More than ever people are looking to upskill and retrain, both through traditional in-person courses and via new online platforms. E-learning alone will be worth an estimated $325 (£275) billion in 2025, so education and training businesses should continue to see increased demand.
However, training courses are often expensive and as such are inaccessible to a large percentage of people interested in undertaking them. In this guide, we’ll look at how implementing flexible finance like buy now pay later (BNPL) can make your training courses more accessible and increase demand and revenue for your education and training business.
What is buy now pay later?
Buy now pay later is a modern form of finance allowing consumers to spread the cost of their purchase over a set amount of instalments. It experienced huge growth in popularity during Covid, and more than 37% of Brits have already used the payment method.
Greater access to courses
Put simply, offering finance like BNPL can increase the number of people able to sign up for your education and training courses. A course can cost hundreds, if not thousands of pounds. For many people, these prices are out of financial reach. Learners miss out on gaining invaluable education, whilst businesses lose out on possible revenue.
By offering finance, you can alleviate the financial burden for learners so they don’t need to pay thousands of pounds for a course upfront. Instead, they can spread the cost and enjoy more financial freedom. The result is more people can enhance their skills and find new employment or progress their careers while you increase revenue and sell more courses.
Meet consumer needs
People are increasingly becoming used to having the option of BNPL to fund their purchases, whether they’re buying furniture, clothes or training courses. Interest-free options are especially popular with consumers, with customers recognising the benefit of paying over time without any additional costs.
By offering finance at checkout, you can meet customer needs head-on and give them their preferred options for paying. If a consumer knows you offer financing options, they’re more likely to use your business to book a course and enhance their knowledge and skill set.
Increase revenue
Offering finance options like BNPL gives you another revenue stream and can also help increase average order sizes. For instance, when a customer is reassured of their ability to access finance to spread payments over time they’re more likely to consider purchasing premium options, such as courses with one-to-one instructor time.
As a business, you want to explore every available option for bringing in additional income. As well as offering credit and debit payments, flexible finance options, such as BNPL, are integral for not only reducing checkout drop-offs but also increasing revenue.
Improve efficiencies
BNPL platforms such as Deko will handle the admin related to a purchase made through finance, from application to payment completion. For providers who currently offer finance themselves or in partnership with a lender, this can significantly improve operational efficiencies. For example, a provider may be bogged down with the need to contact each customer regularly to ensure they keep up with their payment obligations. But, a platform such as Deko will streamline the fulfilment, payment and the overall sales journey.
Providers like Deko handle almost the entire process after a purchase has been made through finance, but they also go one step further and bear the risk of non-payment, so you’ll get paid upfront in full.
Build better customer relationships
Customer relationships are an essential factor for any business, whether it’s building a reputation with first-time customers or generating repeat business. If customers like what they see, they’re more likely to shop with you again. It’s no different for education and training businesses, where repeat business is an important source of income.
For example, many people annually seek training courses outside of their workplace to advance their careers. If you offer finance, they're more likely to return each year and enrol on one of your courses.
Forward-thinking with flexible finance
BNPL is the perfect partner for education and training businesses. It gives learners more ways to pay and increases the availability of courses to them. For your business, it offers the chance to sell more courses and benefit from more revenue while giving learners the opportunity to upskill.
