February 22, 2023
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As the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) market presents a growing value pool, many brands are wondering which finance solutions to offer. We round up the options for Shopify Plus merchants.
Increased conversions. Reduced cart-abandonment. More money to put back into your business. It’s easy to see why so many brands are desperate to start offering Pay Later solutions to their shoppers.
But as the market heats up, and more and more players are looking to take a piece of the BNPL pie, as a merchant, it can be difficult to know where to begin in selecting the right provider.
When our clients are exploring options, we recommend they look at how well each BNPL tool integrates with their existing tech-stack — their payment processor in particular. For the BNPL solutions listed in this article, we’ve noted any technologies they’ll integrate fluidly with.
First up, we have Shopify’s own BNPL product, Shop Pay Installments (powered exclusively by Affirm - more on these in a sec). Whilst this is currently only available to US-merchants, broader roll-out is on Shopify’s roadmap. Do note: you must be using Shop Pay (Shopify’s checkout option) to access this.
Customers pay in 4 installments over 6 weeks to help with purchases of up to $1000. These are split equally, made biweekly, and are interest-free.
Free to merchants based in the US, selling in USD and have Shopify Payments and Shop Pay enabled.
Next — and pioneering the market — we’ve the fintech giant with the funky identity and the promise of a “smoooth” shopping experience. From partnerships with the likes of Snoop Dog and Maya Rudolph, to campaigns that challenge the status quo, you’re bound to have seen these guys about.
Customers have a few options. They can try before they buy, and solely pay for what they keep within an order, up to 30 days later. They can also choose to pay in 4, interest-free instalments: the first to be made at point of purchase, and remaining ones scheduled every 30 days.
Merchants using Klarna are also showcased on the company’s own shopping app, such as when they spotlighted our client, Pangaia, as part of their Earth Day activation, Give One.
Costs vary depending on the size of the merchant - find out more, here.
Stripe (payment processor), Adyen (payment processor), Cybersource (payment processor), Attentive (SMS marketing), dotdigital (ESP), Klaviyo (ESP + SMS), Global-e (international pricing), Nosto (product recommendation), Yotpo (product reviews & photos), Vend (POS).
Here, and another leader in the BNPL space, is aussie-rooted, Afterpay. They’ve been around since 2014, and boast Afterpay Attract as their official Shopify integration. Do note, this one’s only available for US merchants.
Customers pay in 4 installments. The first of 4 payments is made upon purchasing, with the remaining cost of purchase spread across a further 3 payments, within 6 weeks.
Flat fee of 30c and a commission percentage per transaction ranging from 4-6%.
Stripe (payment processor), Adyen (payment processor), Lightspeed (POS).
Affirm is another name with a strong rep in this field. They offer flexible payments and pride themselves as having no hidden fees (not even late fees). They’re also a good option for those looking for a solution that’s broadly omnichannel, as they integrate with telesales and your physical store, as well as your e-commerce site.
Customers can choose the monthly payment schedule that works for them: either a 3, 6, or 12-month plan. They might be charged 0-30% APR by Affirm, depending on their credit and which plan they opt for.
As well as their split payment options, Affirm also offers longer-term financing, too. 18, 24, and 36 month plans make Affirm a strong contender for those selling lots of big-ticket items.
Around 6% of sale plus a transaction fee of $0.30 with no integration fees, annual fees, or monthly fees.
Cybersource (payment processor), Lightspeed (POS), Adyen (payment processor), Bolt (accelerated checkout)
Next up, Sezzle. The BNPL tool with B-Corp status. Sezzle aims to help customers build sustainable access to credit, as opposed to viewing themselves as a ‘credit alternative’.
Customers follow the standard pay-in-4 structure we see most of these tools offer, with installments spread over a 6-week period.
One neat feature of Sezzle’s is payment rescheduling. Through this, customers can push back any remaining installments by up to 2 weeks, and up to 3 times per order.
6% payment processing fee plus 30¢ per transaction.
Cybersource (payment processor), Bold (subscriptions).
Another option you have is Split It. These guys actually offer your shoppers the ability to use their existing credit cards without interest or application, as opposed to them starting new financing.
Customers choose SplitIt at checkout and use their go-to credit card to change their payment into smaller installments across 3, 4, 6 (or up to 24) months.
1.5% + $1.50 per transaction for the standard installments solution and 3% + $1.00 per transaction for merchants who want to receive the full amount of the purchase right away. They offer free onboarding and easy integration with Shopify.
Stripe (payment processor), Adyen (payment processor), Lightspeed (POS), Cybersource (payment processor), Netsuite (ERP).
Closing out our BNPL roundup is PayPal. Their pay later solution offers interest-free payments that customers can use whilst merchants get paid up-front. Oh, and it’s included with PayPal Checkout, at no additional cost.
Customers ‘Pay in 3’ to complete their purchase, making the first of 3 payments there-and-then, and then the following two on a monthly basis, and on the same date.
Free - Pay in 3 is included in the existing PayPal rate at no extra cost.
We hope you go away from this piece with options to progress with on your hunt for a BNPL solution. This space is hot right now, and Klarna, Affirm, and Afterpay are leading the way — with rich development documentation as well as clear roadmaps to support their growth.
But these are all great solutions, and, as we mentioned before, the key here is to consider your current tech-stack: which integrations are you going to need to play ball?
If you’re looking to launch on Shopify Plus and want help figuring which BNPL solution is the one for you, reach out to our team.
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