Challenge

Founded in 2003, Agua Bendita is a partnership between Mariana Hinestroza and Catalina Álvarez, who began handcrafting swimsuits using leftover fabrics from a local clothing factory and their grandmothers’ sewing machines. As product demand grew, the company created alliances with talented female artisans from their hometown of Medellín, Colombia, and eventually became one of the first Colombian brands to export local fashion. Five years ago, the co-founders expanded their company toward the “ready-to-wear” universe with Agua by Agua Bendita. Agua by Agua Bendita has become a point of reference for high-fashion brands worldwide because of its sustainability focus and inspiration from Latin American roots.

To grow its presence outside of Colombia, Agua Bendita knew it needed the right payments partner that would unlock easy and secure international growth. The company originally accepted payments with another vendor, but became frustrated by high fees associated with transferring money across accounts and the vendor’s lack of options for selling outside of Colombia. With its sights set on North America and Western Europe, Agua Bendita was looking for a new payment processor to expand its international footprint.

Solution

Agua Bendita chose to leverage the Stripe-VTEX connector, becoming the first Stripe user connected to VTEX, an all-in-one platform for enterprise digital e-commerce. This integration enables transactions using Google Pay, Apple Pay, and local payment methods. Now able to support 135+ different currencies, Agua Bendita updated its payment strategies to serve customer needs and improved the checkout experience, which was imperative for global expansion opportunities.

Stripe’s strong global presence gave Agua Bendita the capability to process cards and transactions across borders, allowing the brand to boost international sales outside of Colombia.

Results

Integrating with Stripe and VTEX accelerated Agua Bendita’s growth and eased the process of transferring money between banks. Stripe’s flexible solutions allowed Agua Bendita to issue faster payouts and easy refunds, all from an intuitive dashboard.

The Stripe-VTEX Connector partnership now provides an optimal checkout experience for shoppers due to increased accessibility to international payment methods. Today, over 80% of Agua Bendita’s sales occur outside of Colombia, and 70% of all payments are processed via Stripe.

About VTEX

Founded in Brazil, VTEX has been a leader in accelerating the digital commerce transformation in Latin America and is expanding globally. VTEX is trusted by more than 2,400 customers.