Tag: Waterfall Finance

Get Ready for Black Friday with POS financing

Posted on by ChargeAfter

Black Friday is characterized by deeply discounted deals, early store openings, and unparalleled consumer enthusiasm, it’s been consistently marked as the busiest shopping day in America with merchants preparing for months in advance.

What is Black Friday?

Black Friday, the day following the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday heralds the onset of the Christmas shopping season. This year it falls on Friday 24 November. In 2022 more money was spent than in the previous year with a rise in both instore and online sales.

In 2022:

  • In-store sales in the US increased 12% YoY (Mastercard)
  • Ecommerce sales in the US grew 14% YoY (Mastercard)
  • Global online sales on Black Friday grew by 3.5 in 2022 to reach $65.3 billion (Salesforce)
  • Payments made using BNPL increased by 78% (Amazon)

Black Friday Online Spending (2017-2022) - Consumer Finance stats

Why is Black Friday Important?

While the shopping spree typically extends to the subsequent “Cyber Monday” and spans an entire “Cyber Week” for many retailers, Black Friday remains emblematic. Beyond retail, this day offers an economic snapshot, a barometer for the nation’s financial health. Through the lens of Keynesian economics, which posits that consumer spending fuels economic activity, Black Friday’s sales figures can provide insights into the nation’s economic trajectory and consumer confidence.

Challenges Shoppers Face on Black Friday

Merchants meticulously prepare to cater to an influx of shoppers. This involves bolstering their eCommerce platform’s performance to prevent site slowdowns or crashes, diversifying payment options, especially with POS financing to enhance transaction success, and leveraging the efficacy of email marketing, which boasts a 4.1% conversion rate. Moreover, they strategize their discounts well in advance and prioritize a seamless online shopping and checkout experience to ensure customers enjoy an uninterrupted journey, optimizing both satisfaction and sales.

Synonymous with mega deals, Black Friday also comes with its own set of challenges for eager shoppers. One of the primary concerns is the potential for overspending. The alluring discounts and limited-time offers make deviating from a pre-decided budget easy. Shoppers might spend more than intended, especially if shopping with a credit card.

A Review of Point-of-Sale POS Financing Products for Retailers

Another significant challenge is the chaotic in-store experience. Packed aisles, long queues, and overwhelming crowds can be a deterrent for many. In some cases, enthusiastic shoppers brave the cold and stand in queues for hours, only to discover that their desired product is out of stock or they get to the till only to be declined for financing.

black friday shopping crowds - embedded finance platform

Demand for consumer financing at the point of sale continues to rise, yet many retailers still struggle to seamlessly provide adequate financing options. Low approval rates and a subpar customer experience can result in cart abandonments, causing both frustration for the shopper and lost sales for the store.

Overcome POS Financing Challenges in Time for Black Friday

Point-of-sale financing has rapidly evolved, with consumer demands shifting and the economy showing stress. Black Friday, the shopping bonanza, is just around the corner, and merchants must be prepared to face the challenges this presents, especially with their point-of-sale financing offers. A recent survey from ChargeAfter, the embedded lending platform for point-of-sale financing, highlights the challenges that merchants face with their POS financing, including low approval rates, difficulties integrating multiple lenders, challenges with post-sale management and more.

Consumer financing is increasingly playing a strategic role for merchants as consumer demand grows. This makes perfect sense in a tumultuous economy with high inflation and soaring interest rates. For consumers, the assurance of personalized financing choices that can include spread-out payments with little to no interest, or access to other lending options such as lease-to-own, revolving credit and so on can be a beacon of hope, enabling them to commit to bigger purchases they otherwise might have foregone.

It is no longer possible for merchants to manage a robust financing offer. To provide customers with an omnichannel waterfall financing experience, they need a technology provider.

How Jerome’s Furniture Tamed Their POS Financing Challenges

Merchants who’ve recognized and adapted a platform-first approach to this trend are reaping considerable benefits. According to a case study of Jerome’s Furniture experienced a substantial uptick in sales – up a staggering 67%. These figures become even more compelling when you factor in the economic decline.

