With increasing numbers of South Africans either having bad credit records or not qualifying for credit, lay-bys have become an attractive payment option for consumers. Essentially, consumers pay a set amount every month over a specified period for an item and only get said item once it is completely paid off. As there are no interest rates or hidden fees, this helps the consumer to stick to their budget, as they always know upfront the exact amount that they will pay in total. For this reason, it also works as a budgeting tool for consumers. Best of all, lay-buys are also a simple way to increase sales for businesses.

Easy ways to leverage lay-bys to increase sales:

Tell your customer that you offer this payment option

Customers can only use this payment option, if they know that it is available in a particular store. In addition, make sure that the terms and conditions – including cancellations and refunds – around your lay-bys are easily understood and clearly advertised around your store or on your website.

Utilise the 3-6 month lay-by window period

As much as lay-bys help consumers to plan, similarly, it can help businesses plan what stock to advertise and ‘push’ to customers. For example, you can work around the seasons and advertise things such as slow cookers and humidifiers in the lead-up to autumn and winter, whereas ice machines and lawnmowers could be showcased a few months before spring.

This is also an easy way to sell hard-to-move items.

To find out other ways that Cash Converters is increasing sales for our franchisees, click here.