Tread carefully. Buy Now, Pay Later isn't the simple conversion booster it's often sold as, and it comes with real costs. It only makes sense if you have higher-priced goods where financing is a genuine barrier for your customers. On one hand, letting people split payments can increase conversion rates and average order values. Charlie Youakim even suggested on the Up Arrow Podcast that you can create ad campaigns that specifically call out the BNPL option for these items. On the other hand, the fees are much higher than standard payment processors. On Shopify1Percent, Diana Birsan noted they can run from 6–10% of every sale. Michael Hershfield also raised a flag on 2X eCommerce about the potential for fraud and financial instability for merchants.
The biggest nuance people miss is how BNPL affects the checkout experience itself. Lissa Fryxell made a great point on Firing The Man that most third-party BNPL providers pull your customer away from your website to their own portal to complete the transaction. This journey interruption means you lose control of the experience at the most critical moment. More importantly, it kills your ability to offer a post-purchase upsell or cross-sell. While a tightly integrated option like Shop Pay Installments might avoid this, you have to weigh the promised conversion lift of other BNPLs against this loss of control and revenue opportunity.