Reach Expands to Japan as Merchant of Record
The move unlocks local acquiring for ecommerce and SaaS businesses in the world’s fourth-largest economy
CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA – May 12, 2025 – Reach, the Merchant of Record for established global ecommerce and SaaS brands, today announced the launch of its local entity in Japan. This expansion enables access to local acquiring in the world’s fourth-largest economy. International businesses can now enter the Japanese market with higher approval rates, lower fees, full tax compliance, and localized customer experiences, all without additional integration work.
The Japanese ecommerce market is valued at almost US$200 billion, and has been expanding at an annual rate of 10% or more for the past five years. While historically the market has been dominated by Rakuten, Amazon, and Yahoo! Shopping, their aggregate market share has been steadily declining as more international brands allocate business and marketing dollars to focus on Japanese consumers. However, despite the lucrative opportunity, breaking into this market remains complex and costly.
This complexity, coupled with shifting U.S. tariffs and their impact on cross-border margins, are enticing many global retailers to expand into new markets like Japan in order to protect profitability, mitigate risk, and diversify their streams of revenue.
“Japan is an incredibly attractive market, but most international businesses underestimate the complexity of selling there,” said Sam Ranieri, CEO of Reach. “We built Reach to remove those barriers. With local acquiring now available in Japan, our customers can scale into this market faster and with less friction.”
By localizing ecommerce transactions in Japan, Reach allows ecommerce businesses to offer all popular local payment methods, display pricing in Japanese Yen, and offload the burden of fraud mitigation and compliance. Additionally, Reach includes “done for you” tax compliance, automating tax registration, filing, collection, and remittance.
Japanese consumers are among the most active buyers of international ecommerce, particularly in digital goods and SaaS. Businesses that use a Merchant of Record in Japan can reduce their costs by up to 40% and increase transaction approval rates to over 90% versus traditional cross-border methods.
“Japanese consumers are highly discerning. They expect localized experiences, local pricing, and seamless checkout,” Mr. Ranieri added. “That’s exactly what Reach delivers. It’s not just about accessing a new market, it’s about showing up the right way.”
Reach’s Japan entity is now live and available to all customers at no additional cost.
ABOUT REACH
Reach is the Merchant of Record for high-growth and established ecommerce retailers and SaaS businesses. Reach enables businesses to effortlessly activate global capabilities within the platforms they already use. This unlocks fraud prevention, tax compliance, and localized customer experiences without complex integration. Trusted by global brands, Reach streamlines cross-border operations, reduces costs, and improves transaction approval rates, empowering businesses to scale internationally with ease.