Afterpay: Convenient Payment Solutions For Shoppers (essay).

Key Partners

Question:

Discuss about the Business Model Canvas Analysis of Afterpay.

Afterpay is an organization that provides digital services related to the payment of products some days after they have been bought. The amount of money can be paid in instalment basis within fourteen days. This payment service has gained popularity in Australia within a short span of time after their establishment in the market. The company was founded in the year 2014 in Sydney. The ways of earning and spending by people have become a major part of the technological advancements. The shoppers in the present times expect simplicity and flexibility in their shopping process. This issue can be resolved by services that are provided by Afterpay (Afterpay it! - Afterpay - Shop Now. Get it Now. Pay it in 4., 2018). The organization was set up with the aim of developing a technology that will lead the industry and further a team of world-class quality was organised for the purpose of achieving this objective. The organization has been providing simple and interest-free instalments to the shoppers so that they can buy the products that they desire without the tension to pay for it instantly. The purchase can be made by the customers online or from the stores of the various companies as well. The organization therefore makes it easy for the shoppers to fulfil their wishes without being worried about the amount required to purchase the products (Taran et al., 2015).

The relationships between the nine building blocks of the organization enables in the proper functioning of Afterpay in the market. The partners of the company have an effect on the customer base that is created and the shopping methods of the customers. The partnership of the company with big brands will enable it to attract customers from diverse areas of the market. The customer relationship created by the organization will help it in increasing the revenuers and operate in a smooth manner in the industry (Luft et al., 2016). The activities of the company related to the services provided to customers determines the trust that is gained by Afterpay within a short time. The channels that are created by the company with the help of online advertising and digital platforms will assist them in creating a base for the organization. The costs incurred by the company are related to the acquisition of the customers and the security that needs to be provided to the customers. The resources that are owned by the company affect the customer base and the services that can be provided to them. The revenue streams of the company are interlinked with the relationships that are made with the customers (Salgado et al., 2014).

Key Activities

The success of Afterpay within a short span of time and the potential growth related prospects of the company lies on the factors that are discussed further. The ease by which the merchants can become partners of the organization. The easy partnership methods can help the organization in increasing their business rapidly and develop a customer base as well. Afterpay has been able to make many partnerships within the short time of its operations in the industry (Carayannis, Sindakis & Walter, 2015). The organization has partnered with retailers like, Rebel, City Chic, Mimco, Icebreaker, Running Bare, Recreate Yourself and many more. These include the online and the in-store partners of the company. The organization has also partnered with payment merchants which has helped them in providing many options to the shoppers to make their payments (Lüdek-Freund & Dembek, 2017). Afterpay has also created a strong network related to the distribution of services. The popularity that has been gained by the company within a short span of time has helped it to gain the trust of the customers. Afterpay has aimed at providing 24/7 services to the customers and has solved their issues as soon as it has taken place. This is major reason behind the strong position gained by the company in the market within a short amount of time. Afterpay provides services which are quite similar to the credit card related services that are provided by banks (Ng, 2017). However, the terms and conditions of the business and services provided by Afterpay are quite simpler and user-friendly in nature. This will be a major attraction for the shoppers of any age and belonging to any level of the society. The ease and the simplicity with which the customers can make their payments in the website of Afterpay will be able to attract even those shoppers who are not addicted towards online shopping. The company has a strong capital base and this will enable them to increase their partners and further expand their business operations (do Rosário Cabrita et al., 2016).

The business organization can however face many issue in the operations in online payment industry. The adoption of online methods of payment and the trust related are of primary concern for a new company like Afterpay. The acceptance of online payments has increased in the past few years, however, many people still cannot trust on these methods completely. This issue can be faced by Afterpay during its operations in the industry. The risks related to fraud and breaches of security is another major issue that cause a roadblock in the smooth operations of the organization. The competition that is provided to a company like
Afterpay by the various banks which provide credit card facilities is another risk that needs to be tackled by Afterpay (Breuer & Lüdeke-Freund, 2017). The new and innovative concept of the business will be able to attract customers. However, the company will still have to face many issues regarding the trust that need to be gained from the customers. The company may also have to face issues in creating partnerships with online stores and the physical stores as well. The reason behind this issue is mainly that the other established companies may already have made partnerships with the other established organizations in the industry (Massa, Tucci & Afuah, 2016).

Value Proposition

The organization can increase its partnerships with other retail companies. This will help them in the expansion of their market area and gain more customers. The company is quite new in the business, and this is the reason why it requires huge amounts of promotions and marketing to increase the awareness related to the services offered by them. The innovative nature of their business needs to be the main value provided to the customers. The research and development of the organization needs to be built in a strong manner so that they can understand the needs and demands of the market. The company needs to increase their streams of revenue by merging their business operations with big brands in the country. This will help the organization in gaining from the brand value of the large organizations. The company needs to make a strong security system so that it can gain the trust of the customers. This will enable the organization increasing its customer base. Afterpay can also attract customers by providing attractive discounts to the customers on the products that they buy from its partner retailers. This extra value provided by the company will attract more and more customers and create a huge base for the company. The company needs to engage a separate team for the advertising related activities on the digital and social media platforms. This step will help the organization in increasing its reach and gaining customers. Afrepay needs to target the potential markets, which include the customers who are not aware of the online shopping platforms. Afterpay needs to increase its partners on the offline platform so that they gain the customer base. The company needs to invest much more in the advertising and partnership related activities so that they can increase their partnerships and their scope of expansion can also increase.

References

Afterpay it! - Afterpay - Shop Now. Get it Now. Pay it in 4.. (2018). Afterpay.com. Retrieved 24 March 2018, from https://www.afterpay.com/en-AU/index

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