“Afterpay drives customer loyalty and incremental sales"
Australia’s number one online travel agency Webjet began offering Afterpay in 2021, and it hasn’t looked back.
The Afterpay Advantage
Afterpay is expected by customers
Afterpay drives more transactions and makes the experience seamless
Afterpay helps Webjet reach more customers and drives customer loyalty
Afterpay helps merchants leverage insights to drive sales
Australians famously love to travel, whether it’s a quick trip across the ditch to New Zealand or a holiday further afield. And every year, hundreds of thousands of Aussies turn to online travel agency Webjet to book their flights.
Increasingly, many of these customers are choosing to pay with Afterpay, says Webjet CEO David Galt, who says that Afterpay payments now make up a “significant” proportion of the platform’s overall ticket sales.
Webjet, which is Australia’s number one online travel agency, began offering Afterpay in 2021 during the global pandemic, just as borders were poised to reopen. “It became evident that ‘revenge travel’ would be a big thing. As soon as Australians and Kiwis were able to travel again, they were going to do it vigorously.”
It was also clear, says Galt, that travel costs would rise, and offering Afterpay was one way to help customers navigate this high-cost, high-demand period.
"We’re thrilled with our Afterpay partnership."
But what started as a payment solution for customers has now become an important business tool for Webjet.
“We’re thrilled with our Afterpay partnership. We didn’t know what to expect when we signed on but it’s really exceeded our expectations” says Galt, who adds that Afterpay drives incremental sales, as well as customer loyalty and lifetime value.
“We look forward to continuing our long-standing and successful partnership.”
About Webjet
Webjet is Australia and New Zealand’s leading online travel agent, processing more than one million transactions every year.
Webjet offers domestic and international flights to thousands of destinations via more than 150 different airlines, through to accommodation, travel insurance, car hire and experiences worldwide
Afterpay drives more transactions
Offering Afterpay boosts sales by letting customers take advantage of time-sensitive deals, says Galt.
“Afterpay lets people take opportunities they might miss out on to book sale airfares and holiday packages. Afterpay helps people manage the timing of their payments, while still securing the deal they want.”
Afterpay also assists Webjet customers booking unexpected travel, whether that involves caring for sick relatives or attending a last-minute event.
Afterpay helps Webjet reach more customers
“Afterpay provides incremental customers,” says Galt. “Afterpay has a large audience of active users,and that’s what separates Afterpay from its competitors in our eyes – the size of the audience and the frequency with which they use the product.”
“Afterpay has a great brand and… and it’s good for Webjet to be in front of [their] audience.”
Afterpay drives customer loyalty
Webjet prides itself on excellent service, and offers customers around-the-clock telephone support and online messaging. “Travel can be a stressful experience for you as an individual traveller, so it’s really reassuring to have someone to talk to on the other end of the phone who can help you out.”
Offering Afterpay, which allows travellers to spread the costs of their travel, is one more way for Webjet to demonstrate that it understands its customers’ needs. “Afterpay is just becoming the norm for consumers – not just the youth market but throughout the different age brackets – and they expect to be able to manage their payments as they see fit.”
Statistically, Afterpay customers spend more frequently than the average Webjet customer, adds Galt.
Afterpay makes transactions seamless
Like all e-commerce businesses, Webjet is committed to continuously improving the end-to-end customer booking experience, and Galt says that Afterpay helps reduce friction during the payment process. “It’s a seamless transaction process. It’s far easier than entering 16 digits of a credit card into a mobile phone and getting the CVV and expiry date and so on… especially on a mobile device.”
Afterpay is expected by Australians
Afterpay has become both popular and expected, says Galt.
“Afterpay is a really well-known and trusted brand. It’s a household name, and it’s now become a ubiquitous payment type that our customers like to use. More and more we’re seeing people desiring the ability to spread out payments to suit their needs and other cash flow constraints.”
"Afterpay is a really well-known and trusted brand. It’s a household name."
Afterpay and Webjet work together to unlock growth
Over the past three years, Afterpay and Webjet have collaborated to reach audiences across both platforms to promote offers for Afterpay Day or through the Pulse Rewards program, and promote their partnership across billboards in Australia and New Zealand. Webjet also takes part in Afterpay Day.
“Afterpay’s account management team works closely with our marketing and payment teams to really look for opportunities in the conversion funnel, for example. They have a heavy focus on data, which aligns with us, and we use that data to drive actionable insights.”
“We look forward to continuing our partnership with Afterpay.”
All references to any registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Afterpay does not endorse or recommend any one particular supplier and the information provided is for educational purposes only.
Categories