When considering salon booking platforms that offer your clients payment flexibility, you’ll want to understand the providers, their fees, and more. Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) gives your clients payment options that may encourage them to upgrade services or try something new. Maybe a client requires a series of services to achieve their hair or skin goals, and offering BNPL gives them another way to fit that investment into their budget rather than putting it off. Let’s take a look at how it all works and find the best solution for your business.
Benefits of Buy Now, Pay Later options
Salon benefits: Offering BNPL can increase your average ticket size and boost consultation conversions. If you’re offering multi-visit packages, a series of treatments, or pricier services like extensions, microneedling, laser, and injectables, and luxury retail, this may be what your clients are looking for. And it will help attract a wider demographic of clientele and encourage clients to commit without needing to discount your services.
Where it may not be worth the extra fees for your salon is for routine services like color, cut, nails, lashes, facials, and blowouts. These are not typically the high-ticket items people are looking to spread out into more manageable payments. Be sure whichever platform you choose allows you to decide when you’ll offer BNPL.
Client benefits: Why offer BNPL if people can use a credit card for a higher-ticket item? The difference between the two is that clients can pay in installments and BNPL can be interest-free (usually if paid in 6 weeks), while a credit card’s interest-free grace periods can vary. Also, BNPL uses a soft credit check, and the majority of clients are approved. With credit cards, approval can be harder to get and will lower your score just for checking (hard credit check).
But how will that impact your business? Will you get paid in installments, too?
BNPL vs Credit Card
You’ll receive payments the same way as you would with a credit card. Your business receives the total purchase amount whether using BNPL or paying with a standard credit or debit card. With BNPL, the client pays the provider over time, and your salon gets paid upfront (usually within 1-3 days), minus any fees. The provider assumes the risk of clients not paying the installment, but will charge you a premium for that. We’ll look at that below. But for now, just think of it as a way to boost the client’s experience by enabling them to try services that may be out of reach for one transaction.
What is the Client Experience?
Start by making sure clients know you offer BNPL. If they don’t know or don’t understand the flow or options, they won’t use it. Be sure to post on socials and add a pop-up to your booking and service menu pages. Once they’re aware, they might explore some of those higher-ticket services.
When they are ready to book or check out, either online or in-salon, your clients will see the BNPL options. Once they choose Affirm, Klarna, Afterpay, etc., they will be taken out of the booking flow to the provider website.
This is by design and is not to be considered a bad client experience. The provider will be handling the financing, so the application portion has to live on their site. In other words, if the client doesn’t have an existing account with an approval, they will need to be approved, and that’s just not something that can happen on your booking site. But they will be redirected back to the booking site each time.
What should a Salon Owner know before choosing a BNPL option
- Payouts and fees: Typical payout timelines are similar to credit card payouts, around 1-3 days depending on your contract. The BNPL provider deducts its transaction fee before depositing the remainder.
Since they are assuming the risk of payments not being made, they charge a premium: An average 6% credit card fee + $0.30 flat transaction fee, once for the entire installment agreement. Compared to average credit or debit card processing at 2.45-2.65% + $.015 transaction fee, this is something to be aware of.
And check out all providers’ fees before deciding. For example, Klarna charges different fees for different transactions, so be sure to read your contract! - Tips: Keep in mind, if someone tips on a BNPL transaction, you will be charged the 6% fee on that tip. Then again, if clients are paying in installments, they may tip more generously.
- The Built-In angle: When BNPL platforms say “built-in,” it usually just means “pre-installed.” You just have to flip a switch in your app or dashboard, and it works on your checkout screen. There could be a hidden catch, however.
Some platforms’ version of “built-in” means you have to follow their rules. Rules like allowing clients to finance a lower-ticket item like a bottle of shampoo. With some platforms, it is built-in and easy, but they give you a “Settings” button so you can type in your own rules. Rules like making sure the “Pay Later” button only shows up for high-ticket $200 hair color or extensions so you can avoid paying 6% or more on your less expensive services or retail. - Refunds/disputes: Once the processing fee is taken, it’s gone. You’ll end up refunding the full amount, but you’ve already paid the fees. Some providers will also charge a dispute fee even if you win the dispute. It can also be tricky to get your money back if you try to keep a deposit or charge a no-show fee. You could keep your deposit and no-show fees under your minimum threshold, so the option to use BNPL won’t show up as a payment option.
- Reporting: This should be integrated with your existing salon software. BNPL should reflect in your reporting as simply another payment type, as you will be getting paid up front. Be sure you confirm that you won’t need to “dashboard hop” to keep track of any transactions.
Who offers it
Top salon software options with BNPL include:
- Fresha: Offers installment payments via Klarna (in the US) at checkout. The BNPL option is available on all plans, including their Independent tier, but you cannot set a minimum. It’s set by the provider, as low as $10-50. Those fees on low-ticket items could be tough to swallow for a smaller salon.
- Boulevard: Offers Affirm and Klarna, allowing clients to pay over time for treatments and packages. It’s ideal for salons and medspas offering services across all price points, since you have the ability to set your own minimum threshold for using BNPL. They also offer marketing/social templates you can use to make sure clients are aware of the option.
- GlossGenius: Offers Affirm, Klarna, and Afterpay. Minimums are set by the provider as low as $10-50. Email/text and social templates are available to help you spread the word. This simpler setup could be perfect for independent pros or smaller salons to help attract new clients to grow their books and revenue with higher-ticket services.
- Vagaro: Offers Affirm only, available directly in its checkout flow for purchases and services ranging from $50 and up. It is also fully customizable for setting your minimum threshold. They offer window clings and IG templates for in-salon awareness as well as online.
The client experience is important, and BNPL can help drive higher-ticket sales and conversions. If you’re going to offer it, make sure clients know it’s available and that using it is seamless. But the experience on your side matters, too. Choose a platform with truly built-in capabilities that make those higher fees worth it. Consider what happens if someone returns a big retail haul or disputes a charge, whether you get to set a minimum before BNPL is offered, and how easily you can track everything in your existing reporting.
Most salon platforms now offer some version of BNPL, so the question isn’t simply whether it’s available. Look at how much control you have over it, what it will cost you, and how well it fits into the way you already run your business.
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