The point-of-sale system now integrates with the Afterpay payment service.
POS and retail management software provider Vend has teamed with retail ‘easy payments’ operator Afterpay to make it easier for independent stores to offer payment terms.
Afterpay’s model is that customers pay 25 percent at the time of purchase, and spread the rest over four equal fortnightly payments. There are no fees if all payments are made on time – a $10 late fee is charged after a day's grace, with an addition $7 if payment is more than a week late.
The Afterpay service is already offered by more than 14,000 stores around the country, including well-known names such as Avila, Big W, David Jones, Gazman, Lululemon, Perri Cutten and Petbarn. The company also recently entered the US market.
The jointly developed integration between Vend and Afterpay means small to medium retailers can easily offer their in-store customers the option of paying by instalments. Vend users simply scan the customer's Afterpay barcode when they choose this method of payment.
This, the companies said, will help such stores better compete with their larger rivals, hopefully leading to increased sales and repeat customers.
One of the first retailers to try the integration was womenswear store búl. The store’s designer Virginia Martin said: “We've been using Afterpay through our online store for a while and are really excited we can now make it available to our in-store customers too.
“We know it's going to make a big difference to our in-store sales, and the unique and effortless experience we aim to offer our customers. That's why we put our hand up to trial the new Vend integration, and we'll be rolling it out across all of our seven stores as soon as we can.”
Vend ANZ country manager Dave Scheine added: “At Vend, we want to level the playing field for independent retailers, and give them access to the same tools the big stores have. That's been our mission from day one.
“We're really pleased to be bringing Afterpay's exciting new payments option to our bricks-and-mortar retailers. This is a great step forward in helping retailers create a modern, attractive shopping experience for their customers.”
Afterpay sales director Fabio de Carvalho said: “We're incredibly excited and pleased that we can now offer thousands of small businesses the ability use Afterpay in-store. Vend's intuitive, sophisticated software is the perfect platform to take Afterpay out to Australia's independent retailers.
“Retail merchants can now benefit from the boost in sales that many are already experiencing with Afterpay online.”
