How Vietnamese sellers build and operate across multiple markets with Airwallex

As Vietnamese sellers expand into multiple markets, the biggest challenge often shifts away from simply "generating more orders." Instead, the real hurdle becomes managing multiple markets simultaneously without overwhelming the team, fragmenting cash flow, or seeing profits eroded by seemingly minor operational details. Initially, businesses might manage by cobbling together various tools: a platform for receiving payments, a separate account for payouts, spreadsheets for reconciliation, and manual processes to track advertising or operational expenses. However, as the number of markets grows, this approach almost inevitably hits its limits. Each new market introduces additional currencies, payment gateways, settlement cycles, refund requests, and cross-border payment needs. At that point, the issue is no longer whether the business *can* sell, but whether it can sustain the operations required to support that growth. This is why an increasing number of sellers are prioritizing the early establishment of a structured multi-market operational framework, rather than waiting until revenue surges to overhaul their backend systems. Multi-market operations: why does complexity escalate with growth? When selling in a single market, sellers may not fully grasp the complexity of the underlying systems. However, as they expand from one market to two or three, operational challenges multiply rapidly. Businesses must handle multiple incoming cash flows from marketplaces, websites, or distribution partners. Payment reports may display figures in the specific currencies of different stores. Funds do not arrive simultaneously, and portions of revenue may be subject to reserves, refund deductions, or chargebacks, depending on the platform. Conversely, businesses must also make payments to suppliers, logistics providers, advertising platforms, operational teams, and partners across various countries. Without a clear financial structure, sellers can easily find themselves in a situation where revenue grows, yet cash flow becomes increasingly difficult to manage. That is why multi-market operations cannot be viewed merely as a commercial challenge; fundamentally, it is a cross-border financial operations issue. A common mistake: selling across multiple markets while maintaining a single-market operational style. A frequent error sellers make is expanding into new markets while sticking to their old operational methods. For instance, teams might receive funds in various locations and manually consolidate them later. Currency exchange happens on an ad-hoc basis—handled only when necessary. Reconciliation processes across different platforms and the finance department lack a unified logic. Advertising costs, refunds, payouts, and net revenue are not viewed within a cohesive, unified picture. In the short term, this model might still function. However, as volume increases, operational lag begins to directly erode growth. Teams spend excessive time on reconciliation. Pricing decisions slow down due to a lack of visibility into actual profit margins. Founders or finance teams are constantly in a state of "chasing cash flow." To expand across multiple markets sustainably, sellers must shift their mindset from "each market is a separate task" to "multiple markets operating on a single, unified core system." What constitutes a robust multi-market operating system? Fundamentally, an effective multi-market operating system must enable a business to accomplish four things simultaneously: 1. Consolidate cash flow into a single, easily manageable location The business needs visibility into which markets funds are coming from, the currencies involved, and the settlement cycles for each. 2. Flexibly hold and manage multiple currencies When selling in multiple countries, holding various currencies within the same system gives sellers greater control, eliminating the need to exchange funds immediately for every single transaction. 3. Cross-border payouts without backend complexity When paying suppliers, partners, or covering operational costs across multiple countries, businesses need efficient payout capabilities without adding layers of unnecessary tools. 4. Linking growth with financial control A robust operating system does more than just facilitate the flow of funds; it enables founders or finance teams to identify which markets are thriving, which are eroding profit margins, and which require optimization. Roadmap for building a multi-market operating system. To effectively leverage Airwallex for a multi-market model, sellers should not view it merely as a standalone payment tool. Instead, it is best regarded as the infrastructure for redesigning cash inflows, outflows, and checkout processes from the ground up. Below is a step-by-step implementation guide, including the appropriate products for each stage. Step 1: Consolidate all cash flows into a unified system The first step when expanding into multiple markets is to stop letting funds sit scattered across various locations without a clear central management point. At this stage, sellers create Global Accounts to receive funds from different markets within a single system. This allows businesses to hold multi-currency balances and track incoming funds—monitoring the source market, currency, and timing—rather than having revenue fragmented across individual channels or partners. The underlying logic is simple: before optimizing for growth, sellers must optimize the flow of funds. Without consolidating cash flows into a unified structure, expanding into more markets only complicates reconciliation and cash control.