By weaving consumer financing seamlessly into their business model, Jerome’s Furniture underscored their commitment to customer empowerment and saw a surge in customer financing adoption. This indicates a vast segment of their clientele is now leveraging the store’s flexible payment options. The most commendable aspect? Despite the market turbulence in 2022 and 2023, Jerome’s Furniture maintained high approval rates, thus ensuring that customers had undeterred access to a more manageable and less burdensome financial framework.

Jeromes Furniture - Black Friday deals with Consumer Finance deals

So, as Black Friday looms, merchants have a clear strategy laid out for them: embed multiple lenders into the point of sale through an embedded lending platform. Not only does it promise to increase sales, but it also fosters brand loyalty and trust. In these unpredictable times, providing customers with financial ease can set a brand apart, making it a beacon for those looking to make the most of their Black Friday shopping.

Ready to upgrade your financing for Black Friday? Request a demo.

Empowering Consumers: A Review of Point-of-Sale POS Financing Products for Retailers

Posted on by chargeafterdev

In the dynamic world of retail, Point-of-Sale (POS) financing, a type of embedded lending, is proving to be a game-changer. Its rapid growth mirrors shifting consumer needs and reflects the changing landscape of the retail industry. According to Future Market Insights (FMI), the embedded lending market, including POS financing, will exceed $32.5 billion by 2023 due to the rapid adoption rate of fintech solutions.

Traditional credit card usage is significantly slowing as younger consumers seek more flexible and accessible alternatives. Unlike the conventional one-size-fits-all approach of credit cards, POS financing platforms offer tailored solutions that cater to the unique needs of different customer segments. The result? A shift towards more versatile financing methods, particularly among younger and underserved shoppers.

Embedded finance solutions come in various forms, each with its unique benefits. From revolving lines of credit that offer a set borrowing limit that businesses can repeatedly tap into to the allure of 0% APR programs that promise zero interest for an introductory period, these POS financing options are as diverse as they are flexible.

Furthermore, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) programs have emerged as a popular short-term installment solution. Offering an easy-to-understand structure, BNPL allows consumers to purchase goods immediately and pay for them over time, making the entire process hassle-free. Similarly, the lease-to-own concept has found favor, particularly for subprime borrowers seeking to purchase high-priced items such as appliances, furniture, and electronics.

Types of Retailers Using POS Financing

Retailers in many verticals are adopting POS financing and making it a strategic priority given its flexibility and conveniences. As inflation continues to impact customers, demand for POS financing is rising. According to ChargeAfter data, demand for point-of-sale financing increased by 55% in the first quarter of 2023, compared to the same period in 2022. Retailers benefit from offering a robust POS financing experience that meets the needs of all of their customers, especially those selling big-ticket goods or services that are purchased infrequently. In 2023 retailers that are prioritizing upgrading their POS financing offers include:

E-commerce Stores

Online retailers often use POS financing as it can easily be integrated into their checkout process. This allows consumers to choose a financing option at the point of purchase. However, it’s important for many retailers to offer an omnichannel financing experience. 

Electronics Stores

Given the high price of many electronic items such as televisions, laptops, and smartphones, electronics retailers often offer POS financing to make these purchases more affordable for consumers. Customers need to be able to access financing both in-store and online, depending on how they prefer to shop. Additionally, as many electronic retailers serve businesses, they also need to consider B2B financing in their POS offer.

Furniture Stores

Similar to electronics retailers, furniture stores often sell high-ticket items that can be out of reach to many. POS financing can help increase sales and average order value by making these items more accessible to consumers. Retailers need to consider offering an omnichannel financing experience including pre-approval online before visiting a store. They also benefit from offering financing options that cover a range of customers according to different credit scores. 

Home Improvement Stores

Stores that sell appliances or home improvement goods like hardware and construction materials often use POS financing. These items can range in price and financing allows consumers to make these necessary purchases more manageable.

Healthcare Providers

Healthcare and beauty business provide elective surgeries and other costly procedures. They make their treatments accessible to more people when they offer POS financing. By offering POS financing, healthcare providers democratize services that were previously out of reach to many. 

Automotive Dealerships

Dealerships often use POS financing when selling and repairing cars. They may offer financing options, from traditional auto loans to lease-to-own options.

Jewelry Stores

Given the high price of jewelry, these retailers often offer POS financing to make purchases more feasible for consumers.

