How do I know which ‘Consumer Financing Program’ is right for my business?
To work out the best consumer financing program for your retail business, these are the key points to consider:- Level of Effort (LOE). Think about what financial and IT resources will you be required to provide to get the program up and running. Also, examine reconciliation demands, how will you receive funds from your lending platform.
- Business as Usual (BAU). Look at what internal changes are needed in order to support the financing solution such as staff training, new hardware and accepting ACH from the lender.
- Point of Sale (POS). You must ensure that any new system is able to work seamlessly with both your website and physical POS if you have both.
- Branding. Customers prefer to feel that they are applying for financing through the retailer that they are shopping with, as sending your customers out to a third party at the point of purchase might affect the conversion rate.
- Acceptance rate. Look at the acceptance rate of the consumer financing program or the lender that they are working with to ensure that it suits your customer demographic. It is ideal if the program works with more than one lender for this purpose.
