Why You Should Use Buy Now Pay Later for eCommerce

With consumer behaviour being somewhat unpredictable in response to the virus outbreak, eCommerce has had to adapt with new methods of grabbing buyers’ attention. A common method being used by businesses to attract customers has been to offer pay-over-time services. The notion of ‘Buy Now Pay Later for eCommerce’ has shown huge improvements for consumers who are following through with purchases, easing the many worries that can go along with buying high-priced items. However, this matter is likely to be a new concept to many business owners out there so it’s important to understand just how pay-over-time works, the benefits that come along with the service, and how to apply it within your own customer offerings and experience. 

Website Usability

When it comes to different methods of reducing cart abandonment, companies need to work on several factors in order to reduce the chances of a lost sale. Offering a payment-over-time model is a great way to maximize conversion during COVID-19, but before promoting the service on your site, make sure you have all other aspects of your online store in order for better customer convenience. 

No Hidden Fees – Reducing any hidden fees will create transparency and trust between the consumer and your business. In a recent report, 63% of customers reported abandoning their cart after receiving the extra cost for shipping. Either let your consumers know from the start the exact shipping rate they will need to pay or eliminating shipping costs all together will ensure clarity for the buyer without scaring them away once it’s time to check out. 

Easy Checkout – Following on from this, creating a seamless checkout process will help guide consumers to complete their transaction. Businesses should make sure their online sites are highly functional and that when customers are entering their credit card information everything runs smoothly. If the checkout page keeps showing an error or runs slowly, consumers will question if their transaction has successfully gone through and might choose not to trust your site with the final transaction. The fewer stages needed between choosing to buy and purchasing will lead to an increase in sales due to the improved convenience.

Discount Codes – Attracting customers with promised discount codes that eventually do not work when the consumer is checking out, will most definitely lead to abandoned shopping carts. Companies promoting sales and discount codes need to be sure that the offers successfully work during the checkout process to ensure buyers will completely go through with the transaction.  

BNPL

Pay-over-time or BNPL is the method of purchasing an item or service in the present but paying for them over time in increments using a credit payment. Buy now pay later has even shown itself as the best payment method for eCommerce. From the 42% of people that choose to use BNPL, over 20% of those consumers have first used the service in 2020, likely because of COVID-19 related income loss. 

With that in mind, businesses should be aware that consumers will be looking for an eCommerce site payment method to benefit them when online shopping. The benefits BNPL offers to consumers when shopping include:

• Allowing customers to make purchases they might usually not be able to afford 
• Avoid credit card interest 
• Borrow money without any credit check  
• Credit cards are maxed out

Over, 50% of consumers aged 35-44 have used a BNPL service and millennials seem to be increasingly taking advantage of this payment method to avoid the downsides of credit card use and interest. 

Using Pay-Over-Time for Your Own Business

The option of ‘Buy now pay later for eCommerce can be incredibly effective for your business. If you are a company selling high-priced items, using this service is a great offer to customers that might have originally turned away due to price-scares. Giving this option to customers will allow for a larger range of customers to buy your products or services, so consider this as a valuable solution to cart abandonment. 

BNPL Options

Incorporating BNPL options for consumers is not as hard as some companies may believe. Accepting payment from brands such as Afterpay, Paypal, and Splitit are great alternatives eCommerce can turn to. Below is a list of possible options to be considered: 

Afterpay – There are currently over 7 million consumers that use Afterpay, so it’s a widely used option that will keep buyers interested in your product and services. Using this method, consumers will pay four instalments over two-week increments with no interest. 

Paypal – The first quarter of 2020 already saw a 17% year over year growth in Paypal users. This credit payment is one of the most popular options out there for BNPL, most likely being the reason industries collaborate or only sell through Paypal. There are no extra fees for consumers using this service, making it a great option to consider. 

Splitit – Allowing consumers to use the Splitit app when purchasing from your website will provide customers with the option of purchasing your products and choosing exactly how many increments they want to pay in. This option also allows customers to gain points and rewards the more they use it when shopping. 

Klarna – Klarna is an incredibly effective payment solution and pay after solution. Not only can you use Klarna to process payments the consumer doesn’t have to even pay until they go to their Klarna app later on. It’s a very seamless process and a great way to incentive larger purchases and also mobile purchases.

Affirm– Affirm recently went public and is one of the top after pay options. You have options to pay later and have zero interest or different interest amounts based on how and when you want to pay. The flexibility is amazing and great for consumers.

Apple Pay– As a very popular eCommerce site payment method, around 50% of iPhone users have enabled Apple Pay. Offering the same benefits of most BNPL services, Apple Pay also allows for non-contact buying even when in-person, which is great for both businesses and consumers offering safe transactions during COVID. 

When choosing from a range to specific BNPL services to collaborate with, start by understanding your business and what you are offering consumers. Whether you are a high-end retail store or offer home renovation services, giving people the option to pay over time will widen your customer base and help future sales.  

Conclusion

Due to the pandemic, staying safe with digital payments is an excellent way businesses can keep up with ROI and create a solution for cart abandonment. With numerous pay-over-time services, businesses should be working on collaborating with these brands and websites to create better customer experiences. Companies maintaining website usability along with BNPL methods will create long lasting positive results on ROI.