Buy Now, Pay Later: How to get started with this latest payment trend for hospitality

Get an overview of BNPL, how it works, the benefits, and how you can start offering it.

The world of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) is growing. And while this repayment option has been available for some time, it's only recently that it's become widely adopted by merchants across various industries.

One of the newer industries embracing BNPL is the quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry. From fast food to casual dining, more and more QSRs are offering BNPL as a payment option to their customers. 

If you're a QSR owner or manager, you may be wondering how to get started with BNPL. In this article, we'll give you an overview of this payment trend, how it works, the benefits, and how you can start offering this option to your customers.

BNPL for the hospitality industry

For QSRs, BNPL allows customers to pay for their meals over time. This repayment option is relatively new and is being offered by very few providers. However, the number of providers is growing, and the option is becoming more widely available.

It works like this: customers can sign up for an account with a provider. Once they have an account, they can link their credit or debit card to the account. When they're ready to eat, they can use their account to pay for their meal. They'll then have a set period of time to repay the amount of the bill.

The repayment period is typically a payment every fortnight so the repayment period lasts six weeks.   

Payo, an Australian provider of BNPL services in the hospitality industry, allows participating QSRs to split their customer's bill into four interest-free payments. Launched in 2021, payo has seen the average order value of their partner QSRs increase by 50% and customers returning 4-5 times to the same venue.

What are the benefits?

There are several benefits of offering BNPL as a payment option to your customers.

1. It can increase your sales. Customers who wouldn't normally dine out may be more likely to do so if they can spread the cost over time and enjoy this flexibility. This can lead to an increase in both the number of customers and the amount they spend per visit.
2. It can help you attract new customers. BNPL can be a great marketing tool to help you reach new diners as your venue is promoted by the BNPL providers, for example payo has a search and discovery feature on their app. Customers who may not have considered your restaurant before may be more likely to try it if they know they can pay later.
3. It can improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. Offering BNPL can show your customers that you're willing to work with them to make dining out more accessible and flexible. This can lead to repeat business and loyal customers.
4. It's easy to implement. BNPL providers typically onboard quickly with no charges, and have an easy-to-use online platform that you can use to set up and manage your account.
5. It's a growing industry. The world of BNPL is rapidly expanding, and the hospitality industry is a part of that. In Australia, Gen Z and millennial audiences are embracing BNPL and over 6 million Australians have a BNPL account. This trend is expected to continue, meaning there's potential for more restaurant customers to use BNPL in the future.

Payo: the BNPL partner of choice for QSRs

With hundreds of venues across Australia already on board, payo is the leading provider of BNPL services in the quick-service restaurant industry.

Payo offers a simple and straightforward way for QSRs to offer the payment option to their customers. There's no need for point-of-sale hardware and basic training for staff is sufficient. All you need is a smartphone or tablet to download the payo app, which takes less than two minutes.

Once you're set up, you can start offering BNPL to your customers straight away. Payo will even provide you with marketing materials to help promote the service in your venue.

For customers, using payo is easy. They can sign up for an account in less than 60 seconds and if approved, link their credit or debit card. Once they're ready to dine out, they can use their payo account to pay for their meal in instalments, often upgrading their order!

Payo will also soon launch a virtual card, so customers can use payo anywhere where credit cards are accepted. This means there are no requirements from venues to have an NFC stand or QR code at the POS.

Final thoughts

BNPL for QSRs is a great way to increase sales, attract new customers, and improve customer satisfaction. With payo, QSRs can offer the payment option with no sign-up fees, no monthly fees, and no hidden costs. All you need is a smartphone or tablet to get started. Reach out to payo today to learn more about how they can help your business grow.