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Buy Now & Pay Later Statistics Australia
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Hans Andrew Consuegra
Since the rise of Buy Now Pay Later, Aussies gained significant traction and currently lead the world in BNPL purchasing.
Shopping now and paying later has firmly established its roots in Australia and has become a convenient payment and purchasing option with the potential to become more popular over time.
In this post, we’ll explain what Australian businesses need to know with the latest Shop Now & Pay Later statistics.
Read on to discover how your business can leverage BNPL purchasing and consumer interest to succeed.
Shop Now, Pay Later: By the Numbers
The Reserve Bank of Australia reported record-high growth in recent years. Shop Now Pay Later transactions tripled over two financial years (‘17-’18 to ‘19-’20) and grew 55% more in 2019-2020.
Ease-of-use is a major driving force for 53% of Australians using BNPL purchases whenever they shop online. That means more people find BNPL payments more convenient than paying using their credit card.
Younger shoppers are also recorded to be more fond of BNPL payment, as two-thirds (65%) of Millenial online customers use Shop Now Pay Later services. Gen Z isn’t far behind with 51%, and Gen X is catching up not far back with 45%.
Additionally, Baby Boomers are starting to adopt BNPL payment options, with about one in three (33%) customers using a BNPL service at least once.
Australia’s Retail Sector Records Highest BNPL Spending
Most Aussie consumers use BNPL services to purchase fashion and electronic products. That is why retail eCommerce shops under the said sectors have quickly adopted BNPL services.
Besides, more verticals are integrating BNPL payments into a wider variety of products and services to help consumers spread their bills and payments.
About 26% of Aussies paid for their clothing and accessories using BNPL services. 43% of those consumers are Millennials. Computing and electronics fall second, with more than one-in-five (20%) consumers using BNPL to check their orders.
Moreover, 70% of survey respondents from the RBA study reported that they make BNPL purchases at least once every few months. About 3% said they paid online using BNPL services (AfterPay, Zip Pay, etc.) once a week.
Another market research conducted for the Australian Finance Industry Association reported that 38% of respondents (1,746 consumers) had used BNPL platforms at least once. All in all, BNPL systems in Australia reported about 6 million active accounts as of 2021.
Australians also lead the global data for BNPL spending, with total spending hitting a record $11.9 billion – double the previous year. In terms of missed repayments, however, 18% of Shop Now Pay Later users missed a payment, a tad higher than 17% of credit card owners.
Local households and residents also turn to BNPL schemes as inflation and living costs bite. The Guardian reported a 10% rise in active Buy Now Pay Later accounts in Australia from the prior year.
The rising trend is most likely due to rapidly increasing prices as households find themselves stuck in a debt spiral.
Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic played a significant role in the growth of BNPL schemes. The RBA reported that BNPL transactions increased by more than 40% from 2020 to 2021 as Aussies are encouraged to buy online amid an economic crisis.
People who don’t have enough money for groceries use BNPL schemes to get gift cards. Once they start repaying, they will have spent all cash left and use the platform again to get another gift card, repeating the endless cycle.
What Awaits for Shop Now, Pay Later in Australia?
The 2022 Australia Buy Now Pay Later Market report expects the country’s BNPL payments to increase by more than 57% in 2022, reaching a record $32.83 billion.
Businesses should also expect the long-term growth of BNPL systems to be strong as more and more shops and eCommerce sites adopt BNPL purchasing over the forecast period.
All-in-all, the research recorded an overall Compounded Annual Growth Rate of up to 32.5% during 2022-2028. Leading Shop Now Pay Later channels such as AfterPay can also indicate where the growth may come from.
At this rate, it’s evident that physical retail is taking the industry by storm.
The same consumer demographics study expects that in-store growth will overtake online BNPL channels as in-store shopping is now complemented by digital POS payment services such as Apple and Google Pay.
Final Thoughts on BNPL
As Shop Now Pay Later services double down on the eCommerce and retail industry, local businesses will need to expand their payment options and tap the potential of BNPL payments – both online and offline.
It helps to have a digital marketing strategy to help put your business campaign out there and reach your target audience round-the-clock. That’s where a data-driven Sydney SEO agency partner comes into the picture.
Integrate secure and reliable payment systems into your business and deliver a buying journey that will keep them engaged from visiting your site until they place an order. Our experienced team can help scale your business through eCommerce SEO.
Contact us today for a free strategy session. For all questions and enquiries, call our office on 1300 101 712 or drop a message in our contact form.
For more on Australian statistics, see our other articles:
Written by
Hans Andrew Consuegra
Hans Andrew Consuegra is a Content Specialist at Red Search. Andrew has over 4 years of experience producing creative content copies for various major industries including finance, health and media. He plays a core role in assisting the senior SEO team and is instrumental in the success of all his clients.
