eCommerce's Buy Now Pay Later trend:

In the wake of consumer excess, is it time to consider the power of Shop Now Buy Later (SNBL) over the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) fad?

Making the most of money is imperative to living well today and in the future. Today, eCommerce shoppers have three options during online checkout, but only two options are getting attention, Buy and Buy Now Pay Later. For both the consumer's and retailer's sake, we believe a third option within the Buy paradigm deserves equal consideration; Shop Now Buy Later. 

Three checkout options to serve every consumer:

BNPL extends buying power. 

With retailers feeling the need to make up for any perceived loss in sales and consumers eager to exercise their new buying power, Buy Now Pay Later services like Klarna and Affirm have become a regular addition to eCommerce sites. Consumers who lack the means to buy now capitalize on the same instant gratification as more affluent peers. 

BNPL is a flexible opportunity for individuals who don't have access to lines of credit or lack the buying power to purchase in full. However, like all forms of credit, consumer debt can stack up, making it fiscally toxic and overwhelming emotionally and financially.

Overspending is Still Overspending. 

While heralded for providing access to new forms of financing to consumers, there is an apparent and almost predatory downside to the BNPL trend. Instead of being a fresh take on brick-and-mortar layaway services, these digital lenders are more similar to home-shopping channels, allowing you to get the goods now and pay down the charges in installments. To what limit, though? 

Paying in installments works well when an individual has budgeted, creating a future scape for limited discretionary spending. However, it's much easier to create a spreadsheet for future expenses than live life to a budget — especially when you don't earn enough to have consistent discretionary spending. Unfortunately, too few of us have the necessary ability to plan for unforeseen variables in income and expenses. And how many consumers are thinking about spreadsheets, budgeting apps, or future discretionary spending in real terms when leisurely shopping? 

The thrill of shopping and purchase gratification is real and rarely tempered with thoughts of fiscal responsibility. It's why banks sometimes offer Christmas Savings Accounts; it's easier to set aside small amounts with a singular focus. So let's consider the potential for a new trend, Shop Now Buy Later or SNBL, and what it means for retailers and consumers. 

Shop Now Buy Later, the alternative to Buy Now options.

Recognizing the benefits of a third option to the Buy paradigm has the power to change how we shop without disadvantaging retailers. First off, putting the three options on equal footing recognizes that not all consumers are ready to Buy Now, and that's okay. Moreover, not all abandoned purchases necessitate a reaction to avoid losing the sale. 

In the current paradigm, an abandoned cart or add-to-wishlist is a lukewarm intention by the consumer met with frequent re-engagement communications from the retailer trying to complete the sale. Retailers inefficiently chase the consumer increasing their marketing spend only to add more unwanted messages to consumer inboxes. And like any relationship, the increasingly unmatched interest level diminishes future romance potential. Nobody really wants that. In fact, some will choose to distance themselves and silence the brand permanently.

SNBL lets consumers take deliberate action to keep track of things they want while weighing the priority of items amongst each other before they take on debt. In addition, presenting the SNBL option as a Buy Now alternative encourages consumers to budget and manage their purchases better. To be clear, we're not talking about the standard lackluster "add to wishlist" option retailers provide for retargeting.

For consumers to deliberately strengthen financial literacy skills while cultivating brand relationships with SNBL, they need a dedicated space for all the things they want to buy. "Shop Now Buy Later services like Wishfinity go beyond wishlisting items. With services like Wishfinity, consumers never lose sight of what they want. Instead, they only buy what they can afford, repeatedly making more informed, more thoughtful, and more decisive buying decisions they won't regret," according to Wishfinity Founder Lee Bellon.

Wishfinity's SNBL option +W acts as a universal shopping registry, allowing consumers to budget and manage their purchases effectively in one singular dashboard, eliminating the excess of impotent wishlists and abandoned carts across hundreds of retailer sites and canceling out the unwanted marketing noise. 

You don't have to be a fortune-teller or an economist to realize the outcome of creating retail growth projections based on impulsive overspending and unsustainable debt is bleak. Shop Now Buy Later allows retailers to assess consumer demand and sales cycles more accurately and better inform future production levels — an all-around win for finance, business, and personal.