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November 23, 2025

How to Build a Global Payment Stack for DTC Brands: 6 Insights from Our Expert Session with Adyen

Building a global payment infrastructure isn’t just about choosing a payment processor anymore, it’s about understanding the entire ecosystem of requirements, channels, and complexities that come with cross-border commerce.

In our recent expert session, Matthew Fanelli (Senior Manager of Global Strategy at Adyen) and Dan Breuer (CCO at ExpandNow) broke down exactly what DTC brands need to know about building payment stacks that actually scale internationally. If you missed the live conversation, here are the six critical insights every ecommerce leader should understand.

1. Your Biggest Payment Challenges Aren’t Actually About Payments

“The most common thing I see from brands… it’s actually not really payments on its own. It’s all the adjacent requirements to payments.” – Dan Breuer, CCO at ExpandNow

Here’s what catches most brands off guard: the payment itself is often the easiest part of international expansion. The real complexity lives in everything surrounding it.
The adjacent challenges that slow brands down:

Tax compliance – Managing VAT, GST, and sales tax across markets is exponentially more complex than it was a decade ago. If you’re used to US state-based sales tax and expand to Europe, you’re essentially starting from zero with an entirely different VAT system.

Fraud management – You might have fraud under control in your home market, but fraud patterns look completely different in new geographies. Start off with suboptimal fraud prevention in a new market and you’ll find yourself taking drastic measures to plug holes fast.

Back office requirements – Invoice obligations, export controls, compliance monitoring, these aren’t glamorous, but they’re mandatory in many markets.

Integration complexity – Brands often try to solve these problems with multiple apps and third-party products. The challenge? They don’t always play nice together, especially when you’re entering new markets where you need entirely new solutions for GDPR compliance, local payment methods, and customer engagement.

The bottom line: If you’re only thinking about your payment processor when planning international expansion, you’re thinking about maybe 30% of the actual problem. The other 70% is the infrastructure around it.

2. Unifying Your Sales Channels Is Harder (and More Important) Than You Think

The modern DTC playbook includes direct-to-consumer websites, social commerce (TikTok Shop, Meta), traditional marketplaces (Amazon), pop-up retail, and permanent stores. Each channel might have different payment flows, but at some point, they all need to reconcile in your back office.

Why this matters more than ever:

Customer data fragmentation – Your customer might discover you on TikTok, make their first purchase on Instagram, then convert to a repeat buyer through your DTC site. Can you recognize that’s the same customer across all three touchpoints?

Performance insights – If you’re spending manual time reconciling payments across channels, you’re spending less time analyzing what’s actually working. The brands that win are the ones using their data to make strategic shifts quickly.

Agentic commerce is coming – Just like social commerce looked unclear in its early days, agentic commerce (AI-driven shopping experiences) is emerging now. Brands that have unified their customer data and payment infrastructure will be ready to experiment with new channels as they mature.

Cash flow reconciliation – Different channels pay out on different schedules. Marketplaces might hold payments for 14-30 days. Your DTC site might settle in 2-3 days. Managing that cash flow complexity manually is a recipe for headaches.

The strategic advantage: Brands that unify their payment data across channels can make faster, smarter decisions about where to invest their next dollar of marketing spend.

3. Going Global Everywhere at Once Is a Trap

“A lot of these brands might try to boil the ocean… You’re taking on too much at once and making a lot of assumptions.” – Matthew Fanelli, Senior Manager of Global Strategy at Adyen

It sounds amazing on paper: open your store to 200+ countries overnight with cross-border commerce solutions. The reality? Most brands find success in 2-3 markets and struggle everywhere else.

Why the “launch everywhere” strategy fails:

Diluted focus – You spread your team thin trying to solve for compliance, fraud, customer service, and localization across dozens of markets simultaneously.

Unvalidated assumptions – Your product mix might need to be different market by market. Customer segments might look different. But if you launch everywhere at once, you’re making massive assumptions without any data.

