Afterpay Picks Up a New Layaway Client in REVOLVE

Layaway used to be a very big deal, especially around Christmas time. The ability to keep potential presents stored in a central location, away from the prying eyes of eager youngsters—and those not so young—while making steady payments on them was a valuable service that kept some shoppers sticking with a particular store over another. While it lost a lot of ground to the credit card, layaway made something of a comeback in recent years, as exemplified by Afterpay, who recently expanded its own roster to clothing company REVOLVE.

REVOLVE offers a range clothing for men and women, and also includes shoes, accessories, and even beauty products. A product offering like that does suggest good things for layaway, so it’s not surprising that Afterpay got involved. Already connected to Urban Outfitters, Free People, and Anthropologie, Afterpay allows businesses to offer pretty much every customer an installment plan: four interest-free payments, and all for online purchases.

Now that Afterpay is available at REVOLVE, REVOLVE took things one step further. It offered a contest with a top prize of an all-expense-paid trip to Bermuda as part of the #REVOLVEsummer event.

Afterpay’s CEO and co-founder, Nick Molnar, noted “Afterpay is obsessed with providing customers the best shopping experience possible and enabling them to own the products they love without taking out a traditional loan. Partnering with REVOLVE, a brand that holds the same customer-centric values so core to our identity, is an amazing milestone for Afterpay as we launch into the U.S. Market.”

While there are some signs that layaway’s revival is turning out to be a bit more brief than some may have expected, the notion that it came back at all is something of a surprise. And let’s be honest; a little more flexibility in online shopping likely won’t go askance. It may even pull in some new customers for places like REVOLVE where shoppers might not ordinarily have entered previously. That’s the kind of tool most retailers would like to have in the toolbox.

Only time will tell how well Afterpay works for REVOLVE, but it’s got a little better position than it already had. That might be all the good news REVOLVE needed.