94% of all consumers agree that they buy repeatedly from brands that offer good customer service. There’s, therefore, no doubt that customer experience is a great influencer of sales. For a Shopify store, offering your customers more payment opportunities, besides Shopify Payments, is a great way to increase customer satisfaction, especially if they are getting credit at favorable terms.
That’s exactly what Afterpay does! Let’s define Afterpay briefly before discussing the benefits and how you can add it to your Shopify store.
What is Afterpay?
Afterpay can be defined as a payment option that gives customers the opportunity to pay for purchases over time interest-free. The service is very popular currently and allows online customers to buy just about anything and pay later i.e., weekly, until they have paid for an item in full. Customers get to pay the 1st instalment upfront while the remaining three are deducted automatically from their account over the following six weeks.
Online retailers offering Afterpay receive payment immediately but pay a merchant fee. The method can be compared to credit cards with interest-free periods. The payment method is by Australian financial tech company, Afterpay Limited, renowned for its buy-now, pay-later service. Afterpay was established in 2014. It is present in the United States, Canada, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia.
Should Your Business Use Afterpay?
To answer this question, we must look at the benefits of Afterpay for a Shopify store owner or any other store owner who agrees to offer the payment option.
Main Afterpay Benefits
1. Fewer Abandoned Carts
It’s reported that the average cart abandonment rate of ecommerce is almost 70%. As mentioned, customers love credit facilities, especially when it comes interest-free. As a result, most customers who wouldn’t have bought something upfront from your Shopify Store may be convinced to buy it via Afterpay and pay later in manageable installments interest-free.
In a nutshell, Afterpay is a great solution to lowering the number of abandoned carts from existing and new customers.
2. Increased Sale Volume
Interest-free credit has a way of making customers buy more than they would in normal circumstances. As a Shopify store owner, besides enjoying fewer abandoned carts, you can expect an increase in basket size as well as a growth in the number of repeat purchases.
This benefit is factual, as independent research indicates that 50% of all Afterpay users admit to spending more when using Afterpay than when using a regular debit/credit card.
Add Afterpay or Not?
Given the above main benefits of Afterpay, should you then proceed and add it as a payment option in your Shopify Store? Well, it depends on the following;
Determine if the 4% Merchant Fee Makes Sense
Afterpay has a 4% merchant cost. For it to make sense to use Afterpay, the additional sales generated should increase profits by over 4% for Afterpay to make business sense. To determine whether it makes sense to pay 4% of your turnover as merchant fees, you must be able to consider your current profit margins and the % of new sales generated by Afterpay.
Example
Let’s assume your Shopify store average sales are $20,000 monthly, and the profit margin is 30%. If you add Afterpay and your average sales increase to $25,000, and your profit margin stays the same, you will have made an additional $1,500 in profits. Considering $5,000 of the total sales is generated by Afterpay, the merchant fee of 4% will be $200, resulting in a net profit of $1,300.
In such a scenario, Afterpay makes sense for a Shopify store owner. In fact, Afterpay makes sense in almost all cases because the fee is on sales generated via the payment method. Considering typical buyers would jump at an interest-free payment option, most Shopify Store owners should use Afterpay. However, customers should know of the fees charged for late payments.
Afterpay Reviews for Merchants
The true test of a product/service is in the reviews. Judging from trusted review websites like Trustpilot that post verified reviews, Afterpay reviews are excellent. The payment method has a 4.8 out of 5 rating after over 138,000 reviews. Most of the merchants and customers who use Afterpay love it.
How To Add Afterpay on My Shopify Store?
Given there are valid reasons for adding Afterpay to your Shopify store, how do you go about the process?
Method 1: Install Afterpay Plugin On Shopify
Step 1: Register for an Afterpay Account
To get started, visit Afterpay to sign up for an account. However, ensure you are in a country where Afterpay is available (as mentioned above).
If so, proceed and register while providing all the necessary information i.e., email, name, phone number, etc.
Once your account is opened, you need to verify it by checking and responding to instructions in your email.
Step 2: Install Afterplay Plugin
Once registered, you’ll need to add Shopify. This can be done using a special link that takes you directly to Afterpay on your Shopify store.
Proceed by connecting Afterpay to Shopify
Step 3: Grand the Necessary Permissions and Credentials
You’ll need to give Afterpay the necessary permissions on your Shopify store to make it possible for orders and refunds to be processed. This will involve agreeing to all terms and then clicking to install. You will also be required to verify your merchant credentials by putting your merchant ID as well as the secret key provided when registering for Afterpay. This information is readily available in your Afterpay account.
Step 4: Activate Afterpay
Finish by activating Afterpay. Remember to leave the enable test mode checkbox unchecked to ensure integration words. Test mode should be enabled for dedicated test sites only. Afterpay should appear on your Shopify store’s checkout after this, and your customers can start using it. This step finalizes how to activate Afterpay on Shopify.
Method 2: Adding Afterpay Manually
You can add Afterpay manually. However, this is a technical step that should be left to people with some technical expertise in editing code. Nevertheless, Afterpay’s website has a page with the code that you need to copy to add Afterpay to your site.
Visit your Shopify store’s theme and click edit code
Proceed to the code editor and select theme.liquid
Scroll to the bottom and paste the Afterpay code and save. The Afterpay logo should now be visible on your store pages.
Testing Afterpay After The Setup
To confirm you’ve set up Afterpay perfectly, perform a test order. Afterpay payment gateway should also appear clearly during checkout, and anywhere else you added the code. Test purchases should also be completed successfully without issues.
For added functionality i.e., adding Afterpay messaging, you can proceed to themes as you did earlier then edit code (line 111).
Pasting the Afterpay code found earlier will ensure your customers know that Afterpay is available. This action ensures Afterpay messaging appears under products (as a text) saying Afterpay is available.
Conclusion
In summary, Afterpay is a great payment addition to any Shopify store given it offers your customers an option to pay in up to four installments without attracting any interest. Provided the payments are all made within the stipulated time frame, Afterpay doesn’t charge customers late fees.
Afterpay also has benefits to merchants in that they only pay 4% in merchant fees and are bound to boost turnover and size of individual orders. Should you use Afterpay on your Shopify Store? Absolutely! We’ve offered a step-by-step guide on how to add Afterpay. However, don’t forget other things that make Shopify stores even better like Shopify SEO.
FAQs
Why Is Afterpay Not Showing Up at Checkout Shopify?
In most cases, this can be due to store currency settings. The settings should be in line with your local currency. For instance, US-based merchants should have the currency set to USD.
Other reasons include Afterpay being toggled off the Payment method’s section on your Account & Settings. If the customer cart total falls outside the eligible purchasing range setup or Afterpay’s default purchase ranges. You also need to complete Afterpay setup properly for it to show up.
What Are the Disadvantages of Afterpay?
The late fees are the main con for customers who don’t pay in time. Afterpay can also encourage impulse and/or excessive buying.
What Is the Maximum Afterpay Transaction?
Limits can vary based on payment history. However, $1,500 is the highest per transaction. Customers can also hold up to $2,000 in outstanding balances.
Does Shopify Have Afterpay?
Yes! As stated above, Shopify supports Afterpay payments, and we’ve discussed how to get Afterpay on Shopify above.