More E-Tailers Are Letting Consumers 'Bill Me Later'

No cash down has long been a staple promotion for traditional merchants, so it makes sense that e-commerce players are increasingly offering this billing option as an alternative to upfront credit and debit card payments.
In one example, after ToolKing.com began testing the “Bill Me Later” payment system offered by I4 Commerce last fall, the retailer tracked 430 holiday season customer acquisitions back to the program for its wide-ranging line of industrial and do-it-yourself tools, a 5 percent increase compared to same period in 2004.

Perhaps more importantly, ToolKing.com’s average orders via Bill Me Later were $300 during the holidays, while credit/debit tickets evened out at $200. The lift can be connected to the $250 minimum attached to the no-payments-for-90-days offer running at www.toolking.com [1], but the retailer said the results were equally related to freeing customers of the immediate responsibility of funding their holiday shopping while also eliminating the threat of stolen financial information. In the end, Tool King added nearly $130,000 in seasonal revenue because of the program.....for more of the story from DM News [2]