TechRadar Verdict
If you're running an online shopping outlet then Sezzle looks like it make a lot of sense with easy integration and the ability to boost your business turnover.
Pros
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Works with many e-commerce platforms
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API edition too
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Great incentive for customers
Cons
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Only works online not in-store
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Sezzle is another contender in the growing range of payment solution companies, which offer an alternative take on billing customers. Similar in style to Splitit, you’ll find that Sezzle lets e-commerce and retail businesses that also offer products online give their customers a more flexible way to pay. In short, businesses are able to let shoppers spread their payments over a few weeks, meaning an easier way to pay and also perhaps tempt them into spending more money.
- Want to try Sezzle? Check out the website here
There are obvious benefits for merchants signing up to integrate Sezzle into their e-commerce websites. For starters, Sezzle takes on key issues such as fraud, chargebacks and also the repayments themselves, which means it’s very straightforward to set up and use. As an added bonus Sezzle is also good for boosting sales due to the flexibility it provides for consumers.
Pricing
If you're running an online operation and want to incorporate Sezzle into your purchasing options then as a merchant you’ll be charged a set percentage of each order, along with a small processing fee. However, you don't need to pay for any sign-up or set-up costs. Once you’ve signed up via the Sezzle website a member from the approvals team applies a rate to your store.
This is based on type of products that you sell, how long you’ve been in business and other factors. Fees are collected automatically, rather than leaving business owners with a monthly bill to pay. Sezzle says that it pays merchants up front and carries all of the responsiblity for fraud monitoring and other risks related to selling online.
Features
In terms of what features Sezzle has then there’s really not too much to the overall service. The concept is basically that businesses can offer customers the option to use Sezzle when it comes to payment time. Sezzle gives the consumer the option of splitting an order into four interest-free payments over the course of six weeks.
As long as the customer pays the installments on time then they won’t incur any fees. Similarly, if the outstanding amount is settled then there’ll be zero impact on their credit. Sezzle says it currently has around 26,000 online stores using its services, with more being added all the time.
Performance
It’s possible to integrate Sezzle with many popular e-commerce platforms, which are already known for their decent performance. Some of the key options include Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, 3dcart, CommentSold, OpenCart, BigCommerce, BuyItLive, Commerce Cloud and Wix but there are many more. There’s also a public API, which is aimed more at non-platform users.
You should note that Sezzle only currently works in an online e-commerce selling format and cannot be integrated into POS solutions in-store. That said, Sezzle does point out that it’s still possible for customers to make their purchase online and then carry out an in-store pick-up.
Ease of use
If you're in business, running an e-commerce website and want to implement Sezzle into the way it works then the steps are very simple. Sezzle has developed a no fuss API that works with plugins that enable the customer experience to be integrated into many of the leading e-commerce platforms. As mentioned above, this includes the big names, such as Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, 3dcart, CyberSource, BigCommerce and more besides.
There’s also a good level of documentation in relation to the API and how to get everything working if you’re a merchant that wants to offer the services of Sezzle. Once you’ve got things in place the experience for consumers should be very straightforward.
Support
Although Sezzle is an easy service to add to your online store there is also plenty of provision for getting help should you need it. Sezzle has a whole merchant support area on its own website. In fact, there are some really great walkthrough guides located here, with step-by-step instructions on how to integrate the service into many leading e-commerce tools, plus more besides.
Added to that it’s possible to submit a request to the support team if you need more specific help. You also get a pop-up chat window for assistance too, so the overall support picture with Sezzle seems to be pretty comprehensive.
Final verdict
Sezzle is another variant on the payment platform model that allows retail and e-commerce businesses to entice customers. With its easy to implement strategy and tempting terms for the consumer Sezzle adds another string to the bow of sellers, which is always going to be a good thing while coronavirus continues to dominate the headlines.
If you’re looking to gain new customers for your e-commerce outlet, want to encourage consumers to make larger orders by splitting their payments and let Sezzle handle all of the risks then this is a good route to explore. Sezzle has plenty of examples of how it’s helped boost the sales fortunes of many online outlets, so perhaps your business could be next?
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