Florists, Are You Considering Afterpay For Your Floral Website?
For some florists you may have already heard of Afterpay, maybe one of your customers requested it! Afterpay first launched in Australia it is a customer payment method on eCommerce websites that allows the buyer to pay for their purchase in four installments.
The buyer will receive their purchase right away and pay over time, a “buy-now-pay-later” plan. The advantage of Afterpay is that the buyers may actually follow through with a purchase and opt to spend more.
How Afterpay works:
- Retailers can add Afterpay to their website checkout simular to other payment options.
- The buyer will select Afterpay at checkout and pay the first installment of 25%.
- Afterpay is not linked to a buyer’s credit score however it must be used responsibly. Afterpay does reserve the right to perform credit checks and report negative activity. There are also applied late fees for buyers if not paid within the allotted timely installments.
Florists, should you use Afterpay?
Afterpay does give its participating retailers immediate payment minus the fees. Customers pay the installments to Afterpay and once the customer has received their purchase Afterpay will pay you in full (minus the commission fees).
Retailer fees are 0.30 cents per transaction and commission fees are anywhere from 4 to 6% depending on your agreement with Afterpay.
If your floral business is considering using Afterpay take the fees into consideration. Afterpay works great if it generates reoccurring new sales for you, however, some buyers get hooked on Afterpay. Your floral business loyal customers may opt for Afterpay, therefore, cutting into the overall profit of the sale.
Besides the steep fees, Afterpay does offer benefits.
- Sales Conversions: Customers may be more likely to complete a purchase with the offer of Afterpay.
- Increased Spending Amount: With the option to pay in installments customers may opt to spend more.
- Afterpay Assumes Fraud Risk: Afterpay will assume all buyer non-payment end risk on every transaction.
In closing is Afterpay a good addition to your floral business, well possibly! With any new payment options offered you need to outweigh the sales versus the fees to make sure you are making a profit.
I do see the “buy-now-pay-later” option increasing in popularity in the future with buyers. Hopefully, by then the fees to retailers will lessen and be more comparable to credit card fees.
Mike says
I had heard of Afterpay, but I am concerned about how well it can operate overseas with different regulations on the retail industry. Your post has given me something to think about, if it’s that popular, we can include it in our next site upgrade.
Thanks