Afterpay, a buy now, pay later (BNPL) company, has driven $4.5 billion in net benefits to merchants in 2021, per research from Accenture, according to a Tuesday (Oct. 5) press release. That comes with $8.2 billion in incremental sales for retailers.
The study, titled “US Economic Impact of Buy Now, Pay Later,” shows that Afterpay has boosted business for retailers while also helping shoppers avoid credit card interest and fees, the release stated.
“After conducting this analysis of the economic benefits of Afterpay, it’s clear why the service has exploded in popularity around the world,” said Accenture Managing Director Andrew Charlton in the release. “The platform delivers a rare win-win, in which consumers are offered a better and more economical way to pay for things they want and need. This in turn drives incredible value to merchants who acquire young, engaged consumers who become repeat shoppers — ultimately making Afterpay an invaluable sales channel for these merchants.”
The $8.2 billion in new revenue this year comes from the larger amount of incremental sales through increased customer engagement, larger order sizes, more customers added, and more repeat purchases, according to the release.
In addition, the average merchant was able to add 13% more new customers, the release stated. Fashion spending with Afterpay was equal to 6.5% of overall U.S. fashion eCommerce.
Also, the spending on Afterpay was able to support 70,000 jobs in the American economy during the pandemic, the release stated.
In other Afterpay news, the company partnered last month with Fashion Nova, a fashion eCommerce platform, to allow Fashion Nova shoppers the ability to pay for items in four installments when they buy from the site.
Read more: Fashion Nova Partners With Afterpay on BNPL Initiative
The idea is to help fashion become more accessible to younger consumers.
“This partnership stems from our shared desires to cater to the very powerful Gen Z consumers, who prefer to spend their money responsibly and pay over time with Afterpay,” said Afterpay General Manager of North America Zahir Khoja at the time.