Buy Now Pay Later Platforms Market Analysis

Buy now pay later platforms allow user to purchase products instantaneously and pay for it afterwards. This platform has become very popular in the recent 2-3 years, owing to the ‘No Interest’ benefit. Many buy now pay later platforms such as Afterpay do not charge interest for a defined period of time. Also, in BNPL platforms, the payment can be paid in installments.

The global buy now pay later platforms market is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period (2020–2027). The growth of the buy now pay later platforms market is majorly attributed to wide number of benefits offered by the buy now pay later platforms to its users. The registration of the buy now pay platforms is very easy. Once the online account on BNPL platforms is created, the user gets instantaneous approval for bills for a defined amount.

The major factor restraining growth of the global buy now pay later platforms market is increasing complaints of the users regarding the high late fees and mounting debts. For instance, Afterpay charges US$ 10 for each missed payment and US$ 7 if the installment remains unpaid after a week. The users who misses all the installments are charged with a late fees of US$ 68. Moreover, the BNPL platforms such as Zip charges users who have an unpaid balance with US$ 6 on a monthly basis.

Buy Now Pay Later Platforms Market - Impact of Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the economies of various countries across the globe. According to the International Monetary Fund Analysis, the global economy is expected to shrink down by 3% percent in the year 2020 compared to year 2019. Along with the decreasing GDP, the purchasing power of people across the globe is also expected to decrease. Moreover, according Coherent Market Insights’ analysis in 2020, the unemployment rate in countries such as the U.S. has increased from 3.8% in 2019 to 8.6% in April 2020. Also, over 20 million citizens in the U.S. have applied for unemployment benefit in the period of February 2020 to April 2020. Owing to all these factors, people across the globe may take the support of BNPL platforms to pay their bills. The online transactions using BNPL platforms is also expected to increase during the forecast period.

North America is expected to hold dominant position in the global buy now pay later platforms market during the forecast period

Statistics:

North America held dominant position in the global buy now pay later platforms market in 2019, accounting for 43.7% share in terms of value, followed by Asia Pacific and Europe.

Figure 1: Global Buy Now Pay Later Platforms Market Share (%), By Region, 2019

North America held dominant position in the global buy now pay later platforms market in 2019 and is projected to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period, owing to increased number of internet users.

According to Coherent Market Insights’ analysis, North America had 397 million internet users in 2019 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 8.3% during the forecast period. In the recent years, internet users have been mostly using online payment through debit/credit cards, digital wallets, and buy now pay later platforms due to the various benefits such as cashbacks and discounts on the bills.

Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing region during the forecast period. This is owing to increasing mobile internet users in this region. According to Coherent Market Insights’ analysis, mobile internet penetration in Asia Pacific region increased from 45% in 2018 to 49% in 2019. The number of mobile internet users are also expected significantly increase during the forecast period, owing to the rapidly increasing internet users in emerging economies such as China and India. Majorly BNPL payments are done from mobile phones.

Major players operating in the global buy now pay later platforms market include Afterpay, Zippay, VISA, Sezzle, Affirm, Paypal, Splitit, Latitude Financial Services, Klarna, Humm, and Openpay.

Partnerships done by BNPL platforms with fashion and apparel stores is expected to drive growth of the buy now pay later platforms market during the forecast period

Among end-use industry, the fashion & garment industry segment is expected to hold dominant position in the global buy now pay later platforms market during the forecast period. This is owing to the partnerships done by BNPL platforms with the fashion and apparels brands. For instance, Afterpay was launched in May 2014, since then it has partnered with various fashion brands such as Ray-Ban, ALLY shoes, NEU Nomads, STIO, KINFLYTE, and others. The retail and online stores of mentioned brands accept Afterpay as bill payment method.

Figure 2: Global Buy Now Pay Later Platforms Market Value (US$ Mn), 2017 - 2027

The global buy now pay later platforms market was valued at US$ 7,320.6 Mn in 2019 and is expected to reach US$ 33,638.3 Mn by 2027 at a CAGR of 21.2% between 2020 and 2027.