Types of POS Financing Products

By offering different types of financing products at the point of sale, retailers  meet the needs of more customers.

Revolving Credit Line

A revolving line of credit is a flexible loan arrangement between a financial institution and a customer that establishes a maximum loan balance that the lender permits the borrower. It allows the borrower to use funds up to a set limit and repay them, potentially over and over again. Unlike a traditional loan, where the borrower receives a lump sum upfront and starts paying it back in installments, a revolving line of credit lets the borrower withdraw funds up to the set limit as needed. Interest is charged only on the borrowed amount, not the entire credit limit. Once the borrower repays any portion of the borrowed amount, that portion becomes available again for future use. This “revolving” structure gives the borrower the flexibility to manage their borrowing and repayment schedules within the agreed terms. A typical example of a revolving line of credit is a credit card, where the cardholder can spend up to a specific limit, repay the balance, and then spend again.

Long-Term Installment Loans

Long-term installment loans are loans that borrowers repay over a set number of scheduled payments or installments over an extended period. Depending on the loan agreement, this period can range from several months to several years. Long-term installment loans can be secured or unsecured. Secured loans require collateral, such as a house or a car, and typically have lower interest rates because the lender can seize the collateral if the borrower defaults. Unsecured loans, which are provided at the point of sale, do not require collateral but usually have higher interest rates to compensate for the increased risk to the lender.

The terms of long-term installment loans, including the loan amount, interest rate, and repayment schedule, are typically determined at the outset and spelled out in the loan agreement. Each installment payment reduces the principal amount owed and covers the interest on the debt, making these loans easier to budget for than revolving credit lines, where the minimum payment can vary. Long-term installment loans are often used for major purchases or investments, such as buying a house (mortgage), buying a car (auto loan), or funding higher education (student loan). They provide borrowers with the means to afford big-ticket items and significant expenses they couldn’t cover upfront, spreading the cost over an extended period.

0% APR

0% Annual Percentage Rate (APR) refers to a promotional interest rate offered by lenders where no interest is charged on the principal amount for a specified period. This period can range from a few months to a few years, depending on the terms set by the lender. Often seen in credit cards or auto financing, this offer allows borrowers to finance purchases or transfer balances from high-interest accounts without accruing additional interest during the promotional period.

It’s important to note, however, that once the promotional period ends, any remaining balance starts to accrue interest at the regular rate as defined in the terms of the agreement. Moreover, 0% APR offers usually require the borrower to have good to excellent credit, and the terms may stipulate that if a payment is missed or late, the promotional rate ends prematurely, and a higher interest rate applies. It’s, therefore, crucial to understand the terms and conditions attached to a 0% APR offer before proceeding.

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL)

BNPL, or Buy Now, Pay Later, is a type of short-term installment financing that allows consumers to purchase goods or services immediately and pay for them over time. Typically, payments are made in fixed installments over a set period, such as weeks or months. One of the main attractions of BNPL for consumers is that, in many cases, these payment plans do not incur high interest or fees, provided payments are made on time. Some BNPL services offer 0% interest financing if the balance is paid within a specified promotional period. This can make BNPL more affordable than traditional credit cards for some consumers, particularly for more expensive purchases.

Consumers need to understand the terms of their BNPL agreement. Late fees may apply if payments are not made on time, and interest may be charged on the remaining balance. In some cases, if the balance is not paid off by the end of the promotional period, interest may be charged retroactively from the purchase date.

BNPL has seen a surge in popularity in recent years, particularly among younger consumers, and is now offered by a wide range of online and physical retailers. Typically BNPL is used for small-ticket items with a value of between $50 and $1000 (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau). Based on five surveyed lenders from 2019 to 2021, BNPL loans grew by 970%, from 16.8 to 180 million. The dollar volume grew by 109%, from $2 billion to $24.2 billion.(Consumer Financial Protection Bureau). 

Lease To Own

“Lease to own”, also known as “rent to own”, is a type of agreement that allows a customer to lease a product with the option to purchase it at the end of the lease term. This financing option is typically used for expensive furniture, appliances, vehicles, and electronics for subprime customers. The customer makes regular payments over a specified period in a lease-to-own agreement. These payments contribute toward the total purchase price of the product. At the end of the lease term, the customer can buy the item for either a small residual amount or the sum of the remaining unpaid purchase price.

