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PAYMENTS solution provider Afterpay (ASX: APT) has teamed up with Australian Westfield centres to push the Afterpay payment platform.
The partnership will launch during Fashion Weekend from September 7 to 10 with Afterpay promotional content to be placed on more than 1,500 screens in Westfield centres to drive awareness of the payment platform.
Afterpay offers a lay-by payment solution both online and in-store, so the partnership with Westfield demonstrates the group's desires to increase its in-store presence, according to managing director Nick Molnar.
Afterpay now has over 40 retail brands offering its platform through a network of more than 1,500 storefronts.
"With approximately 70 per cent of Afterpay in-store retailers located in Westfield centres the partnership was a natural alignment," says Molnar.
"This is the start of a partnership which aligns with the customer and retailer, driving mutual benefit for both parties."
The Afterpay platform works by delaying the complete payment for goods over four fortnightly periods, allowing the customer to receive the product at once without having to pay full price upfront.
"As a customer-centric business, Afterpay provides time rather than finance to make purchases customers also use the platform as a useful budgeting tool; while merchants gain incremental sales, boost conversions and reduce returns," says Molnar.
Bill Burton, the group general manager at Scentre Group (ASX: SCG) which owns and operates Westfield in Australia and New Zealand, says that giving Afterpay access to the Westfield footprint will bring physical scale to the payment platform.
"Today's customer expects to move seamlessly between the physical and digital experience and this partnership will help our retailers make this a reality," says Burton.
"Many of our retail partners have already seen the positive impact of Afterpay online and they now see the opportunity to revolutionise the in-store experience as well."
According to Afterpay, over 20 per cent of total online fashion retail sales in Australia are processed using the Afterpay payment system.
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Business News Australia
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