Suboptimal resource allocation – You’re investing similar amounts of operational effort for markets that might only represent 1-2% of revenue each.

The smarter approach: Test and learn
Launch in 3-5 markets where you already see demand signals (website traffic, social followers, early marketplace traction). Learn what works. Then expand strategically to the next tier of markets based on what the data tells you.

“Try five new markets, maybe three of them work. Slide away from the other two and start experimenting in some other ones. That’s going to get you into a more scalable place.” – Matthew Fanelli, Adyen

Pro tip: Your best international markets often aren’t the ones with the largest populations, they’re the ones culturally similar to your home market where operational complexity is lower. US brands should look at Canada, UK, and Australia before tackling markets with entirely different commerce behaviors.

4. Different Growth Stages Require Different Payment Strategies

Not every brand should be thinking about the same payment challenges. Your priorities change dramatically depending on where you are in your growth journey.

The Fast-Growing DTC Brand ($5-10M revenue)

“If I see that growth is continuing in my home market, I want to stay there and continue to double down, at least for the time being.” – Matthew Fanelli, Adyen

What to focus on:

Don’t force international expansion if your domestic market still has massive headroom
When you do expand, start with culturally similar markets (US → Canada, UK, Australia)
Use these easier markets as a testing ground, if you struggle expanding to Canada, that’s a preview of challenges everywhere else
Consider a bifurcated strategy: be the expert in your domestic market, use Merchant of Record for international

Why this works: The investment required to use Merchant of Record for international expansion is significantly lower than building out your domestic capabilities in every new market. This gives you faster time-to-market and better ROI on international experiments.

The Marketplace Expander

“When you start trying to turn localized social media content into selling goods or services and collecting money… that’s where you start to look at the local regulations and requirements.” – Matthew Fanelli, Adyen

What to focus on:

Understand market-by-market requirements before you commit to a marketplace strategy
Most major marketplaces (TikTok Shop, Meta Commerce) require: local company registration, local tax registration (VAT/GST), and a local UBO (beneficial owner)
Structure your business in advance to meet these requirements, or partner with a Merchant of Record to handle it

The opportunity: Social commerce platforms like TikTok Shop let you embed commerce directly in the content where consumers are already browsing. This is an extension of your DTC business but in a much more powerful discovery environment.

The challenge: Getting onto these marketplaces isn’t always easy, and the compliance requirements are real barriers if you’re not prepared.

The Ambitious Startup

“Don’t lose the ambition, but be practical. Be very considerate in some of the strategic choices that you make.” – Matthew Fanelli, Adyen

What to focus on:

Build a solid core before expanding aggressively
You don’t have to get every technology choice perfect on day one, but avoid obvious blockers to your strategy
Prioritize speed: analysis paralysis kills startups
Each incremental new country gets more complicated (Netherlands → Germany is easier than Netherlands → Poland)

The key question: Do you need to get your payment provider, tax solution, and fraud tools perfect from day one? The answer is somewhere in the middle. Do your homework so you’re not forced to rip and replace foundational technology during your hockey-stick growth phase. But don’t let perfect be the enemy of good, speed matters more than perfection at this stage.

5. Carve Out Capacity for Strategic Bets

“You want to carve out some type of bandwidth for innovation… Try something new. That could be social, that could be being an early adopter in some of these agentic commerce protocols.” – Matthew Fanelli, Adyen

Even if you’re comfortable in your core market, allocate 5-10% of your capacity to experimental bets that could pay off in 12-24 months.

Why this matters:

Growth in large, comfortable markets (like the US) will eventually plateau
Proactive experimentation is better than reactive panic when growth slows
Early adopters in new channels (social commerce, agentic commerce) have significant advantages permanent infrastructure

Examples of strategic bets:

Testing a complicated new market with small investment
Experimenting with emerging commerce channels (TikTok Shop, agentic commerce)
Trying new marketplace models before competitors

The brands that wait until their core market growth slows to start experimenting are already 6-12 months behind. Plant seeds now for future growth.