The advantage of a lease-to-own agreement for customers is that it allows them to use and enjoy an item immediately without paying the total purchase price upfront. It can benefit those who cannot afford high-cost items or do not qualify for traditional financing. However, it’s worth noting that the total cost paid over the lease term can be higher than the item’s original price due to the inclusion of interest and fees. Therefore, customers should carefully review the terms of a lease-to-own agreement before proceeding.

B2B Financing

B2B POS Financing (point-of-sale financing), is allows businesses to finance purchases at the point of sale, the same way consumers do. This type of financing is often used for purchases of larger quantities of goods or services since businesses typically purchase in bulk to meet operational needs, inventory requirements, or to fulfill contracts with their own customers.  Most merchants provide their own b2b financing, usually with offers with 30, 60, or 90-day payback.  These terms are not favorable for many businesses, especially SMBs, and new providers are coming into the market offering business loans with expanded terms. These new POS financing options offer immediate approval (or denial) of credit at the point of sale, making the purchasing process quicker and smoother and resulting in higher approval rates. The buyer can repay the amount over time per the terms of the financing agreement, which can be up to 12 months, giving businesses greater flexibility. B2B POS financing can benefit both the buyer and the seller. For the buyer, it provides immediate access to needed goods or services without a significant upfront investment. For the seller, it can facilitate significant sales, increase cash flow, and foster stronger customer relationships.

 

Challenges of Single-Lender POS Financing

While the benefits of POS financing are manifold, relying on a single lender can be limiting. Single-lender solutions can lead to lower approval rates and a poor customer journey. Declined shoppers start the POS financing process again, resulting in cart abandonment, and affecting sales and customer loyalty. There is also the risk of being subject to the changing lending conditions of a single financial institution.

Why Retailers Must Start With Embedded POS Financing Platforms First

Many retailers are turning towards embedded finance platforms that offer many lending options through a single gateway to counter these challenges. With an embedded lending network, retailers can manage multiple financing options like BNPL, installment loans, and lease-to-own, providing an omnichannel financing experience.

Indeed, research by ChargeAfter suggests that 66% of retailers prioritize implementing a consumer financing platform that manages the entire financing cycle, including reconciliations, chargebacks, and dispute resolution.

An embedded finance platform also removes the burden of managing complex requirements from the retailers, facilitating seamless management of waterfall financing, in which applications are automatically sent to lenders in a sequence until approval is obtained.

Merchants are thus looking for point-of-sale financing platforms that offer white-label consumer financing solutions and BNPL white-label options, giving them control over the customer experience while handling the complexity of lending and compliance in the background.

 

Conclusion

As retailers adapt to the evolving needs of their customers, it’s clear that the future lies in leveraging robust POS financing platforms. Offering an omnichannel lending experience through an embedded lending platform can significantly enhance the shopping experience, increase approval rates, and boost sales, making it a win-win for consumers and retailers.

Through white-label POS systems and a waterfall finance approach, retailers offer consumers the flexibility they desire and a better experience.

Retailers that adapt to these changes and invest in POS financing solutions today will undoubtedly be better positioned to cater

To the needs of the next-generation consumer, we are leading the way in the ever-evolving world of retail.

With embedded financing becoming increasingly popular, it’s time to embrace this trend and reap the benefits of enhanced customer satisfaction and increased sales. After all, in retail, customer experience is king – and an omnichannel financing experience through a robust POS financing platform is a significant step in that direction.

What is Upselling and How Waterfall Consumer Financing Can Help

Posted on by chargeafterdev

Running a successful online store requires business owners to adopt several strategies and integrate them into their eCommerce operations. There are an array of interesting tools to use to increase sales and one of the most influential modern tactics is upselling. Upselling is a marketing strategy that we will share more detail about in this guide, and we will also discuss how waterfall consumer financing can help support your upselling tactics. 

What is Upselling?

