After a successful trial run amongst large merchants last year, Clearpay has made its in-store payment functionality available to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across the UK’s high streets.
The buy now, pay later (BNPL) payments company, which is recognised as ‘Afterpay’ beyond the UK and Europe, has made its in-store payment functionality available to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the UK, allowing them to offer instalment payments in-store.
The company initially launched its in-store ‘pay in four’ offering to large merchants back in November 2021, something that generated very compelling results. In-store card payments represented more than 10 per cent of Clearpay omnichannel merchants’ total volume, with a higher in-store average order value when compared to online.
Being very similar to the service’s online functionality, the new offering enables customers to pay for their in-store purchases across four interest-free instalments; something that the company hopes will garner more support for small businesses on local high streets.
During the company’s recent three-day sale event ‘Clearpay Day‘, SMBs saw an uplift in sales of 32 per cent and a 33 per cent increase in new active customers, demonstrating the capabilities of the service in increasing shopper footfall.
“Clearpay has become an important sales channel for our UK merchant partners, the majority of which are SMBs,” says Rich Bayer, Clearpay’s UK country manager.
“Last year, we generated £69 million in net economic benefits for our SMB partners, who are the lifeblood of our community. With initiatives like our in store solution and Clearpay Day, we’re delighted to play our part in helping SMBs continue to grow and become even more profitable.”
Clearpay data shows that Gen Z and Millennials, in particular, are looking to shop small, with 70 per cent of all spending at small businesses originating from them. Their spending on SMBs has increased 1500 per cent since January 2020, and by offering Clearpay in store, SMBs will be able to meet this demographic where they want to shop.
Speaking on the business benefits of the service, Leanne Nightingale, director at The Pet Van Store in Hull, which has implemented Clearpay into its payment offering, said: “We’ve offered Clearpay on our website for two years and on average, 40 per cent of our sales go through Clearpay, so we know that it’s an important flexible payment option for our customers online.
“Those visiting our store have told us that they want to be able to pay for their in-store purchases in interest-free instalments, so we’re thrilled to make this possible for them and we’re confident that by introducing Clearpay at our physical checkout too, this will help us to drive more sales.”
