Buy now pay later online sales this Black Friday and Cyber Monday were triple those recorded in 2021, driven overwhelmingly by South African women.
“By 10am on Black Friday, sales value had already surpassed Black Friday 2020. By the end of Cyber Monday, sales value was three-times higher than last year,” says Paul Behrmann, founder and CEO of fintech Payflex.
The top five categories of BNPL purchases over Black Friday and Cyber Monday were fashion, health, sports & outdoor, electronics & gadgets and general retail.
BNPL allows clients to spread their payments over the festive period and in this way, budget effectively for purchases.
Shopper volumes spiked this year at 10am and 12pm, with further spikes in the evening at 8pm, 9pm and 10pm, which indicates that people tend to think about what they’d like to purchase during the day and then make their purchases after work.
In November 2018, Payflex had just eight merchants offering BNPL. This has swelled to over 1 200 merchants in 2021. Interestingly, online merchants indicate that BNPL is attracting almost eight times more customers than traditional credit payment options.
Says Behrmann, “There is greater awareness of BNPL as an interest free payment option with consumers adopting BNPL as an alternative to expensive credit. BNPL allows customers to shop today and only pay a quarter of the cost upfront. It’s good for business, too – online merchants see increased sales and larger basket sizes when customers pay with BNPL.”