Upselling is a sales strategy that eCommerce stores implement to encourage consumers to purchase more expensive items when browsing online stores. Upselling is a technique that businesses use to increase the average sales values of their consumers. Upselling is also incredibly beneficial when it comes to selling to existing customers, who are far more likely to invest in expensive items than new customers. By promoting more frequent sales of costly products, upselling also has the potential to raise customer lifetime values. Customer lifetime values refer to the total spend of a customer on an online store for the duration of their buying cycle with that store. Increasing this value can have significant benefits for your profit margins.

Difference Between Upselling and Cross-selling

Upselling differs from cross-selling in the way that it encourages the purchase of more expensive or premium items. Take, for example, a paid subscription plan. Most sellers will encourage customers to purchase their more exclusive plans by promoting several benefits of these premium packages that the more basic options do not deliver. Cross-selling differs in the way that it does not promote more expensive items but items that pair well with a customer’s chosen product. For example, a customer buying shoes may be interested in purchasing a new set of laces or socks with those shoes. Cross-selling helps customers find those related products quickly.

Best Upselling Strategies

Upselling is an effective sales strategy that can generate greater revenue than other tactics, such as cross-selling. Below, we share some of the best upselling strategies to consider for your online store:

  • Display recommendations at the bottom of a product page pointing towards more expensive items or premium products to encourage consumers to purchase these products.
  • Utilize pop-ups as recommendations that appear during the checkout process of the consumer journey. These can be a great way to encourage consumers to change their minds after they have landed on a specific product.
  • Follow-up emails can be sent to customers after a purchase to encourage them to shop again. You can personalize this form of marketing, offering products that may provide additional value to their lives based on their order history.
  • You can incentivize customers to take advantage of your upselling offers by sharing discounts or rewards with them for doing so.
  • You can allude to the potential downsides of not taking advantage of the upsell offers.

How Waterfall Consumer Financing Supports Upselling

Waterfall consumer financing can support your upselling strategies. Waterfall consumer financings as a service is an integration that enables customers to access financial support at checkout. They can apply for loans without having to undergo credit checks or leave your online store. One of the main benefits of waterfall consumer financing is that it encourages customers to purchase more expensive items. It enables them to easily access the financing necessary to order premium products. 

Upselling is a strategy to implement in your online store. It is a great way to increase customer lifetime values and generate more profit. With the addition of waterfall consumer financing, you can see improvements to your average order values and enjoy a greater return on marketing investment.

Want to learn more? Reach out to us here.

How Waterfall Consumer Financing Can Support Your Multichannel Selling

Posted on by chargeafterdev

Long gone are the days of brands using one sales channel to drive conversions. In the modern world of eCommerce, having multiple sales channels is critical as brands hope to attract customers from all over the world. From websites to social media platforms and so much more, driving traffic and conversions through multiple sales funnels is imperative to business success. In this article, we discuss multichannel selling in more detail and share how you can leverage waterfall consumer financing to guarantee success.

What is Multichannel Selling?

Multichannel selling refers to the process of using multiple sales channels to drive online traffic and makes sales. It may not be necessary to have a brick-and-mortar store but it is absolutely essential to have an online space for shopping. Then, it would be ideal to serve consumers through various sales channels to broaden your reach and targettable audience. Doing so can help your business attract more consumer interest as you tailor it to specific consumer segments across the diverse digital playground.

Multichannel selling can involve selling products on an online store, marketing those products through platforms like Facebook, optimizing your digital storefronts for mobile, taking advantage of third-party sales platforms like Amazon, and utilizing Google Shopping functionality. A combination of these activities will ensure that you are approaching customers that use a range of methods to shop. 

The Benefits of Multichannel Selling

Multichannel selling is incredibly powerful, and we discuss the key benefits of incorporating a multichannel selling strategy into your online business.

Multichannel selling enables businesses to reach customers where they shop most. Some shoppers prefer to click through Facebook Ads to view websites, others make sales when arriving at online stores from Google Search. Some consumers prefer to order through Amazon and others browse purely on their mobile devices. Multichannel selling ensures that you cater to all types of shoppers.

Multichannel selling facilitates a seamless shopping journey. No matter where your customers arrive from, they are directed to landing pages and along a customer journey that is curated to their consumer profile. You can strategize the best sales funnel possible for each consumer, developing a stronger chance to land a sale.

