK is also using the Checkout.com platform to allow its customers to pay using their preferred payment methods leading to higher conversion rates and more sales. It can do this efficiently due to its single integration and a unified global agreement with Checkout.com, removing complexity and clearing the path for further market expansion.
"Checkout.com made us aware that payment behaviors are incredibly localized, and consumer will abandon their cart if they cannot use their preferred method," says Pepita. "So it's worked with us to ensure we enable the right payment methods in each market through our existing integration. This is incredibly powerful as it allows us to grow our business in new markets without worrying about onboarding and integrating with new providers."
Collaboration is a word that stands out for Pepita when thinking about the relationship with Checkout.com. "From day one, we knew we made a smart choice picking Checkout.com," says Pepita. "The team engaged with us during the entire integration process, and we received dedicated local support in the local language for all our global teams.
"And today, Checkout.com is allowing us to extract more value from our payments," Pepita adds. "This gives us peace of mind and provides valuable insights about our existing markets and every new market we want to enter."
One example is the support Checkout.com has provided to empower the WAK team to extract the data from its platform more effectively and build automated flows around previously manual processes such as reconciliation. This has given WAK transparency on what the business is paying through what payment methods and the clarity it needs for better financial planning.
"Automating these processes saves our team time," says Pepita. "It's also allowing us to make smarter decisions faster and drive optimizations and significant savings across our business."
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