One of the best ways to increase conversion rate for high-priced items is to offer a variety of payment terms.
This is no secret within the industry, of course, and has been employed as a tactic by leading merchants online for well over a decade (at least) but new partnerships and technologies are continually emerging to improve the approach and to whom such an offering is made available.
Affirm Inc., for example, the company started by PayPal Co-Founder Max Levchin, has released an integration that has been tested and certified for Oracle Commerce and NetSuite Suitecommerce - two of the biggest names in digital retail.
Retailers using either the Oracle or NetSuite ecommerce platforms are now able to offer shoppers the ability to break up payments for their purchases over multiple months with Affirm. The Affirm solution lets shoppers pay for purchases over time with simple-interest, closed-ended loans, as opposed to traditional revolving credit products, which tend to charge compounding interest, hidden fees, and often come with misleading promotional offers that transition into higher rates.
"Consumers are increasingly shying away from traditional credit due to decades of compounding interest, hidden fees, and unclear terms," said Levchin. "By offering an easy way to pay over time, retailers can address the primary reservation holding customers back from buying big-ticket items, improve their overall customer experience, and set themselves apart from the competition. Transparent financing with Affirm tells customers you're on their side by showing them before they push the 'buy' button exactly what they'll owe, with no gimmicks."
On average, retailers are seeing order values increase by 75 percent with Affirm, and site-wide conversion rates are increasing by as much as 20 percent. Affirm has partnered with nearly 900 retailers to offer financing on their websites.