Laybuy partners with Footasylum as it announces its UK launch

New Zealand-based ‘buy now, pay later’ firm Laybuy partners with Footasylum as it announces UK launch

  • The platform has 3,750 shops in its home country
  • It’s joined Klarna and Paypal Credit in the UK ‘buy now, pay later’ marketplace
  • Footasylum is the first UK retailer to offer the service online

New Zealand-based ‘buy now, pay later’ platform Laybuy has marked its official UK launch by announcing a partnership with high street brand Footasylum.

Online customers of the trainer specialist will be able to purchase items interest-free and spread the cost over six separate weekly instalments from today, with an in-store payment option coming later in 2019. 

The partnership is Laybuy’s first outside Oceania, having signed up 3,750 shops in its native New Zealand since launching two years ago. 

Laybuy allows shoe shoppers to spread the cost of purchases over six separate payments

Customers in the UK could use it to make purchases from shops in the southern hemisphere, but it plans to now launch with further shops in Britain.

Laybuy is the latest foreign entrant to the buy now, pay later market.

It will hope its partnership with Footasylum, which stocks brands like Adidas, New Balance and The North Face, will help it make a comparable splash to Swedish platform Klarna, which has partnered with retail giant H&M and also signed up rap icon Snoop Dog. 

The antipodean firm has more stringent eligibility requirements than Klarna, requiring a hard credit check using Experian which will show up on your credit file, and charging £6 for late payments. 

Laybuy also adds that users who fall behind on payment schedules have their accounts frozen immediately.

Paypal Credit, heavily advertised on television at the tail-end of 2018, also allows customers to buy now and pay later. 

It offers shoppers using a retailer that accepts Paypal and spending more than £150 a four month interest-free option for purchases.

Trainer specialist Footasylum has 70 stores, which will offer Laybuy later in 2019, and stocks brands like Nike, Adidas, The North Face and New Balance

Trainer specialist Footasylum has 70 stores, which will offer Laybuy later in 2019, and stocks brands like Nike, Adidas, The North Face and New Balance

On its website, it states: ‘If you’re planning a weekend away or fancy splashing out on a new wardrobe, Paypal Credit is the perfect way to spread the cost of those larger purchases.’

It adds: ‘Any remaining balance due after the four month promotional period or any transactions under £150 will be charged interest at 17.9 per cent per annum.’

This is Money took a look at Laybuy and Klarna earlier in the year.  

Buy now, pay later firms like Klarna and Laybuy often don’t slap charges on consumers because they make their margins on customers spending more through their platforms.

Its co-founder and managing director Gary Rohloff told Business Leader in January that retail partners saw customers spending 60 per cent more on average per transaction.  

Footasylum, a brand with 70 high street shops, will be hoping this trend continues.

Rohloff said: ‘We’re incredibly excited to bring our service to Footasylum shoppers in the UK.

‘Our research here indicates that there is a demand for weekly repayment options – in fact, this is the most common way for people to budget. 

‘Given this, we’ve developed a solution that allows shoppers to buy now and pay back over a short period of time in manageable repayments at no additional cost.’

Clare Nesbitt, Footasylum’s chief executive, said: ‘By choosing to pay by Laybuy it’s a win win for our customers, enabling them to juggle both sensible budgeting and style.’

Footasylum, which has its headquarters in Rochdale and more than 60 stores nationwide, saw its shares were down two per cent in early trading to 50.5p.  

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk