Aussies lead the world in using BNPL services

Australia is ahead of other countries when it comes to using Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) apps.

According to a recent study, 48 per cent of Aussie merchants offer BNPL, compared to the 20 per cent of U.S merchants and 11 per cent of UK merchants. In the study by Big Commerce and Paypal, it was reported that 46 per cent of the 3,000 respondents located in Australia, US and UK said they used a BNPL as an option at least once in the past three months. In the US and UK, only 10 per cent used these services five or more times in the same period.

Global consumer spending habits changed during the pandemic as more people were inclined to shop online and use digital wallets. This shift in spending has also changed what consumers use to purchase their goods and services.

The aforementioned study, actually conducted in December 2020, reported that 62.5 per cent of respondents did most of their shopping online even though they preferred in-person shopping. Also, 66.7 per cent of participants said that they made a purchase through their phone at least once in the past month.

Mozo’s recently published 2021 BNPL report had similar findings, notably of which was that 33 per cent of people have made BNPL their “go to” payment method.

BNPL services allows users to purchase a product or service at a shop or online, and then pay it back in interest free instalments. While it is similar to lay-by services, BNPL allows the consumer to receive the goods with the initial instalment.

“For years, we’ve seen ecommerce continue to gain ground on traditional shopping. Online and digitised experiences have required retailers to quickly adapt to changing consumer shopping behaviours, and this was expedited in the pandemic,” said Greg Lisiewski, vice president of global pay later products at PayPal.

“Now more than ever, consumers want to be in control of how they pay, and they have a desire for friction-free, seamless digital shopping experiences regardless of which channel they are shopping in.”

Meanwhile, Aussies reported to use it 15.5 per cent more during that same time period, making Australia the leader in the usage of BNPL services.

Australia has multiple BNPL services available, such as Zip, Afterpay, and Klarna, each with their own individual pros and cons. It is easy to compare which BNPL service will work best for you with Mozo’s ‘Compare Buy Now Pay Later’ page.

Interested in BNPL as a whole? Check out Mozo's latest Buy Now Pay Later statistics report.