Italy's Scalapay raises €40 million to build a European version of Huabei

Foreign media reported that recently, an Italian company Scalapay raised 40 million euros to enable e-commerce consumers to "buy first and pay later."

In the past year, due to the global outbreak and recurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic, e-commerce around the world has entered a blowout period and ushered in considerable development and progress, especially in Europe, where people have a high standard of living and strong purchasing power. It has always been a huge market that cross-border sellers have tried to enter. Since 2020, Europeans have finally shifted consumption from offline to online, and more consumers are shopping online, especially young people, who have gradually become an important customer group that cannot be ignored in e-commerce.

However, not everyone has the ability or willingness to pay the full amount in advance for goods, especially for products with a higher average order value. When young people do not have much savings, they prefer the option of "buy now and pay later" rather than credit cards.

According to a survey by Cardify, a data company that tracks consumer spending , the cost of an item using the "buy now, pay later" option may be 10%-40% of the consumer's normal spending. There is no doubt that this option allows potential consumers who originally wanted but could not afford to place an order.

This feature sounds very much like the European version of "Huabei", but in comparison, this feature is obviously more suitable for European e-commerce consumers and merchants engaged in this industry: customers can buy immediately and then pay in three installments without paying any interest.

The lack of any interest means that these consumers and merchants will not hesitate when placing orders, which is obviously very good news for sellers: as the epidemic has developed to this point, the savings of foreign people have been almost consumed. With this function, buyers will have more considerations in placing orders when facing products with higher unit prices.

In fact, foreigners' awareness of forward consumption started much earlier than in China. However, compared with China, foreigners are more accustomed to using credit cards. With more digital and convenient options, this awareness of forward consumption will continue to shine in the e-commerce field.

Cross-border e-commerce market

Payment

Italy