When Ridge, the innovative minimalist wallet company, decided to pursue international markets, they faced a common dilemma: how to expand globally without compromising their customer experience or operational efficiency. They initially partnered with Brand Access, a trusted provider of in-country fulfillment services. That partnership laid the foundation for Ridge’s global success.
In January 2025, Brand Access was acquired by Passport and is now part of Passport Global’s broader in-country enablement solution—giving Ridge access to even deeper capabilities under one global platform. The result? A thriving eight-figure international business powered by smart logistics, local delivery, and a seamless customer experience.
The International Challenge
Before working with Passport (and our partner Fulfil), Ridge encountered significant obstacles when serving international customers. These challenges threatened both their brand reputation and their ability to profitably grow outside the US market.
As Sean Frank, CEO of Ridge, explains: “The challenges are the customer has a bad experience… It’s not their language… They have really long ship times… when it shows up, there might be a big duties bill.”
Beyond customer experience issues, there were operational hurdles to overcome. “It’s just expensive. It’s expensive to ship those orders… It’s unprofitable to ship orders all the way across the world. And the payment processing rates aren’t competitive enough,” Frank notes.
The complexity of international regulations presented additional barriers: “We quickly run into all those problems, right? Taxes, compliance, logistics, shipping, customer service.”
Setting Clear International Goals
Ridge recognized the universal appeal of their product and saw significant untapped potential in global markets. “We make a universal product. There’s no reason why it should be more popular in America than in England, so we decided to expand internationally,” explains Frank.
Their objectives for international expansion were clear:
- Create a localized customer experience that could match their domestic conversion rates
- Establish localized inventory and websites to meet regional customer expectations
- Build a sustainable framework for international growth without operational bloat
As Frank puts it: “We wanted to have a better customer experience so that we can actually spend money internationally and have the same sort of conversion rate and it’ll be what we expect out of our US store.”
The vision was comprehensive: “If we’re going to take this seriously, we should have localized inventory on a localized website so that a customer in Germany can get their order in two days like they expect.”
The Passport Solution
Ridge partnered with Brand Access/Passport to implement a sophisticated international expansion strategy. This solution addressed their key challenges by providing:
- Comprehensive in-country enablement
- Accurate duty and tax calculation and collection at checkout
- Smooth integration with Ridge’s existing tech stack
- A streamlined approach to processing international orders
Rather than requiring Ridge to build separate international operations from scratch, Passport offered a solution that could be implemented quickly and scaled according to performance data.
Transformative Results
The partnership yielded remarkable results. As Frank proudly states:
“Before Passport, we basically had zero dollars in international revenue, and now, consistently, year after year, we have a growing eight-figure international business.”
Some markets have shown exceptional performance: “We have ridgewallet.co.uk, which is growing a hundred percent year over year, growing more than any other market.”
Beyond revenue growth, the partnership has delivered significant operational benefits: “One of the best things is Passport does all the legwork when it comes to accounting in those markets… It lets us keep headcount low and expenses low while still having huge outputs.”
Most importantly, customer experience has dramatically improved: “Customers’ orders don’t get caught in customs anymore… People are getting everything that they ordered. There’s just no surprises.”
Ridge’s Advice to Ecommerce Brands
With the acquisition of Brand Access, Passport can support brands at the beginning stages of their international expansion and grow with them as they scale their international presence. Sean recommends that ecommerce brands take a thoughtful, staged approach to their international strategy:
Stage 1: Implement cross-border solutions to capture international demand without significant infrastructure investment.
Stage 2: Analyze performance data to identify the strongest international markets.
Stage 3: Invest in localized inventory only when justified by market performance.
This measured approach minimizes risk while maximizing potential for global growth, allowing brands to focus resources on proven markets.
For Ridge, this means investing more in the UK: “We think there’s more growth to be added in international markets. The UK’s been this big, bright spot in our business and we’re going to lean in more.”
The Bottom Line: International Expansion is a Business Essential
The Ridge and Passport partnership shows that international expansion doesn’t have to be overwhelming, resource-intensive, or risky. With the right approach and partners, brands can easily expand internationally without overwhelming their internal resources.
From Ridge’s perspective, prioritizing your international business isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s an essential component of a customer-centric business model in today’s global marketplace. 90% of ecommerce leaders agree, as they set their sights on further international expansion through growing cross-border and in-country fulfillment over the next five years.
For brands looking to follow Ridge’s success, the message is clear: global expansion doesn’t require a leap of faith. With partners like Passport, it can be a calculated step in your business evolution, adding millions in revenue while maintaining the operational excellence your customers expect—regardless of where in the world they might be.
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