Flow Commerce

About Flow Commerce

Flow Commerce, established in 2015 by co-founders Rob Keve and Mike Bryzek, offers a technology platform designed to streamline cross-border e-commerce for direct-to-consumer brands and retailers. Keve, with a background as CEO of customer-review platform Fizzback (acquired by NICE Systems), and Bryzek, a co-founder and former CTO of Gilt Groupe, combined their expertise in customer experience and e-commerce technology to address the complexities of international sales. The company was conceived from their shared recognition of the significant friction and challenges merchants face when expanding globally.

The firm operates as a modular, API-based platform that integrates with existing e-commerce websites. Its primary function is to localize the shopping experience for international customers, which includes displaying prices in over 250 local currencies, offering a variety of country-specific payment methods, and calculating duties and taxes at checkout to ensure price transparency. Flow Commerce's business model is transaction-based, taking a percentage of the international gross merchandise value (GMV) that it processes for its clients. This aligns its revenue generation directly with the international sales success of the brands it supports.

For its clients, which are typically online retailers looking to grow their international footprint, the platform manages the end-to-end process of a global transaction. This encompasses international shipping and logistics, customs and regulatory compliance, and fraud management. By abstracting away these operational hurdles, merchants can offer a domestic-like purchasing experience to their overseas customers, potentially increasing conversion rates and building brand loyalty in new markets. In October 2021, Global-e, a direct competitor, announced its acquisition of Flow Commerce for approximately $500 million, a move aimed at strengthening its position in the cross-border e-commerce solutions market and expanding its client base.