Footasylum partners with new payments service Laybuy

New Zealand’s largest payments service will be made available to Footasylum customers on its online store today, with in-store payment solutions set to launch in the footwear brand’s 70 UK high street stores later this year.

Footasylum chief executive Claire Nesbitt said Laybuy offers retailers a “unique proposition” and praised its “track record” in its home market.

The payments option allows customers to purchase and receive a product immediately, while spacing out their payments for that item over six weekly instalments, with 0% interest.

Customers who want to use the Laybuy service will, subject to a credit score, be allocated a spending limit of between £60 and £720. Purchases can then be made up to the value of that limit and, should a customer wish to exceed it, the difference can be paid in cash.

Laybuy said that, in order to “protect shoppers from self-imposed debt”, any user who falls behind on a payment will have their account immediately frozen.

It said, on average, Laybuy’s retail partners have “seen an increase in order value of 60%, an increase in online and in-store conversion rates of 50% and an increase in new customer acquisitions of 30%”.

Laybuy boss Gary Rohloff said: “The UK retail sector is experiencing unprecedented challenges as retailers attempt to navigate troubled waters. By providing retailers with a genuine alternative to discounts and promotions, Laybuy can not only help drive sales, but also significantly boost new customer acquisitions.”

The payments service currently has 375,000 customers, and more than 3,750 retail partners in New Zealand.

Following its success in its native New Zealand and Australia, Laybuy is squaring up to Swedish payment solutions firm Klarna in the UK, which currently has 60 million customers and works with 100,000 merchants in 14 different countries.

In the UK, Klarna works with a number of large retailers, including Swedish fashion giant H&M and pureplay fashion colossus Asos.