Global leader in Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), Afterpay, has released its Small Business. Big Opportunity report, in partnership with Accenture, highlighting the benefits of partnering with Afterpay for Australian small businesses (SMBs).

The Afterpay community is made up of more than 60,000 small businesses in Australia. Afterpay’s Small Business report found that the average Australian small business sees a 13% uplift in revenue by partnering with Afterpay, which equates to around $32,000 in new revenue annually.

“Afterpay works with a wide range of merchants – from hairdressers to hatmakers, electronics suppliers to ethical fashion brands – but most business owners share two business goals: driving up sales and increasing average order value. Afterpay can help merchants do both,” Afterpay head of SMB for APAC, Kellie Clenton said.

“The ability to pay in four instalments, without incurring interest is a major advantage for Millennial and Gen Z shoppers. Merchants who offer this option to their customers are reaping the rewards of meeting customer demands – providing a better shopping experience to customers with new expectations.”

The report highlights the stories of real businesses across Australia and New Zealand that have benefited from using Afterpay as a tool for unlocking growth.

Fitness brand, Active Truth receives 10,000 referrals from Afterpay’s Shop Directory each year, with a 2021 report showing that Afterpay’s Shop Directory sends one million referrals globally to merchants each day.

Skateboard and streetwear label, Empire Skate, saw a 15% uplift in average order value after enabling Afterpay on its e-commerce site, with Afterpay customers spending 25% more than customers using other payment methods.

Rural NSW jewellery brand, Peggy & Twig, noticed a jump in orders for their higher-priced pieces after offering Afterpay to customers. Similarly, ClassBento, an online marketplace offering workshops, classes and experiences, saw their customers benefiting from more options to pay the way they want to.

The report also showed a lower return rate in Afterpay purchases. The average Australian retailer finds purchase return rates between 9% and 20%, whereas Afterpay return rates are much lower, at 2% to 6% of purchases.

As part of Afterpay’s small business support program, the BNPL provider held its biannual Support Small Sale earlier in the month. Customers were able to shop over 2,000 deals, up to 50% off across apparel, home, kids & baby, beauty and more.

On top of the major sale, Afterpay also runs a Support Small Weekend marketing program, which is an ongoing campaign that promotes small businesses every weekend across its social media channels, through CRM and its app, as well as boosting exposure through media spend.

“BNPL is rapidly becoming a preferred method of payment for the next generation (Gen Z) of shoppers, seeing a surge of 270% since the start of Covid-19. Being the largest player in this space, Afterpay is in a unique position of being able to promote these small businesses to this engaged audience, and also grow awareness among our customers that we value and support our small business community every week,” Clenton added.