Three quAIstions …an interview with Wiebke Tschorn and Michaela Wittmann

The new Select&Pay feature allows for quick and easy payment, even when items are being returned – no more mental arithmetics or having to watch your typing. In this interview product owner Wiebke Tschorn and senior sales executive Michaela Wittmann talk about who this might interest, what’s so special about it and how businesses can benefit.

Zalando started offering a new “try now, pay later” option in autumn 2019. H&M was soon to follow with its “buy now, pay later” option. Who is the Select&Pay feature aimed at? 

Wiebke: Select&Pay offers true added value to a wide variety of sectors. It is particularly worthwhile for businesses wanting to give customers the option of paying for part of the value of selected items, with the intention of using this feature to position the brand in the minds of their customers. For instance, it provides utility or insurance companies with a good overall picture of outstanding debts by due date, allows them to receive partial payments and goes a long way in helping to obtain timely payments.

However, e-commerce is where we’re likely to see the most use cases. Particularly, when customers choose to pay by invoice and then end up returning some of the items.

Other uses will also interest retailers: like Zalando’s “try now, pay later”, Select&Pay allows you to separate the payment process from the checkout transaction. What’s more, when store based retailers are in possession of customer data, for example email addresses, this intuitive feature can also be used for retail formats with multiple branches – like H&M’s.

Michaela: With one major difference: Select&Pay is fully white labelled. Which means that the look and feel of the payment page and the communications are exactly how the retailer wants them to be. No other company or brand names are visible to consumers. This makes it particularly interesting for companies and brands who want to extend the customer experience into the post-purchase phase and increase customer lifetime value.

What’s so special about Select&Pay?

Michaela: With Select&Pay, online invoices become interactive and allow for direct payment with a variable shopping cart. Particularly when you buy something in a sale, in which there might be 30 percent off all items, and the reduction is only deducted from the total sum at the end, calculating the amount you’re going to have to pay can be a bit complicated. By combining digital communications with online payment methods, you turn the mental arithmetics of shopping into an interactive dialogue with your customer and a win-win situation for both sides.

Wiebke: Select&Pay can be used by businesses in their receivables processes before or after the due date, in other words at the invoice, initial payment request, or payment reminder stage. Another interesting feature is the opportunity to cross-sell after payment has been taken by showing advertisements customised to the interests of the shopper.

What are the benefits of Select&Pay?

Michaela: For customers, the main argument is the added convenience. All they need do is click on the link in the text message or email and they’re taken to the payment page with the integrated Select&Pay feature. This page is fully branded with your own business brand and identity. Here, your customers select the items they want to return and decide which online payment method they want to use to settle the invoice, which will have been automatically changed to account for the returns. They click the Confirm button and that’s it! It’s never been faster. It’s never been easier. No more mental arithmetics or having to watch your typing. No more logging into bank accounts, no more transcription ‘slips’.

Wiebke: Because customers pay earlier with Select&Pay, businesses primarily benefit from faster payment retrieval and fewer lost payments. At the same time, they cut processing costs in two ways. Due to the fact that there are far fewer issues with account balances not matching, there is less need for manual intervention. Simultaneously, the processing costs for the different payment methods are lower as you are only charged for the items that are actually purchased. In other words, you aren’t charged processing fees for items that are returned. In addition, online retailers receive information about returns much earlier. Which puts them in a better position to make good inventory decisions.

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To find out more about Select&Pay, watch our webinar with Michaela and Wiebke here. Or, try our demo.