...making the cash flow increasingly chaotic. Step 2: Establish rules for holding funds and currency exchange After consolidating cash flows into a single location, the next step is not to immediately convert everything into one currency. Many sellers erode their profit margins by handling FX on an ad-hoc basis—converting funds only as the need arises. At this stage, sellers utilize FX & Transfer features to establish logic for holding and converting funds based on actual operational needs. In other words, rather than viewing FX as merely a reactive task, sellers can use this product layer to decide which funds to keep in their original currency for upcoming payouts, which to convert to VND or USD for operations, and which markets require closer monitoring due to exchange rate volatility or thinner margins. The goal here is not "quick conversion," but rather strategic conversion. With clear FX rules in place, sellers can gain a much more precise view of profitability across different markets. Step 3: Standardize payouts for suppliers, partners, and local operations Expanding into new markets rapidly complicates costs, involving suppliers, 3PLs, freelancers, content creators, agencies, fulfillment partners, and local operational expenses. At this stage, sellers use Transfer features for cross-border payments to suppliers or partners, and Bill Pay to integrate accounts payable into a more organized payment process. These two layers allow the finance team to handle outgoing payments within the same operational workflow, eliminating the need to switch between multiple tools for different types of expenses. Crucially, payouts should not be treated as tasks external to the system. When incoming funds, fund holdings, FX, and outgoing payments are integrated within a single structure, the team saves significant time and effort on reconciliation. Step 4: Separate operational expenses from sales cash flow A common mistake among multi-market sellers is lumping advertising costs, market testing expenses, and team-related costs into a single, hard-to-manage cash flow. As a result, while revenue continues to grow, the founder remains unable to pinpoint exactly which markets are truly profitable. At this stage, sellers utilize Corporate Cards and Expense Management tools to segregate operational spending from sales cash flow. This approach is particularly valuable when a business runs ads across multiple markets simultaneously, collaborates with agencies or distributed growth teams, and needs clear visibility into which expenses are allocated to which specific market. By separating and systematically tracking expenses, sellers can easily analyze CAC, spending, and market expansion efficiency, avoiding the need to lump all costs into a single, ambiguous account that requires manual reconciliation later. Step 5: Localize the checkout process for each market (for webstore sales) For sellers operating their own websites or D2C stores—or expanding beyond third-party marketplaces—the website checkout experience directly impacts conversion rates. At this stage, sellers can select the product solution that best fits their operational model. To build a more robust checkout experience on their website, sellers can use "Checkout." For faster implementation on platforms like Shopify, they can use "Payment Plugins." Meanwhile, "Payment Links" offer a flexible way to collect funds for specific use cases, campaigns, or manual deals. The goal here is to minimize friction during the payment process. Since payment behaviors vary by market, sellers cannot simply apply a rigid, one-size-fits-all checkout experience and expect consistent conversion rates across the board. Step 6: Use Airwallex as an operating system, not just a payment tool This is the step most frequently overlooked by sellers. After implementing individual product components, the key lies not in using isolated features, but in integrating them into a cohesive operational workflow. At this stage, the seller does not implement a new product; instead, they begin assembling the entire tech stack into a unified, fully functional operating system. A typical workflow might look like this: use Global Accounts to collect funds from multiple markets; use FX & Transfers to hold or convert currencies based on established rules; use Transfers or Bill Pay to pay suppliers and partners; use Corporate Cards and Expense Management to control market expansion spending; and use Checkout, Payment Plugins, or Payment Links to optimize the payment experience on your webstore. This allows growth and finance teams to align on the same picture: identifying which markets are driving strong revenue, which have weak cash flow, which show good conversion rates but excessive expansion costs, and which should be scaled further versus those requiring optimization. That is the greatest value Airwallex offers in a multi-market scenario: going beyond mere payment support to help sellers build a cross-border operational framework that is leaner, easier to scale, and easier to manage. If starting small, what is the recommended implementation order? For sellers who do not need the full stack immediately, the following practical sequence is recommended: Phase 1: Global Accounts Phase 2: FX & Transfers Phase 3: Transfers or Bill Pay Phase 4: Corporate Cards and Expense Management Phase 5: Checkout or Payment Plugins (if actively scaling a webstore) This approach prevents sellers from becoming overwhelmed while still establishing an operational foundation that can expand alongside the number of markets. When should a seller start building this operational foundation? The answer The key is: the sooner, the better. Many businesses wait until they have launched in three or four markets before addressing backend adjustments. By that stage, however, the system is often a patchwork of quick fixes. Transitioning becomes more time-consuming, the team faces greater disruption, and synchronizing historical data becomes increasingly difficult. Conversely, if sellers establish a multi-market operational structure as soon as they launch their second market, they gain a significant advantage when scaling. Processes for fund collection, holding, FX, payouts, and checkout are designed with expansion in mind from the start, rather than being patched together reactively as issues arise. Conclusion Multi-market operations involve more than just expanding sales into new countries; it is about building a system capable of absorbing growth without the business losing control. For Vietnamese sellers, the biggest challenge in entering multiple markets is often not a lack of opportunity, but the absence of a financial operational foundation robust enough to support future growth. When cash flow, FX, payouts, checkout, and operational spending are fragmented, each new market adds complexity to the system. Conversely, when these layers are well-integrated, businesses can expand rapidly while maintaining control. In this context, Airwallex serves as the backend infrastructure for multi-market sellers, enabling them to collect funds, hold multiple currencies, handle FX, execute cross-border payouts, and manage payments—all within a single system. For many sellers, this goes beyond merely saving time on operational tasks; it provides the foundation for structured, sustainable multi-market growth.