Afterpay, Stripe and Squarespace collab will allow small e-commerce businesses to offer BNPL payments

Website hosting and building company Squarespace is partnering with Stripe and Afterpay to give small business owners and creatives the opportunity to offer a buy now, pay later (BNPL) option to their customers.

Stripe initially partnered with Aussie BNPL giant Afterpay, allowing merchants using Stripe to offer payment in installments.

The pair are now offering that integrated service to e-commerce platforms, with Squarespace becoming the first to sign up.

According to Afterpay, some 83% of retailers see a drop in shopping cart abandonment when they offer a flexible payment option.

But, BNPL is typically the domain of larger retailers, and hasn’t been easy to implement for small businesses.

In a statement, Noah Pepper, Stripe’s business lead for the Asia Pacific region, said there has been strong demand for flexible payment options from merchants all over the world.

The Afterpay partnership “gives businesses on Stripe an effective tool for capturing more sales and reaching new customers”, he said.

This has been a “top requested feature” from Squarespace customers, the New York business’ chief product officer Paul Gubbay said in a statement.

It’s intended to help small businesses, artists and creators to boost their sales without having to compromise on their unique design or branding, he explained.

But, it also taps into spending trends among millennial and gen Z consumers, who — according to Afterpay’s senior vice president of global sales Ben Presseley — demand flexible options that “allow them to budget and spend responsibly”.

“We’re equipping retailers with the tools to meet this consumer demand.”