(Untitled)

With consumers spending on the rising in the first quarter of this year, as well as online shopping continuing to expand throughout all age categories, companies are facing more possibilities and more competition for the dollars of consumers. It is essential to find innovative strategies to cater to the demands of customers by giving them more opportunities to purchase from your business or the website that you created. One of the best places to begin is with the checkout process. Find ways to simplify this crucial final step in the process of purchasing and provide the choice of payment options to clients to increase their customer experience.

One of the latest trends that has rapidly gained popularity in shopping online is one of the most popular options is "Buy Now, pay Later" (BNPL) option at the time of checkout. BNPL is a distinct payment method that allows customers to split the cost of their purchase into manageable payment installments, which are distributed in varying amounts. Sometimes it's spread out in a couple of weeks and in other cases, spread over several months.

Pay later, purchase now is becoming more and more commonplace.

Many consumers are using pay-over-time services whenever they're available. The year 2023 saw online retailers saw a significant increase in the amount of sales they made using BNPL which saw volume increasing by 42.5 percent from year to year. That means BNPL has added approximately $16.6 billion of sales in merchant book sales over the the final two months of the year and this pattern Adobe expects to continue until 2024.

Around 93.3 million users are expected to use BNPL in 2024 according to EMarketer and American Banker reported that the BNPL market in the US could be as high than $8.3 billion by 2028. BNPL is also being used more frequently by online retailers such as Amazon.com -- which will increase its growth and making it increasingly popular among consumers who shop on the internet.

This makes BNPL an option that companies should consider in a crowded online market.

Offer buy now and make payment later: Some things to consider

The addition of BNPL options at checkout earlier rather than later offers businesses a higher chance of attract new customers as well as establish an ongoing connection.

If a retailer doesn't offer the option of BNPL when customers check-out, this might provide the perfect chance to include it in the choices. For merchants that do offer it by placing the BNPL option on their sites, particularly when you check out, or promoting the availability of it through advertising will help their products more prominent and enhance customer satisfaction for clients.

The more prominent the BNPL choice is displayed on an online store's website and the more quickly they announce the services via email and on social networks and social platforms, the more customers will be interested in learning more about it. This helps the store get customers to visit their site to complete the deal.

BNPL allows merchants to expand the reach of buyers who are planning to purchase soon, but wish to control the flow of cash with no credit. With the option of splitting the cost of an purchase into, for instance the four installments of interest-free payments every two weeks, buyers can obtain their requirements without delays. Certain BNPL firms, such as Affirm provide longer time plans that last from several months to up to 3 years on carts that are large in size or high-end items.

In addition, adding a new alternative for payments to the backend of an online store could seem like a daunting undertaking for small-scale retailers who have limited time to accomplish this task, there are solutions that are available to create a quick and easy applications that will simplify the whole process for both the seller and merchant. For this you are able make use of already-built ecommerce integrations, like those that use the AffirmPayments extensions which allows merchants to quickly include BNPL payments to the checkout procedure they already have.

Benefits of a buy now or pay over time at your Woo store

What benefits can the BNPL integration offer? The first benefit is that it can simplify the buying process to accommodate the increasing number of consumers who prefer to pay over the course of the time. It is important to ensure that your the customers have access to your site before they reach your checkout page is also important, especially in the case of young customers who have grown up with online shopping. It is actually reported that the National Retail Federation reports that over 50% (46 per cent) (46 percent) of Gen Z respondents consider a smooth checkout process essential for a positive shopping experience.

One of the primary aspects to consider for integration is the experience of the shopper. It's crucial that the buyer has the ability to see their payment options and complete the process of approval without having to go to another website. Through an integrated platform merchants make the procedure easy and straightforward as possible for buyers making sure that it doesn't interfere with the sale.

A seamless checkout experience can aid in reducing cart abandonment. Recent Baymard Institute metastudy of 49 studies found that the rate of abandonment average around 70%, and hasn't changed markedly in the past decade. Among the top reasons that carts are abandoned is a checkout procedure that was either excessively long or complicated (22 percent of the time) and the site did not offer enough choices to pay (responsible for 13 percent of cart abandonments). By integrating a tight BNPL solution, retailers can resolve both concerns of the customer in one go.

What is the most cost-effective buy now, or pay-later provider

The choice of the BNPL service that is compatible to your requirements as a company and also with the needs of your customers is crucial to find the most suitable match. As an example, Affirm provides custom payment solutions to merchantsthey can offer both short and long-term choices, including zero-interest options. Offering the right payment option which is compatible to the needs of customers and standard prices, retailers can increase the affordability of consumers, and possibly win a sale over the competition.

One of the most unique options that Affirm offers is their Adaptive Checkout feature that provides dynamically the most suitable ways to pay your customers depending on the price of each item and total cart value. The term "personalization" is a key part of online gaming, Affirm customizes the time length as well as the rate of each purchase. They offer a range of suitable pay-over-time options available to customers, in an effortless user-friendly experience.

What can you do to let customers who are already there and who are likely to purchase from you be aware of the BNPL choice prior to checkout? Based on the market you are targeting, it is possible to consider promotion via social media sites. Retail Dive states that 85percent of customers' buying choices are affected by social media. So marketing the presence of BNPL on these platforms could give you an advantage. If you're looking to connect with Gen Z and you're interested about their shopping behavior, you should remember that 45% of respondents named TikTok and Instagram as the top platforms that influence their buying decisions.

Because summer can be a slow time for businesses It's an opportunity for merchants to focus on the process of getting BNPL functioning on their websites ahead of the Back to School rush signals that are the busiest times before the winter holiday rush. This gives them the chance to take a thoughtful decision regarding vendors, resolve any technical problems and then launch the marketing efforts to promote the introduction of BNPL as a new payment method that is available at check-out.

Offering a BNPL choice at the time of checkout and publicizing it via social media is an important step for companies looking to get higher online spend and compete with rivals.

Are you prepared to add flexible payment options to your online checkout? Apply to Affirm for a start and use Affirm Extension for Payments Affirm Extension to Payments in order to provide the option of pay-over-time at your checkout.

--

The payment options provided by Affirm are subject to a credit check and might not be available in all areas, and they are offered by lending partners that are listed below: affirm.com/lenders.

This post was posted on here