Multichannel selling is used by the biggest and best brands around the world. Adopting multichannel selling strategies from these companies lets you compete for their consumers and in their digital spaces. Healthy competition makes for better business, and you can see success by leveraging the success of other businesses. 

How Waterfall Consumer Financing Supports Multichannel Selling

Part of making a multichannel selling strategy work is to provide consumers with the best online functionalities possible. The most powerful integration to do this, especially during the checkout stage of the consumer journey is waterfall consumer financing. ChargeAfter’s powerful consumer financing platform gives consumers access to on-demand financing to complete their orders. The benefits of waterfall consumer financing lie in its ability to approve consumers that may have otherwise not qualified for traditional financing via traditional lenders. As a result, you can approve more customers than you had previously been able to with a single lender. This will lead to greater sales and larger orders, resulting in a more profitable business.

Waterfall consumer financing can support your multichannel selling strategy, ensuring you remain competitive in the digital shopping environment. So, what are you waiting for? Why not integrate a multichannel selling strategy with waterfall consumer financing today!

 

Want to learn more? Reach out to us here.

5 Ways to Reach More Consumers: Online Financing, Localized SEO, and More

Posted on by chargeafterdev

Struggling to drive as much traffic to your online store as you would like to? Are your conversions taking a dive? In the world of online retail, brands must continue to strive to deliver the best eCommerce experiences as possible. This involves developing marketing strategies and incorporating powerful integrations that make a shopper’s journey simple and effective. From online financing to localized SEO, we discuss the five ways that you can reach more consumers and drive greater traffic to your online store. 

1. Online Financing

One of the best ways to drive sales as you discover strategies to reach more consumers is to integrate online financing. Online financing from ChargeAfter is an affordable and seamless integration that enables shoppers to buy more easily. They can use the plugin during checkout to receive financing for their carts without having to approach their financial service providers or go through extensive credit checks. The entire process happens on-site and delivers a faster time to sell, increasing the frequency of your online store’s conversions. Online financing benefits both the consumer and business, improving customer relationships for sustainable eCommerce success. With online financing, you can reach more avid shoppers as they choose your store over others that do not offer the powerful integration. 

2. Localized SEO

SEO is a powerful tool in an online store’s arsenal to reach consumers. A massive number of shoppers use Google Search to find their favorite products, and optimizing for the platform ensures that you will be visible to these shoppers. You can do broad SEO to drive traffic, however, you will play in a competitive space where your reach is limited by the competition. Instead, you should localize your SEO to your specific area of operation. By narrowing down your efforts through localized SEO, you can compete with smaller businesses operating in your area and win over their customers. This can significantly improve your consumer reach and result in greater sales. 

3. Creative Advertising

If you are not advertising on digital platforms then you will not be visible to a massive portion of online shoppers. For this reason, you need to develop creative ads to punt on social media platforms and Google. These adverts can be designed to drive traffic to your website with the intention of making sales. Creative digital advertising can set your brand apart, especially considering the wealth of poor ads currently running across the platforms. 

4. Reviews and Referrals

To win over new customers and boost your consumer reach, you need to consider the effectiveness of your review and referral campaigns. When consumers shop, they often make judgments based on reviews and recommendations from others in their networks. You can maximize your reach by developing a review strategy to encourage positive reviews and people to share their experiences with your online store. These positive testimonials will reach more consumers and invite them to experience the benefits of shopping with you. 

5. Partners in Business

From influencers to affiliate marketing, partnering with public figures and other brands is a great way to leverage their audiences. If you sell products that align with specific Instagram personalities or brands in other industries, you can approach them with opportunities to collaborate on marketing campaigns. This is a quick way to drive consumer reach and encourage sales by utilizing their reputations. 

To drive more consumers to your online store and increase sales, you should integrate online financing, localize your SEO, develop creative ads, implement a review strategy, and partner with reliable influencers or businesses.

 

Want to learn more? Reach out to us here.

4 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website and Land More Sales With Online Financing

Posted on by chargeafterdev

In this article, we discuss four simple strategies that you can use to drive traffic to your website and increase the opportunity for conversions. In the competitive eCommerce landscape, taking advantage of these tips is the first step to increasing your online store’s profit potential.

