R2,999 feels like a lot. R749.75 × 4 does not. That is the whole psychology of buy now, pay later — and most South African stores are getting only half the benefit, because they offer it at checkout instead of showing it where the decision actually happens.
1. What BNPL is, commercially
A buy-now-pay-later provider pays you the full order value up front, minus a merchant fee, and then carries the credit relationship with the customer. The customer pays in instalments — typically interest-free over a few weeks or pay-cheques. You are not lending money and you are not chasing payments; you are paying a fee to convert a shopper who would otherwise have hesitated.
The merchant fee is higher than a standard card fee, which is the trade. Whether it is worth it depends entirely on your average order value and how price-sensitive your customers are. On a R200 item it rarely is. On a R5,000 item it very often is.
2. The main providers in South Africa
The names you will come across most are Payflex, PayJustNow, Happy Pay, Mobicred and RCS. They differ in the number of instalments, whether the customer pays interest, and whether a credit check is involved:
- Pay-in-instalments providers (Payflex, PayJustNow, Happy Pay) split the purchase into a small number of interest-free payments — typically three or four — over weeks rather than months.
- Credit facilities (Mobicred, RCS) are revolving credit accounts and behave more like a store card, over longer terms and with interest.
Most stores end up offering two or three, not one. Customers have different accounts already, and the one they are signed up to is the one they will use.
3. The plugins are free — use them
Both Payflex and PayJustNow publish free official WooCommerce extensions. They add the payment method at checkout and include on-site display of the instalment amount on product pages. If you are paying someone for a plugin that does only this, stop.
Install the official plugin for every provider you sign up with. It is maintained by the provider, it stays current with their API, and it is the supported path if something goes wrong with a payment.
4. Where stores leave money on the table
Here is the mistake we see most often: the store signs up with two providers, enables them at checkout, and stops there. The shopper lands on a R2,999 product page, sees R2,999, decides it is too much, and leaves. They never reach checkout, so they never learn they could have paid R749.75 four times.
The instalment has to be on the product page, under the price. That is where the judgement is made. Every provider's own plugin can show its own line — the difficulty starts when you carry three providers and end up with three separate badges stacked under the price, each in a different style, and nothing showing the customer which is cheapest.
5. What good looks like
A product page that handles this well does four things:
- Leads with the smallest honest number. One line, directly under the price, showing the lowest per-payment amount across all your providers.
- Calculates per product. The amount reflects that product's actual price, including its sale price. Never a generic "instalments available".
- Expands, rather than shouting. One tap reveals every provider with its own terms and amount, so the customer can pick the account they already have.
- Looks like your store. Not three mismatched vendor badges. The Vivid Payment Calculator does exactly this, in four display styles.
6. Be straight with people
Buy now, pay later is credit, and the National Credit Act exists. Do not imply an instalment plan is free money, make the terms reachable in one click, and let each provider's own wording do the work on eligibility and late fees. Clear is also better commercially: customers who understand what they signed up for do not charge back.
Worth doing?
If your average order is over about R1,000 and your customers are price-sensitive — which in South Africa is most of them — then yes, and the on-page display is the part that pays for itself. Offering BNPL silently at checkout is like stocking a product and keeping it in the storeroom.
If you want this set up properly, including the on-page display across multiple providers, our web development team does exactly this on WooCommerce stores.
Want instalments on your product pages?
We set up buy-now-pay-later properly on WooCommerce stores, including the on-page display that actually drives the conversion.
Get in touchFrequently asked questions
Do Payflex and PayJustNow charge for their WooCommerce plugins?
No. Both publish free official WooCommerce extensions that add the payment method at checkout and can display instalment amounts on product pages.
Does buy now pay later cost the merchant anything?
Yes. BNPL providers take a merchant fee per transaction, typically higher than a standard card fee, in exchange for paying you the full order value up front and carrying the customer credit risk. Fees vary by provider and volume, so get current numbers directly from each provider.
Where should instalments be shown on my store?
Under the price on the product page, where the customer is deciding. Showing instalments only at checkout means the shopper has already judged the item on the full price and many will have left before they ever see the option.
