The Athlete’s Foot jumps on layby trend

Internet Retailing

16th Jan 2017

Australian specialty athletic and school shoe retailer The Athlete’s Foot has introduced a new payment option in time for back to school 2017.

Customers at The Athlete’s Foot can now use Afterpay, one of a new range of instalment payment methods, to check out both online and in-store.

The retailer, which carries brands like Clarks and Ascent, is promoting the decision as a way to help parents budget expenses for the new school year and provide much needed financial relief at the end of the holiday period.

According to Back to School Research completed by Haymakr in March 2016, 65 per cent of mums in Australia want to buy their children better quality school shoes but are constrained by budget.

In addition, at the beginning of every school year, children need both sports shoes and school shoes for the year ahead, however only 32 per cent of mums in January 2016 bought their children sports shoes at the same time as buying them their school shoes.

Since Afterpay lets customers pay a quarter of the total cost upfront and the rest over four equal fortnightly instalments, they may be more likely to increase their spending.

Indeed, the new range of layby-type payment options on the market – Afterpay, zipPay and Openpay – are associated with increased conversions and bigger basket sizes.

The Athlete’s Foot’s national sales and operations manager Ian Taunton says the Afterpay launch is about giving customers more choice: “The Afterpay launch is a welcome payment option for our customers, particularly around back to school for parents.

“We are committed to providing our customers with high quality and exclusive product, and an expert fitting service with our dedicated in-store Fit Technicians. Our customers want more choice, flexibility and benefits, and Afterpay plays an integral part in achieving this,” he said.

Afterpay does not require customers to enter into a traditional loan, pay upfront or monthly fees or interest. In addition, Afterpay complies with the highest level of Payment Card Industry compliance (PCI DSS Level 1 Compliant) to ensure data security.

“We are thrilled to have one of the country’s best known brands, The Athlete’s Foot, on board with Afterpay, offering its customers Afterpay both online and in-store,” Afterpay’s managing director Nick Molnar said.

“It is great to collaborate with such a well-respected business, especially at this time of year. Our main focus is to help our customers – Afterpay is unashamedly customer-centric, so it gives us satisfaction to help parents budget for the costly back to school purchases.”