After increasing traffic to your website, you should consider strategies to increase your conversion rates. In the modern online shopping market, one of the most efficient ways to do so is to introduce online financing. Online financing is a checkout integration that enables affordable, personalized, and efficient buying. It benefits the consumers by giving them zero-interest repayment solutions at the push of a button, helping you land more sales and drive profit margins upwards.

1. Take Advantage of Social Media Advertising

Social media advertising is less expensive than you may have originally been led to believe. Sure, what you put in is what you get out. However, you do not need a massive marketing budget to begin social media advertising testing. You can use the Meta suite of advertising tools to craft attractive sponsored ads that can drive traffic to your website. You can hyper-target specific buyers and set a campaign objective of landing page views to deliver your content to your audience’s social media feeds. To get started with social media advertising today, check out this resource.

2. Increase Your Discoverability With SEO

If you do not have an SEO strategy in place, then odds are that consumers will be unable to find your content when browsing Google. Operating as an index of all online content and serving specific content to consumers based on their search queries, Google is capable of delivering your website to a massive potential audience. By implementing proper SEO tactics and optimizing every aspect of your website, you can win Google’s favor and drive more organic traffic to your store more easily. You can use this resource to get started with your SEO efforts. 

3. Reward Your Existing Customers

Not all website traffic is new traffic. Oftentimes customers return to websites to shop again if there is a strong enough customer retention strategy in place. Customer retention is also far more cost-effective than customer acquisition as return customers are more likely to place more frequent and larger orders. To drive customer retention and increase your website traffic as a result, you can start rewarding your loyal customers. You can offer discounts, promotions, and introduce competitions and giveaways to kickstart your customer retention strategy. 

4. Leverage Influencer Marketing

Influencers are still powerful brand allies that you can utilize to spread your website’s name and drive more traffic to your website. Influencers are able to persuade their followers to check out your products, using clever marketing and sales strategies that provide consumers with discounts via referral. Both the influencers and brand benefit from this strategy, and consumers benefit from being exposed to new and exciting online stores that they may not be aware of. You can use this resource to jumpstart your influencer marketing strategy and start implementing your first influencer campaign. 

From crafting powerful social media ads to improving your website’s SEO, you can drive more traffic to your website and create more buzz around your online store. When these consumers are browsing, the introduction of online financing at checkout can generate greater sales interest and lead to higher conversion rates. Online financing from ChargeAfter is your ticket to landing more sales!

 

Want to learn more? Reach out to us here.

How Consumer Financing Can Help You Improve Relationships With Your Customers

Posted on by chargeafterdev

If your brand is the soul of your eCommerce business then your customers are the heart. Their shopping gives your online business life as profit drives successful growth. Improving your customer relationships is of paramount importance to sustaining the life and longevity of your business. Having loyal customers will raise your average order volumes, making customer retention a cornerstone of an effective marketing strategy. In this article, we share how you can improve relationships with your customers by introducing innovations, namely consumer financing from ChargeAfter.

Consumer Financing in a Nutshell

Consumer financing is a modern marketing buzzword that typically refers to buy now pay later services. Designed by fintech companies, consumer financing solutions enable shoppers to receive on-demand financial aid during the shopping process. Consumer financing is an integration at the checkout page of a website that encourages customers to apply for loans. ChargeAfter’s market-leading consumer financing platform connects these consumers with lenders capable of fulfilling their orders.

Each order is tailored to the consumer. Personalization plays a critical role in the lending process, creating a beneficial personalized marketing process. Customers can receive comprehensive repayment plans with no additional interest, all without having to worry about credit checks. Consumer financing makes the shopping experience quicker and easier than ever, attracting customers and retaining customers as a result. 

Why Customers Value Consumer Financing

Customers value consumer financing as it supplies them with efficient access to personalized loans. Shoppers appreciate the easy shopping experience that websites with consumer financing functionalities provide them. They are also enticed by the attractive zero-interest policies that save them money in the long run. Consumer financing supports the customers in a variety of beneficial ways, appealing to their ever-evolving shopping behaviors. Customers value brands that introduce consumer financing as it showcases how they put their consumer’s needs at the center of their marketing models. For these reasons, shoppers are more likely to shop with online stores that provide consumer financing, increasing customer lifetime values in the process.

