Steve Croth
Managing Director, Zip Canada
In Canada’s saturated BNPL ecosystem, Zip stands out by putting customers at the centre and helping retailers increase conversions.
Consumer financing tools like Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) have traditionally been a way to help customers fit purchases into their budget and for retailers to boost their sales. “What’s new is the digital aspect which lets people get the approval and do the purchase instantly through their phone,” says Steve Croth, Managing Director in Canada for Zip, a payments and consumer financing firm founded in Australia eight years ago that recently expanded into Canada.
Providing a superior experience
Using Zip’s BNPL technology purchasers can break a payment into four equal interest-free instalments spaced two weeks apart. “It kind of hits the sweet spot of that millennial shopper who doesn’t have a credit card or doesn’t want to use one because of the high fees, but is comfortable using a phone or shopping online,” says Croth.
With a consistently high Net Promotor Score (NPS), Zip is managing to not only satisfy but also delight its customers, something Croth attributes to three core pillars of its market approach — an obsession with customer experience, a customer-first mindset, and constant measurement.
“Keeping customers delighted really starts with the experience, so ours includes an easy-to-use product that provides a frictionless transaction backed up by great customer support, with no late fees or penalties,” says Croth.
Zip’s customer-first mindset views customers as brand ambassadors, rather than simply people transacting using the technology. “As brand ambassadors we know they’re going to go spread the word about us good or bad, so our customer-first mindset focuses on customer satisfaction, resolving their issues quickly, and being empathetic,” says Croth.
Finally, the company constantly measures and monitors its customer feedback. “We dissect all the reviews and comments and use that data to improve our service model,” says Croth.
Helping retailers convert budding shoppers into repeat customers
These three core pillars are also integrated with Zip’s merchant experience. “It’s about being a steward of their brand by representing their brand values and upholding the highest standard in customer experience because their customers are our customers,” says Croth.
The strong customer experience focus extends to helping retailers struggling with low customer conversion rates. “I find many e-commerce merchants tend to focus at the top of the funnel, but you need to focus at the bottom. It’s kind of like a leaky bucket. You need to plug the leaks first and our technology, tools and processes can give retailers certain efficiencies to do that and get people to successfully transact,” says Croth.
With improved efficiencies, it’s easier for retailers to convert the casual shopper, the shopper on a tight budget or the shopper without a credit card. “We help retailers sell more stuff to more people by getting customers for them online, in-store, and in their sales funnel,” says Croth. The increased transaction volume in turn helps to improve the retailer’s efficiencies in key performance indicators like customer acquisition costs, return on marketing costs, and average order value.
With about ten million users of its app in 14 markets, Zip services 82,000 retailers globally. “I think by having one of the best products in the market from an experience and technology perspective really lets us deliver on our promise to retailers to drive top line, increase order values, and improve conversion rates,” says Croth.
