Buy-Now, Pay-Later (BNPL) is the fastest-growing payment option for e-commerce. The idea of BNPL is to enable merchants to buy on credit and pay back later at their leisure. Although it has its origins in credit cards, it is considered to have far more potential in the industry. In fact, customer acquisition for BNPL services surged by 162% between 2018 and 2019 alone.
Most merchants are now realizing the need for BNPL platforms because of the immense benefits they can offer. Moreover, BNPL is also redefining the consumer journey by effortlessly integrating as a checkout option into e-commerce.
As a result, every small merchant now wants to learn the fundamentals of buy now, pay later, including how it works, the integration needs, and how to manage the checkout experience.
Merchant’s Perspective on Integrating BNPL Into Their Shops
From the standpoint of merchant checkout design, BNPL is simply another payment option that does not need any special effort. Surely, as with any new payment method, some backend integration is necessary to present this option to customers.
However, BNPL connections are simple and technically similar to other popular alternatives such as credit cards, debit cards, or digital wallets. If a merchant utilizes a checkout page hosted by a payment service provider (i.e. hosted payment page), the merchant will need even less effort to activate BNPL payments.
Moreover, adding popular BNPL options like @Pay, Klarna, Afterpay, Openpay, or Affirm to the payment mix is functionally equivalent to adding Apple Pay or American Express. Merchants can integrate the option directly with the BNPL supplier or via their existing payment service providers. Integrations using current payment providers generally reduce merchants’ integration burden.
Providing Massive Benefits for Merchants
BNPL comes with a lot of benefits to the merchants. Firstly, it increases the conversion rate of sales of a product. According to a 2020 survey, 88.05% of online purchasing orders get abandoned due to a lack of funds to purchase things. Using a BNPL design, on the other hand, can significantly alleviate this problem by allowing buyers to purchase products on credit.
Similarly, BNPL allows retailers to make large purchases more affordable by spreading them out across three, four, six, or more months, thereby allowing them to reach a broader audience. Furthermore, it also enables merchants’ to make high-value items more affordable through the use of a flexible payment structure. Also, it increases the average order value or the amount a consumer spends while making a transaction.
Furthermore, it enhances the whole customer experience, ultimately promoting sales and aiding in retaining customer loyalty. The potential of BNPL-designed systems is huge, and the benefits they provide are true game-changers for the old TradFi. Things are bound to change as this new generation of platforms makes inroads into the financial market.
In fact, many BNPL startups are already making noise in this space. @Pay is one such platform that is disrupting traditional FinTech with its blockchain-based approach. It offers significant cost savings to all participants in the ecosystem by utilizing smart contract technology. Its goal is to be a leading player in providing customers and merchants with decentralized finance e-commerce and in-store solutions.
Improving the Overall Customer Experience
As much as BNPL is useful for merchants, it is also becoming popular among customers, providing them with rapid access to an authorized credit limit that can be utilized for purchases. Although with its similarity to small-ticket loans, it has grown in importance and popularity for one important reason: a convenient and smooth user experience. From online shopping to bill payment, the cashless and cardless, BNPL is efficient, fast, and user-friendly.
Making this a reality, platforms like @Pay are providing customers with the best user experience to make shopping smooth or easy. The platform allows users to pay for their shopping with any approved cryptocurrency that they hold in their @Pay wallet. Moreover, it rewards shoppers for making purchases through their ecosystem. Ultimately, it aims to provide users with access to interest-free credit by developing a fiat-to-crypto interface for eCommerce.
Laying a New Standard for Payments
As the usage of frictionless, contactless experiences and mobile wallets at the checkout in the retail environment keeps growing, the use of BNPL is also set to skyrocket. With platforms like @Pay making strides, it is evident that BNPL is here to stay. Customers are increasingly being exposed to BNPL services outside of eCommerce to pay for goods, and they may one day be as common as credit card payments.