It Appeals to Younger Shoppers

Consumer financing improves customer relationships by appealing to younger shoppers. Consumer financing no credit check policies allow Millenial and Generation Z shoppers without credit cards or suffering from low credit scores to shop with their favorite brands. After their first purchase, they will likely return to shop with these online stores as they are simply unable to do so on other platforms. The ability to provide all types of shoppers with access to financing encourages these shoppers to become loyal customers until they can find something better elsewhere. From there, you can make strategic marketing decisions to keep these audience members engaged beyond offering consumer financing.

Additional Strategies to Improve Retention

Providing reliable and effective consumer financing is only the first step to driving return customers. There are an array of additional strategies to improve retention and leverage greater profit margins from higher customer lifetime values. Below, we discuss some of the most effective ways to improve customer retention.

  • Introduce email marketing that continues to reward loyal customers through the distribution of discounts and other valuable marketing materials
  • Improve your customer service workflow by installing chatbots on your social media pages and website that can answer customer queries at all times of the day
  • Develop a deeper understanding of your customers and what drives them to make a purchase by revamping your customer segmentation portfolio

Consumer financing and additional marketing strategies are available to help businesses generate greater profits. Primarily, these strategies can support your customer retention strategy and drive repeat business. This is one of the most efficient ways to improve relationships with your customers and create long-term business growth.

 

Want to learn more? Reach out to us here.

Increase Customer Lifetime Value by Automating Consumer Financing, Email, and More

Posted on by chargeafterdev

Customer lifetime value refers to the total amount of money spent by a consumer with your eCommerce store across the entire collection of their orders. It boils down to the potential value of revenue to be made from a specific customer. Several things affect customer lifetime value, namely one’s ability to retain customers, so it is vital that you consider strategies to increase customer lifetime value and prolong your revenue generation with each customer. In this article, we discuss the most powerful ways to increase customer lifetime value specifically in reference to automating key areas of your marketing operations. We discuss automating consumer financing, email marketing, and more.

Automating Consumer Financing

Automating consumer financing is one of the most powerful ways to improve customer lifetime value in the modern world of eCommerce. Consumer financing services, like BNPL, are seeing an increase in interest among the modern shopper, and adopting these can help businesses leverage the potential revenue generation amongst these buyers. Automating consumer financing involves partnering with the best consumer financing platforms on the market. ChargeAfter is one of these service providers that can facilitate the effective and efficient delivery of online financing to each and every one of your customers. Instead of having to source financial aid from third parties, they can receive financial support at the push of a button and do not have to go through credit checks. Therefore, they can shop quicker than ever before on your online store and are more likely to do so in the future – increasing their total customer lifetime value. 

Automating Email Marketing

Email marketing is an incredibly important marketing funnel that you should automate to save time and capitalize on the revenue potential of maximizing your email marketing strategy. With an extensive list of shoppers’ email addresses, you can quickly deliver personalized marketing material to them directly into their inboxes that they will be viewing throughout the workday. Automating these email processes can streamline their consumer experience as well as save your marketing team time, ensuring that you make smarter investments into your initiatives. Furthermore, email marketing enables businesses to reward their loyal customers and subsequently improve customer retention rates. The addition of consumer financing may also appeal to shoppers that arrive at your landing pages from email marketing campaigns, further increasing your customer lifetime values.

Automate Social Media Marketing

It is possible to automate various aspects of your social media marketing to improve customer lifetime values. For starters, you can preschedule all of your social media content publications at the beginning of the month, freeing up time to focus on customer service over the course of the month. Secondly, you can automate social media chatbots to facilitate seamless conversations with your consumers. The ability to contact your store at all hours of the day encourages shoppers to be more invested in your platform and can also facilitate relationships with customers shopping from different time zones. You can also run automated social media marketing campaigns through platforms like Buffer and Hootsuite. Having access to this automation can greatly increase customer lifetime values as you are able to send personalized messages to new and returning customers at the right times and with the right promotional context.

From consumer financing to email marketing and social media marketing, automation is one of the most efficient and effective strategies for increasing customer lifetime value as it saves you time to focus on customer service, enables personalized messaging, and facilitates beneficial long-term customer relationships through all-hours communication strategies.

 

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