To better understand the “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) landscape, quantilope used a MaxDiff approach to prioritize the features and benefits of this service that are most important to consumers. We surveyed 400 respondents, 300 of whom specified they were open to using this payment option or already do so.
Before understanding their interactions with the service, we asked consumers to think back to how they found out about it, of which 41% report seeing the service as an option at online checkout (significantly higher than any other touchpoint, followed by online advertisements at just 24%).
Usage of BNPL is generally low with just shy of one-third of respondents reportedly using the payment service (29%). However, of those who do use it, the majority have done so within the past three months. Additionally, those who use the service are typically not just one-time transactors; 60% of users are utilizing the service for online transactions at least once a month.
Those who are using Buy Now, Pay Later services are doing so to help their financial well-being (i.e. helping to budget, reduce financial stress, and for unexpected emergencies). And our MaxDiff results indicate that when it comes to using this service, having interest free payments, and no hidden fees are significantly the most important.
However with a large majority of consumers indicating they have never used Buy Now, Pay Later, we looked into what some of the main obstacles are to adopting the service. Notably, many of the factors that Buy Now, Payer Later users indicated were most important to them, are also some of the reasons why respondents are hesitant to try (hidden fees, high interest, fear of overpaying, and misleading terms). Knowing that these characteristics are both a priority and an obstacle, providers should ensure these terms are clearly communicated in all brand messaging.
The full insights dashboard including what drives consumers to use Buy Now, Pay Later services, how satisfied they are with them, and how they influence purchase decisions, is available below.