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Jun 27, 2024

With consumer spending on the rise towards the start of the year, as well as online shopping continuing to increase across all age groups Businesses are faced with greater opportunities and greater competition to the money of their customers. This means that they must come up with new ways to meet the desires of their customers and also provide them with additional opportunities to buy from your brand or website. One of the best places to begin is with the checkout processlooking at ways to make it easier for customers. essential last step in the purchase and offer the option of payment to clients to improve their shopping experience.

One of the latest trends that has rapidly gained popularity when shopping online is"By Pay Later" or the "Buy Now, Pay Later" (BNPL) option during make your purchase. BNPL is a different option for payment, which allows customers to break up the purchase price in reasonable installments spread over timefor instance, over a few weeks, or in some cases over several months.

Buy now and pay later is becoming more and more commonplace.

The increasing amount of people are taking advantage of pay-over-time options whenever they're readily available. 2023 was a year when online retailers saw a significant increase in purchases that were made using BNPL which saw volumes up 42.5 percentage from year to year. This means that BNPL placed about $16.6 billion in sales onto merchant books in the last two months of 2018. This is a trend Adobe projects will continue through 2024.

Around 93.3 million customers will be using BNPL by 2024, according to EMarketer as well as American Banker reported that the BNPL market in the US could reach more than $8.3 billion in 2028. BNPL is being adopted increasingly by internet-based retailers, such as Amazon.com -- which is expected to expand its reach and making the option far more familiar to consumers that shop online.

It is a sign that BNPL is a possibility that merchants should be aware of when competing in a growing online market.

Offering buy now, be payed later: A few things to consider

Incorporating BNPL options for checkouts earlier rather than later offers merchants more chances to win new customers and build a lasting relationship.

If a retailer doesn't have a BNPL option at check-out This could be the ideal opportunity to introduce one in the store. If they offer it, adding the BNPL option to the top of their websites, especially when you check out or by making announcements about the possibility via advertisements, it could help identify their brand and enhance the experience of shopping for their customers.

The more visible the BNPL option appears on the website of an online retailer as well as the faster they promote the choice via email and social channels and social media The more likely they are to want to know more. It will also help retailers bring more customers on their site and close the transaction.

BNPL assists merchants in increasing their appeal for those looking to purchase products soon however, they want to manage their cash flow without credit. By allowing the possibility of breaking down the price of something by, for example 4 installments of interest-free payment each two weeks, customers have the ability to buy what they want without any delay. Certain BNPL businesses, including Affirm and Affirm, offer lengthy terms of up to a few months, or even three years for carts with large size and costly items.

While adding yet another payment method to the side of an online store may appear daunting for smaller firms already operating on their time, there are options available with quick and easy implementation, which can simplify the whole process for the seller and merchant. In this case, they typically make use of already-built eCommerce integrations, such as those that use the AffirmPayments Extension which allows users to quickly include a BNPL payment option onto the existing checkout page.

Benefits of offering purchase today, pay later your Woo store

What benefit do an BNPL integration provide? First, an integration will simplify the buying procedure for the increasing number of customers who would prefer to pay in a set amount of the time. Checking that your customers are on your website and able to checkout is also important particularly for young shoppers who are accustomed to buying online. According to the National Retail Federation reports that nearly 50% (46%) of Gen Z respondents consider a effortless checkout process to be essential to their buying experience.

One of the most important aspects to consider for integration is the user experience for the shopper. It's essential that the customer is able to view the payment options available and also go through the approval process without needing to navigate to the website of another. With a pre-built integration, merchants make sure that the purchase is as easy and painless as they can for shoppers and avoids hindering the sale.

A smooth checkout experience could assist in reducing abandonment of carts. The previous Baymard Institute metastudy of 49 reports found that the abandonment rate is currently around 70 percent that hasn't significantly changed in a decade. One of the main reasons why carts get aborted is the checkout process which was too long or complicated (22 percent of the time) and also the site did not offer enough choices in terms of payment (responsible in 13 percentage of abandonments). Thanks to a well-integrated BNPL system, merchants are able to solve all customer problems at the same time.

What's the best method to pick a pay now or choose a pay later choice?

The choice of the BNPL solution that's compatible with the needs of your company and also with the needs of your customers is an essential factor when determining which solution is the most suitable. For instance, Affirm provides custom payment choices for retailers. These could include both short- and long-term and zero-interest options. By offering payment options that are line with consumer needs as well as prices, businesses might be able to increase the affordability of the public and gain a customer over competitors.

One of the unique features of Affirm is the Adaptive Checkout technology, which provides dynamically the most appropriate choices for payment to your customers depending upon the cost of an item and the amount in the cart. Personalization is the theme of Affirm's online games, Affirm customizes the time duration and APR for each purchase, delivering a range of suitable options for pay-over-time to the customer, in one seamless user experience.

What can you do to let your customers, both current and in the future, be aware of the BNPL option before checkout? If you're catering to a certain area, you might want to promote it through social media websites. Retail Dive says that 83% of customers' purchases are affected by social media. So, marketing the potential of providing BNPL through those channels could provide an advantage. If you're targeting Gen Z be aware that 45% of those surveyed have cited TikTok and Instagram as the top applications which influence their purchasing decisions.

As summer can be an unproductive time for businesses Retailers have the chance to get BNPL operational on their site, before it gets busy. The rush to go back to school signals the start of the hectic weeks leading to the Christmas season. This is a time to be mindful of suppliers, solve any issues regarding technology, and create a strong marketing campaign announcing the introduction of BNPL as a brand new payment option which can be used at the check-out.

Offering an BNPL option when you checkout and announcing it via social media could make a the difference for businesses hoping to get more online spend--and compete with other merchants.

Are you ready to include the flexibility of payment options in your shopping cart? Apply for Affirm in order to start by using Affirm Extension for Payments. Affirm Extension to Payments that will allow pay-over-time during the checkout procedure.

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Payment options available through Affirm is subject to an eligibility check and may not be accessible to all locations, however they're made available via the lending partners listed below: affirm.com/lenders.

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