According to the last report on the Buy Now Pay Later adoption and perception in the European B2B sector, presented by Opyn and Ipsos, 98% of Italian companies consider Buy Now Pay Later in the future of digital payments and 65% are already oriented towards evaluating the adoption of solutions made possible by digital for deferred payments.
“We are among the very few European fintechs focused on the B2B sector - explained Greta Antonini, Chief Marketing & Communication Officer at Opyn - and for this reason we introduced our Opyn Pay Later service over a year ago, which we also made available abroad, in 5 languages, for merchants and buyers at the beginning of 2024. Today we observe that the Buy Now Pay Later model is consolidating as a payment solution for businesses. With this research we wanted to try to measure this phenomenon and today the first results referring to the Italian market confirm our intuitions. They give us an initial indication, while waiting to know the dynamics of the payment systems of companies in the rest of the countries we are analyzing: UK, France, Germany and Spain".
The research was conducted through interviews with entrepreneurs and managers of 200 Italian companies of different sizes and geographical locations. The selected companies operate in different sectors: 40% in the manufacturing industry, 28% in the service sector and 21% in the trade sector, the remaining 10% belong to other sectors. The companies are also characterized by physical and/or digital sales channels: 36% use digital and physical channels, 29% only digital, the remaining 35% only physical channels.
The research photographs the current payment instruments in use between businesses in Italy and the propensity to adopt Buy Now Pay Later solutions in relation to the rate of digitalisation of financial instruments and in response to the emerging needs of corporates and SMEs in the management of payments and of the relationship with customers. Almost all companies (98% of the panel interviewed) manage their current accounts online, over half (57%) make use of services for the secure management of payments and collections, and just under (54%) use services to manage e-commerce payments.
Of these companies involved in the Ipsos research, 65% are mainly oriented towards payments over 30-60-90 days, compared to 20% who prefer payments in a single solution. Longer payment terms or medium-long term financing are used in a minority manner. Italian companies are aware of Buy Now Pay Later: over half (51%) declare that they know it well, only 14% have never heard of it; furthermore, the opportunities for BNPL in the B2B sector are known to over half of the interviewees.
Those who have already adopted it have recorded positive feedback from their customers in the majority of cases (91%). In particular, BNPL is appreciated by B2B merchants who see: in 42% of cases, regular collections and better cash flows; in 41% of cases, the possibility of personalizing the installment plans to be offered to customers; in 36% of cases, an increase in sales. Among the advantages also the reduction of administrative costs (for 36% of those interviewed) and of the risks of unpaid debts (33%).
02-06-2024