Originally anchored in American retail, Black Friday has also caught on in Europe and has become one of the most important shopping times of the year thanks to the numerous offers for consumers. This presents a context of opportunities and challenges for retailers where it is important to adopt innovative strategies to maximize sales. Among the most promising solutions is Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), an ever-growing payment method that is proving to be a powerful ally in generating conversions and building customer loyalty. The market leader in this segment in Southern Europe is Scalapay with its innovative formula that helps consumers manage their spending and spread their purchases in 3 or 4 interest-free installments.
Shortly before Black Friday, the fintech released a white paper titled “Black Friday Madness: Exploring the Economics and Impact of the Shopping Extravaganza», which analyzes the potential of BNPL with a focus on the fashion, beauty and home sectors.
The results of the investigation highlight that Black Friday took place firmly rooted in European shopping habitsThis is a significant boost to consumer growth and a remarkable opportunity to reach an audience that is fundamentally already active online. Users and sellers are once again faced with different dynamics that impact the quality of the user experience, particularly focused on the payment process, which has a significant impact on conversion rates. An interesting fact is that the 21% of European consumers abandon a purchase if the checkout process takes longer than a minute. Removing barriers during the checkout process is therefore of particular importance and can be achieved by implementing innovative services such as BNPL, which offer consumers greater flexibility in their decisions and a one-touch approach.
The implementation of BNPL had a significant impact and was particularly evident in the fashion, beauty and home sectors, where it actively changed the shopping landscape. This innovative approach allows companies to not only reach new consumers, but also build longer-term relationships with a significant increase in customer retention 39% on the average order value in the fashion sector. In the beauty sector, BNPL is proving to be a strategic option, giving customers access to high-quality and sustainable products, which are usually characterized by higher prices. This choice leads to a remarkable result 29% increase in average order valueto make high-quality beauty products more accessible to a wider audience. BNPL is proving to be an effective stimulus
There is also the possibility of growth in the home products sector Increase average order value by up to 40%.
Another investigation conducted by INCREDIBLE and in collaboration with Scalapayalso examined some parameters to delve deeper into the mood of the Spanish, Italians and French towards this long-awaited shopping day. Particular attention was paid to BNPL with a specific approach analyzing habits and preferences related to its implementation. Interest in using BNPL solutions on the upcoming Black Friday is around half of Italian respondents (52%), exceeding the figures in France (42%) and Spain (36%). On the other hand, this data reflects that 40% of Italians have already adopted BNPL in the past, a significantly higher proportion compared to the prevalence among the French (28%) and the Spanish (27%). The research also highlighted the convergence of opinions between the different countries involved, particularly with regard to the perception of BNPL, which two thirds of respondents said was a problem effective help for better personal budget management. In addition, the majority of consumers expressed a Preference for using BNPL over the option of billing purchases via credit card or resorting to forms of financing.
«Despite rapid growth in many markets and a global market value of $120 billion in 2021, BNPL still has significant room for improvement compared to other payment services. By 2024, the share of total e-commerce spending is forecast to potentially nearly double to around 14%. Scalapay plays a crucial role as an industry leader, both as a facilitator of more affordable purchases in response to high prices and as an ever-changing platform that becomes a reference point for consumers. At the same time, Scalapay is configured as a valuable resource for merchants who see its integration not only as a payment method that promotes sales, but also increasingly see this choice as a strategic lever and effective channel to improve marketing, increase the visibility of offers and reach a wide base of more than 5 million users“, Explain Simone Mancini, CEO of Scalapay.