Slowood achieved 36% increase in returning customers with local payment methods

Rebekah

Business Development Director of Slowood

"With Airwallex, we were able to start accepting local payments quickly. Because the user experience is intuitive and the checkout process faster, we’ve actually had a 50% increase in shoppers using local payment methods."

Slowood was founded by local couple Kai and Dora with a simple mission – to make zero-waste and sustainable living more accessible.

They source healthy and eco-conscious products from top suppliers around the world. This means that they need to transact in different currencies on a regular basis. The conversion and international transaction costs were quickly eating into their profit margins. 

When they launched their online store using Shopify in 2019, they quickly realised that the basic international payment options provided by Shopify were not enough for the local market. They needed a quick and seamless solution to accept online payments through local payment methods. 

Challenge 1: Shopify only provides basic international payment options, which is not ideal for local customers

Shopify Payments, the default payment gateway of Shopify, supports only international payment methods such as PayPal and credit cards. However, with Slowood’s target customers being locals living in Hong Kong, the absence of local payment options was impacting the purchase success rates and checkout experience.

Solutions & results: Airwallex Payments offers local payment methods with fast and easy integration

Airwallex Payments supports 160+ local payment methods, including FPS, Alipay, Alipay HK, and WeChat Pay, and can be easily integrated into Shopify. 

After 90 days of plugging Airwallex Payments into their Shopify eCommerce site, Slowood experienced a 36% increase in returning customers, as well as a 50% increase in the number of shoppers using local payment methods.

Challenge 2: hefty conversion and transaction costs when paying international suppliers

Dealing with various suppliers across the globe, Slowood often needs to make international payments in different currencies, including Shopify bills.

However, Shopify only accepts payments in USD, forcing Slowood to bear the burden of FX conversion costs and foreign merchant fees. With Shopify charging a service subscription fee and a percentage per transaction, the monthly bill from Shopify can quickly eat into Slowood’s profit margin. 

Solutions & results: use Airwallex Borderless Cards to avoid unnecessary fees 

With Airwallex Borderless Cards, Slowood can easily settle Shopify bills using their account balance in USD from their multi-currency accounts. This means that they can bypass forced conversion, and eliminate unnecessary and hidden charges associated with foreign transactions.

Challenge 3: Corporate clients require a different set of payment methods

In addition to traditional retail customers, Slowood was expanding its business to corporate gifting and office snacking. Unlike retail customers, corporate clients had specific and often rigid preferences regarding payment methods. Slowood needed to adapt a payment solution to secure corporate partnerships and sales by offering greater flexibility in payment methods.

Solutions & results: leverage Payment Links to enable dozens of payment methods 

By leveraging Airwallex Payment Links, Slowood can simply share the customised Payment Links with corporate clients, enabling them to conveniently pay using their preferred methods, such as credit cards, instead of through traditional invoices. 

Not only does Slowood streamline the payment process for corporate clients, but they can also offer tailored deals without disrupting their existing retail operations. 

Rebekah

Business Development Director of Slowood

“Airwallex can help us scale at speed, allowing greater efficiency, flexibility and a seamless experience to both our B2B and B2C customers.”

View full interview below to learn more how Airwallex enables eCommerce brands to grow their online sales and streamline financial operations.