JD Sports launched Clearpay offer as pay later becomes key for boosting purchase size

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 27, 2019

JD Sports is the latest UK retail giant to add instalment payment options to its offer with the company using Clearpay tech from Afterpay that means shoppers can split their payments over four payment periods.

Afterpay Touch Group is an Australian specialist and only recently debuted in the UK under the Clearpay brand with 50 retailers, including big names such as Urban Outfitters and Boohoo, having signed up to use its services.

JD’s inclusion on the list means that one of the UK’s biggest sports-to-fashion retailers now offers the option and with the firm having a big customer base among young consumers, it could be a major sales booster.

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Clearpay has said that instalment payment options can boost basket size by up to 30% while rival Klarna has also claimed a 20% increase in purchase frequency in the UK for retailers using its service, and both firms have said the number of returns is reduced.

The system chosen by JD works by online shoppers choosing the Clearpay option when they reach the checkout stage. They get instant approval (or not) after entering their debit or credit card details. That allows them to pay in four interest-free payments with one each fortnight. While retailers carry most of the costs, there are interest charges if consumers make late payments.

Afterpay is one of the big-hitters in the staged-payment field, alongside Sweden-based Klarna, which also announced a deepening of its relationship with H&M on Thursday. New Zealand-based Laybuy also launched in the UK this year.

Earlier this month, Carl Scheible, who’s overseeing Clearpay’s UK launch, told the FT that the key motivation for retailers in adding these services is reducing “friction” at the checkout and cutting cart abandonment.