Out of all the things that came to the forefront during the worst of the pandemic, the entire BNPL – Buy Now/Pay Later – movement was one of the more intriguing. A combination of the old layaway model with a credit card, it allowed shoppers who might not have the most sterling credit records – or just ones who wanted a new way to pay for things instantly without clogging up their existing credit lines – to make purchases.
Many thought, again just like many pandemic things, it would slow down and perhaps even fade away as Covid did, but guess what: it hasn’t. New research from Afterpay, a company that may be a little biased – they are one of the larger BNPL services – says the buying method continues to grow, particularly among Gen Z and millennial shoppers.
In its spring/summer trend report, Afterpay says that among those two demographic groups, BNPL usage has grown 22 percent this year compared to last. “Younger generations of consumers are increasingly using the e-commerce platform for budgeting, as well as accruing rewards for on-time payments,” the company said.
It says shoppers like buying this way because they can avoid high financing rates and BNPL gives them flexible payment terms while also offering rewards.
As could be expected, more consumers are buying this way on their phones, with Afterpay’s mobile transactions up 6 percent versus a year ago.