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Offer a pay-later option at checkout, but count the cost

Oct 10
3 min read

Updated: Oct 11

William Morris's Strawberry Thief textile pattern with thrushes and strawberries, 1883
Strawberry Thief, a textile design by William Morris (1883). The thrushes take the fruit now, and pay-later shoppers do the same.

Many shoppers leave at checkout because they cannot pay today, not because they do not want the product.


The study. A team of 4 finance researchers ran a field experiment at a German online furniture store in 2022. At random, about 75,000 shoppers saw or did not see a "pay later" option at checkout.


The finding. The pay-later option increased sales by 20%. Most of the gain came from more completed purchases: the conversion rate went up by 13%. The conversion rate is the share of visitors who buy.

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