As an e-Commerce fashion retailer that crowdfunds and crowdsources ideas for its apparel designs, Betabrand is used to operating with a business model that’s a bit different from a traditional seller’s. So it shouldn’t be a shock that the brand also presents consumers with unorthodox payment options.
Betabrand partnered with payment solutions provider Affirm to offer consumers monthly installment payments over a stretch of three, six or 12 months. Within just two weeks of offering Affirm’s financing, Betabrand’s average order value was 35% higher among consumers who checked out with Affirm versus those who didn’t.
“It appears that this customer base is buying not only more expensive products, but more products per transaction,” said Aaron Magness, CMO at Betabrand. “Looking into their orders, they’re buying full outfits. That’s exciting for any retailer, to provide a payment option that actually allows someone to purchase a full outfit versus a one-off piece.”
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Affirm enables shoppers to pay for a purchase via a debit card, bank transfer or check without requiring a traditional credit score. BetaBrand integrates Affirm in both its product pages and the shopping cart, empowering the customer to make informed purchasing decisions at multiple steps of the customer journey.
To use the Affirm platform, Betabrand customers:
1. Fill their cart and select the Affirm payment option on the checkout page;
2. Enter basic personal information to identify themselves and request approval for a loan; and
3. Review payment plan details and click confirm to finalize the loan and purchase the product.
Upon accepting the loan, the consumer will pay an interest rate ranging anywhere from 10% to 30%.
Simplifying Payments For Millennial Shoppers
Having multiple payment options improves Betabrand’s ability to foster customer loyalty, build a simple shopping experience and cater to Millennial shopping preferences. For example, the retailer has adopted Bitcoin as an alternative payment option for younger, tech-savvy shoppers.
“We’re realizing that the younger customer base either doesn’t have a credit card at all or has low credit card limits because that’s how they behave,” Magness said in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “They do still spend a good portion of their disposable income on apparel, so we wanted to provide an experience that was easier for them to make a purchase and plan on the payments around that.”
Building that ease of use into the Betabrand e-Commerce site is vital, especially for a brand that relies on consumer feedback and funding as part of its DNA. These consumers, which the retailer refers to as collaborators, serve as a community that proposes products, votes on them, funds their favorites and submits photos for the platform.
“This audience really loves to be a participant in the brands that they support,” Magness said. “Millennials don’t want to buy from a nameless, faceless corporation. They want to feel like they had an experience and they did something with it. We feel we’re providing that by letting any person be a fashion designer, and also letting any other person support that fashion designer. There is that feeling that there’s a participation with the brand that is super-engaging. If providing a payment service is one step we can take to help that process, then we owe it to ourselves and to them to do that.”
