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With shoppers spending money on rising in the first quarter of the year, and increasing popularity of online shopping continues to expand in every age group, merchants face both increasing opportunities and competition for the dollars of consumers. That means they have to discover new ways of catering to the needs of their customers and giving them more reasons to shop the brand or website you have created. One of the best places to begin is the checkout process. It is important to identify opportunities to both streamline the process of making the purchase and offer the option of payment to customers to increase the satisfaction of your customers.
A trend that's rapidly grown in popularity for online purchases is"By Pay Later" or the "Buy Now, pay Later" (BNPL) alternative when you are at the point of checkout. BNPL is a different method of payment that allows customers to break up the total value of their purchase into affordable installments that are distributed over timesometimes over a few weeks, and in some situations, for a longer period of time.
Buy now, pay later is on the rise
A lot of consumers make use of payment-over-time options when they're available. In 2023, online merchants saw a significant rise in the number of purchases that were made with BNPL, with the volume up 42.5 percent from the prior year. As a result, BNPL placed around $16.6 billion of its sales in book for merchants in the final few months alone and this pattern Adobe expects to continue through 2024.
About 93.3 million customers will use BNPL in 2024 according to EMarketer and American Banker reported that the BNPL market in the US could reach as high at $8.3 billion in 2028. BNPL is also being used increasingly by internet-based retailers, like Amazon.com and is also increasing its growth as well as making it more accessible to those who purchase online.
This is what makes BNPL an option merchants must be aware of when they are competing against an ever-growing online marketplace.
Buy now, and then make payment later: Some points to be considered
Incorporating BNPL choices at checkout earlier instead of later gives businesses a better chance to gain new customers aswell as establish a long-term relationship.
If a merchant doesn't offer a BNPL option when they checkout, this could be the perfect time to add one to the mix. In the case of merchants which do provide it, including the BNPL option on their websites, especially at checkout, or by making announcements about the availability of the option through advertising, can help to distinguish their business and enhance customer experience for shoppers.
The more well-known the BNPL choice is featured displayed on the site of a retailer and the faster they promote the service through emails and on social networks and on social media, the more likely they are that people will be intrigued by learning more and could help retailers bring customers to their site to finalize the purchase.
BNPL will allow merchants to expand the reach of buyers who want to purchase items in the near future, but wish to manage the flow of money without credit. By allowing the possibility of splitting the price of an item into, for example, four installments which are interest-free every two weeks, buyers are able to meet their requirements quickly. Certain BNPL companies, including Affirm and Affirm, offer extended terms of several months to three years for carts that have large size or high-end products.
The process of adding a new type of payment on the back end of an online store could be an overwhelming process for small-scale retailers who are already in a hurry. However there are options which are simple and quick software that can simplify the whole process for the retailer. For this it is common to make use of pre-built eCommerce integrations, for instance the AffirmPayments extension that allows easy integration of BNPL options to the checkout process they already have.
Benefits of offering purchase right now and later pay for your Woo store
What advantages does a BNPL integration offer? A major benefit is that the integration streamlines the purchase process in order to cater for the ever-growing number of consumers who prefer to pay over the course of time. Also, keeping shoppers in your store and leading them towards the checkout process is crucial, particularly for those who are younger and have grown used to the convenience of online shopping. According to the National Retail Federation reports that over 50 percent (46 percent) of Gen Z respondents consider a easy checkout procedure to be crucial to their shopping satisfaction.
One of the most important elements to be considered when it comes to integration is the user experience for the customer. It's crucial that the buyer can view their payment options as well as go through the approval process without needing to access an additional website. With a pre-built integration merchants can make the procedure so simple and effortless as they can for the shopper, so they're not hindering sales.
A smooth checkout experience could help in decreasing cart abandonment. A previous Baymard Institute metastudy of 49 reports found that cart abandonment rates is still around 70 percent, but isn't significantly different in the past decade. The top reason to abandon carts is a checkout process which was lengthy or difficult (22 percent of the time) and also the site was not offering enough choices in terms of payment (responsible for 13% of carts that are abandoned). With the integration of a robust BNPL solution, merchants can resolve both the customer's problems in a single step.
Which is the best buy for today? Pay later or pay as you go
Selecting the BNPL company that best meets your needs as a business and also with the needs of your customers is vital to identify the most suitable fit. For example, Affirm provides custom payment options for merchants that range from the short to the long-term as well as the option of zero percent APR. When payments are conformity with the demands of consumers and the standard price that retailers are able to increase the affordability for shoppers and potentially gain a competitive advantage over their competitors.
One of the unique features offered by Affirm is the Adaptive Checkout technology, which gives you the best methods to settle your customer's bill according to the product's price points and the overall amount of the cart. By personalizing the title of the game online Affirm allows you to alter the time and rate of interest for every purchase by providing several suitable options for pay-over-time to customers, all within an easy-to-use user experience.
How do you let the customers that you currently have as well as those who are likely to buy from you know about the BNPL option before checkout? Based on the type of market you target, it's possible to promote the offer on various social media websites. Retail Dive reveals that 85 percent of customers buying purchases are influenced through social media. Therefore, marketing the availability of BNPL across social media platforms may give you a competitive edge. In case you're trying to reach Gen Z, know that 45 percent of those polled have mentioned TikTok along with Instagram as their most popular social media sites in the influence they exert on the purchase decisions they make.
Because summer is often the slowest time of year for companies There's an opportunity for companies to focus on bringing BNPL up and running on their site, before it gets full. Back to School rush signals that the busiest period before the holiday season. This gives the school to make thoughtful decisions concerning sellers, get rid of the technical glitches, and ramp up a solid marketing campaign announcing the addition to BNPL as a new payment option that can be used at checkout.
The availability of an BNPL option when you checkout as well as making it available via social media could alter the way that merchants try to make more money online and beat out the competition.
Are you interested in adding flexible payment options to your checkout? Apply to Affirm to begin by using the Affirm Extension of Payments in order to provide the option of pay-over-time in your process of payment.
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*Payment options through Affirm can be subject to a credit check and might not be available to all locations, but they are made available through these lending partners: affirm.com/lenders.
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