6. Do Your Market Research Homework Before Making Technology Decisions

“Take the next quarter and do a very thorough market analysis of two to three markets… You’re going to be thankful you did it later because you’re going to give yourself a higher odds of getting a return on that investment.” – Dan Breuer, ExpandNow

This might feel like homework you want to skip, but brands that do deep market analysis before choosing technology partners dramatically improve their odds of success.

Three questions every brand should answer for their top 2-3 target markets:

1. Why will my products be successful in these markets?

Don’t just be interested in a market, be able to articulate specifically why your product-market fit translates there
Consider competition, local alternatives, and cultural relevance

2. Through what sales channels will I be successful?

DTC website? Marketplace? Social commerce? Retail partnerships?
The right channel varies by market, don’t assume your home market playbook works everywhere

3. What are the real requirements in each market?

Tax obligations, payment method preferences, fraud patterns, compliance rules
Go deep here, surface-level understanding leads to poor technology choice.

The payoff: When you thoroughly understand market requirements, you make dramatically better decisions about which payment provider, tax solution, and fraud tools actually solve your specific challenges. You avoid the trap of choosing technology that looks good on paper but doesn’t support your real strategy.

The Hidden Complexity: Why “Just Use What You Have” Doesn’t Work Internationally

“You can’t just take what’s built for one market and simply try to land it in another.” – Matthew Fanelli, Adyen

One of the most common mistakes? Brands assume they can extend their existing payment processor, tax system, and fraud tools to new markets without modification.

Why this fails:

Payment methods vary dramatically – Your US-based processor might not support the local payment methods that drive 60-70% of transactions in some markets

Tax systems are fundamentally different – US state-based sales tax and European VAT are completely different constructs. Mastering one doesn’t prepare you for the other

Fraud patterns are market-specific – The fraud prevention that works in the US might be completely ineffective in other regions

Compliance requirements multiply – GDPR in Europe, different KYC requirements, invoicing obligations, each market has unique regulatory hurdles

Brands that succeed internationally approach expansion as building a new capability, not just extending what they already have.

What Platform Capabilities Matter Mos

When evaluating payment platforms and commerce technology for international expansion, focus on these capabilities:

Multi-market flexibility – Can you use different solutions in different markets? You might be your own merchant in the US but use Merchant of Record in the EU. Your platform should support both models elegantly.

Unified customer view – Can you recognize customers across channels (online, in-store, marketplace, social)?

Ready integration ecosystem – Access to local payment methods, tax solutions, fraud tools without building custom integrations for every market

Performance insights – Rich data that shows how each market, channel, and customer segment performs without manual reconciliation

Your Next Quarter Action Plan

Based on the expert advice from Adyen and ExpandNow, here’s what to prioritize in Q1 2026:

For all brands:

Conduct thorough market analysis on your top 2-3 target markets
Answer the three critical questions: Why will you succeed? Through what channels? What are the real requirements?
Carve out 5-10% of capacity for strategic bets on emerging channels

For fast-growing DTC brands:

Don’t force international expansion if domestic growth is still strong
When you do expand, start with culturally similar markets
Consider bifurcated strategy (own your home market, use MoR internationally)

For marketplace expanders:

Understand local requirements before committing (company registration, tax registration, local UBO)
Structure your business to qualify for target marketplaces, or partner with MoR

For ambitious startups:

Build solid core technology foundation, but prioritize speed over perfection
Do homework on foundational choices (payment provider, tax, fraud) to avoid forced replacement during growth
Start with easiest international markets, expect each additional one to be more complex

How to Build a Global Payment Stack for DTC Brands: 6 Insights from Our Expert Session with Adyen

1. Your Biggest Payment Challenges Aren’t Actually About Payments