Bonus: How Carpe Scales Global Sales with Strategic International Expansion and Passport

🚀 How Carpe Scales Global Sales with Strategic International Expansion and Passport

In this week’s episode of the DTC Podcast, we’re focusing on a topic many brands are curious about but often hesitant to dive into—international expansion. We’re talking logistics, localization, and how to actually make it work without the headaches. 

Joining us are Kasper Kubica, Co-Founder of Carpe, and Tom Griffin from Passport, here to break down how brands can scale globally in a practical, profitable way.

If your brand is considering crossing borders, or you’re already shipping internationally but want to fine-tune your approach, this episode covers everything from the challenges to the opportunities. 

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🌍 Why Go Global? 

For Carpe, international expansion wasn’t just a random decision—it was driven by real demand. 

As Kasper explains, the brand saw significant traffic from markets like Canada, Australia, and the UK even before they started advertising internationally. That’s a clear signal. For many DTC brands, the potential of global markets can’t be ignored, especially when those markets could effectively double your customer base.

But it’s not just about opportunity—it’s about execution. 

You need the right internationalization partner, and that’s where Passport comes in, removing the common friction points like nuanced localization strategies, shipping delays, unexpected fees, and complicated customs and duties.

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🔑 Localization Matters 

Scaling internationally isn’t as simple as translating a website and calling it a day. 

Kasper talks about the importance of truly localizing the experience—from creating country-specific websites and ads to understanding the nuances of each market. It’s about building trust with customers who are used to seeing international brands that don't fully commit to serving their region properly.

With Passport, Carpe was able to optimize their store experience by market and streamline the checkout and delivery process, ensuring that international customers received their orders quickly, with duties prepaid and without any surprises. It’s a game-changer in markets like Canada, where cross-border ecommerce can be tricky without the right setup.

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🚚 Logistics Simplified 

Before Passport, Carpe’s international customers faced long shipping times and expensive delivery fees, often compounded by extra duties they had to pay upon receiving their products. 

With Passport, all of that changed. Shipping and compliance management became faster, more affordable, and much more customer-friendly thanks to the strong focus on simplifying cross-border logistics.

It wasn’t just about getting products across borders—it was about doing so efficiently, cost-effectively, and with minimal customs delays or friction for the customer.

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📊 Scaling with Intention 

One key takeaway from this episode is the importance of intentionality when expanding internationally. Carpe didn’t just jump into new markets—they carefully selected countries and didn’t try to conquer the world all at once; instead, they leveraged Passport’s expertise to help prioritize quality over quantity, ensuring they could serve each market properly before moving on to the next.

Passport’s ability to improve the store localization and checkout experience plus simplify the logistics side meant that Carpe could focus on what they do best—building a strong end-to-end customer experience. And the result? International sales are now a core part of their business, not just an afterthought, accounting for over 10% of their overall revenue.

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🔍 What to Look For 

Thinking about going global? Kasper suggests paying attention to where your organic traffic is coming from. If you’re already seeing international interest, it’s likely time to start exploring those markets in a more structured way. 

And remember, it’s not just about reaching new customers—it’s about reaching them in a way that’s personalized, sustainable and profitable.

Want to hear the full conversation? It’s packed with insights on how to approach international expansion without losing focus or profitability.

Listen Here

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