Harness the power of affordability to boost revenue & expand customer base

Last week my husband and I were looking to purchase a television online. My husband was keen on making the purchase and I was trying to dissuade him from spending a huge amount of money this month. He then pointed at his phone, I smiled and within a few minutes, we decided to be new TV owners. So, what did he show me on his phone that changed my mind in a few seconds?

*drum roll*

NO-COST EMI!

We were thrilled to know that we didn’t have to pay the full amount and best of all, no interest on our monthly EMI payments. It made the perfect case to make the purchase.

The EMI option made the decision for us.

Imagine if you could have this much persuasion power over your customers. Well, now you can. Introducing Plural’s Affordability Suite.

What is Plural’s Affordability Suite?

Plural’s Affordability Suite comprises of various payment options available in the market for businesses to be able to make products/services affordable to their customers. These include payment methods like EMI, Pay Later, and offers such as No-Cost EMI and discounts and cashbacks. These options make it attractive for your customers, boosting their average order value and your revenue.

Let’s look at this closely:

EMI: This option makes the upfront cost of the product more affordable with staggered payment over a time period. Equated monthly installment (EMI) is offered through:

• Credit Card EMI: In 2021, nearly 62 million credit cards were in use in India! Offering credit card EMIs is an easy and effective way to incentivise this credit card user base to make purchases on your website/app.
• Debit Card EMI: There are about 940 million active debit cards in India! Imagine if you could tap into that to offer EMIs on debit cards! Your customers can use their debit cards and buy their favourite products without having to pay a large sum of money. That’s the power of Plural’s Affordability Suite!
• Cardless EMI: Cardless EMIs provision payments made via credit approved by cardless EMI payment partners like Zest Money. There is no credit or debit card required for such an EMI.

Offers: Plural’s Affordability Suite allows businesses to offer rewards and discounts to further boost the sale of products/services. These offers include:

• Cashback: Where the customer receives a certain amount of money back as a reward for the purchase, he/she made.
• Instant discounts: Probably the most popular type of offer. Up to 50% off on shoes? Yes, please! Businesses can offer flat discounts on products and services to incentivise their customers to make the purchase.
• No-cost EMI: The type of loan that has zero interest charges. Perfect for ecommerce businesses to leverage. It’s also the payment option that made my decision to buy the television easier.

Pay Later: Pay Later is a digital credit product like credit cards. It is a type of short-term financing that provides the benefit of convenience with faster checkout and the option to pay the complete amount at a later date. Many players like Zest Money, Lazypay, Simpl, etc. offer Pay Later.

1) They’re usually interest-free

2) Often easier to get approved than traditional loans

3) They’re convenient as the customer can pay for the product at a later date

Advantages of Plural’s Affordability Suite

Higher average order value: When a customer is not limited by cash in hand, one has the luxury to make high-value purchases as well as a greater number of purchases. Both of these increase his/her average order value or checkout value, thereby increasing your revenue.

Boost in sale of premium products: With Plural’s Affordability Suite, premium products are now accessible to all customers. High-value items like phones, electronics, and appliances such as washing machines, and air conditioners will likely see a boost in sales due to affordable payment options.

Expand your customer base: With payment options such as Pay Later and No-cost EMI, you’re likely to attract buyers from tier 2 and 3 cities, expanding your customer base.

Competitive parity: All major e-commerce players offer such payment options. With Plural’s Affordability Suite, your offerings are just as attractive as some of the major brands, giving you competitive parity.

Use cases of Plural’s Affordability Suite

Affordability can make many products and services accessible to the common man. Let’s take a look at use cases where adopting affordable payment methods is most relevant:

Consumer Durables and IT (CDIT): Like in the case of our television purchase, many consumer durables are expensive. Think of necessities like refrigerators or air conditioners for homes in humid locations. Customers with lower purchasing power can now have the option to make the purchase immediately and pay for it at a later date.

The Indian CDIT market comprises of a huge middle class, a comparatively large affluent class, and a small economically disadvantaged class. Many global corporations see the potential for immense growth in the Indian market, owing to increasing disposable income and favourable population composition. Let’s look at some statistics:

• The Appliance and consumer electronics industry is expected to double to reach ₹1.48 lakh crore by 2025.
• As of 2020, the electronics, domestic appliances, and air conditioner markets in India were estimated to be around ₹5,976 crore, ₹17,873 crore, and ₹12,568 crore, respectively.
• According to RedSeer, India’s consumer digital economy is projected to reach US$ 800 billion by 2030, from US$ 85–90 billion in 2020, owing to an increase in online shopping.

With such huge potential, it’s imperative to offer customers easy payment terms to keep up with the growing demand. Additionally, with brand EMI, Plural helps businesses to offer No/Low-cost EMI as well as additional/instant cashback on their products by allowing the OEMs (Original equipment manufacturers) to act as the sponsoring party.

Edtech: Quality education, while important, is still a privilege for few today. Many courses are expensive, and scholarships are few. Course fees can be especially burdensome as fees are expected to be paid as a lump sum and education loans require multiple approvals. Providing affordable payment options eases the burden and makes it easier for students to gain access to quality education. Additionally, businesses can onboard more students and thereby expand their customer base.

Ecommerce: Plural’s Affordability Suite makes perfect sense for e-commerce. Everything from the latest iPhone to the newest Nike Jordans is available on the internet! Smartphone penetration in India is 56% and is touted to reach 96% by 2040, meaning that even those in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, and rural areas, will have access to the internet and thereby, e-commerce. It’s crucial to make e-commerce affordable to all strata. Plural’s Affordability Suite allows you to run discounts and offers along with easy payment options, so everyone has equal opportunity to commerce.

Travel and tourism: The travel industry has a great use-case for the Plural’s Affordability Suite. According to Talon.one, 51% of travellers say great deals are what prompts them to make a travel booking. Today, one can buy flight tickets on EMI, book hotels with great discounts and thereby making leisure more affordable to a larger base of customers.

Conclusion

With so many use cases for and advantages of Plural’s Affordability Suite, businesses from various industries and consumers from various economic backgrounds can benefit greatly. With just a simple product, you can turn potential buyers into sure-shot customers. Write to us at pgsupport@pinelabs.com to get started with Plural’s Affordability Suite today.

Plural by Pine Labs has received an in-principle authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as a Payment Aggregator.

This article has been written by Amrita Konaiagari (Marketing Manager at Plural by Pine Labs) and reviewed by Gautam Marwah (Product Manager at Plural by Pine Labs).