Field Notes: Full Carts and Full Potential
Good news for streetwear and lifestyle fashion enthusiasts who can now use Afterpay’s shop now and pay later option on Hypebeast’s e-commerce platform, HBX, for updating their wardrobes. With the partnership, Afterpay said in its announcement, the companies aim to allow more Gen Z and Millennials to shop the world of contemporary fashion and lifestyle in a responsible way through the flexible, pay-over-time option.
Zahir Khoja, general manager of platforms and partnerships at Afterpay, said together the companies “can empower the next generation to use a payment solution that unlocks access to new and exciting products without opting into expensive credit cards that can lead them into revolving debt.”
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Meanwhile, recent consumer insights point to a summer of spending.
According to a new survey conducted by Credit Karma found that despite 51 percent of Americans reporting a worsened financial situation since the beginning of the pandemic, nearly 30 percent plan to spend more this summer. For 33 percent of survey respondents, this stems from a desire to make up for lost time with 38 percent saying they want to take advantage of life returning to normal. For 25 percent, spending will be fueled by a fear of missing out — or FOMO.
At the same time, now that weddings are back in full swing, consumers will be spending more to celebrate loved ones this summer. While 33 percent of Americans told Credit Karma that FOMO has been the cause of them choosing to attend a wedding event, despite not being able to afford it, nearly 40 percent also say they have regretted attending a wedding or wedding-related event because the cost to attend was more than they could afford.
Still, 55 percent of survey respondents say they are willing to spend more money than they typically would to attend these events in an understanding that these events have been forced to be canceled or postponed due to COVID-19. And as a solution, Credit Karma’s recent survey found that more than two-thirds (69 percent) of wedding-goers will use a buy now, pay later service to finance their expenses.
In a separate Box Poll from Pitney Bowes poll, shoppers seem to be buying locally. The Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index, which took a look at cross-border shoppers, found 71 to 82 percent of shoppers say they have abandoned orders from the U.S. because they did not want to risk paying import duties from delivery duty unpaid shipping.
These processing fees are also costing merchants abroad. The survey found U.S. shoppers shopping in regions including Germany, France, the U.K., South Korea, Australia and Canada are abandoning carts at a higher rate, citing not wanting to pay the cost associated with returning items, also up from survey results in 2021. The only region that did not see this rise was China.
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