Member Article

DivideBuy partners with premium hair styling experts CLOUD NINE

Leading LendTech provider DivideBuy has announced its new strategic partnership with premium hair styling tools retailer CLOUD NINE. The collaboration, which will see DivideBuy offer its interest free credit solutions to CLOUD NINE customers, aims to increase the accessibility of CLOUD NINE’s product range for its growing clientele base.

Founded in 2009, CLOUD NINE is an award-winning retailer and Official Hair Care Partner of this year’s Love Island series, and has opted to work with DivideBuy, who topped the Deloitte Fast 50 list in 2020, to make its premium products available to more customers as it grows its market share. The partnership will offer a financially responsible payment option that will help to make purchases more affordable and drive increased revenue opportunities.

High-quality styling tools are often seen as vital products, with many owners using them daily. For many people, the premium range of these award-winning products are extremely desirable, with CLOUD NINE’s range offering a huge variety of features for owners. By working with DivideBuy, CLOUD NINE will be able to offer four times longer payment terms when compared to many credit providers, giving consumers up to a year to spread their payments and making purchases from CLOUD NINE’s range even more convenient and affordable.

At the same time, retailers like CLOUD NINE can offer their premium products to a wider range of customers without any extra credit risk, with DivideBuy providing both the lending platform and the credit to the customer. This means retailers such as CLOUD NINE can expand their payment choice at the POS, and benefit from faster customer approval and onboarding, as well as data insights that can be used to influence targeted offers and loyalty bonuses. Interest free credit is proving to be a big hit with millennial consumers, with 54% of UK consumers in this age bracket using it as an easy and convenient payment option, in comparison to credit cards that charge interest and higher fees.

James Bradley, Business Development Director for DivideBuy, commented: “CLOUD NINE has already experienced strong success in the hair and beauty sector and, following the recent product placement deal with Love Island, has ambitious plans to capitalise on its brand awareness over the next 12 months. Interest free credit is enjoying rapid uptake among retailers and consumers alike, attracted by its flexibility that spreads out payments in an affordable way. Just in 2020, over 10 million UK consumers used interest free credit to make purchases. DivideBuy’s flexible payments solution is perfectly placed to offer a seamless payment option for CLOUD NINE’s customers, who had more disposable income to invest in themselves during lockdown.”

Nicki Milner of CLOUD NINE added “We want to make our products accessible to as many customers as possible and our strategic partnership with DivideBuy allows us to provide a higher level of payment flexibility, something that is of critical importance for consumers in the current economic climate. These benefits, along with the speed and simplicity of the process is what attracted us to DivideBuy, and we’re thrilled to have them on board to support our future growth.”

CLOUD NINE will join a list of diverse retailers working with DivideBuy to provide customers with payment instalment options. 2021 is set to be DivideBuy’s most successful year to date, having onboarded nearly 30 new retail partners already in just the first seven months of the year, including the leading premium homeware brand Simba Mattresses.

James Bradley concluded; “Over the past 18 months we’ve witnessed a seismic shift in the retail landscape. Bolstered by the changes in payment behaviour resulting from the pandemic, consumers are increasingly looking for more convenience and control in the way they browse, order and pay for their goods. Whether it’s used to buy high-end large-value items like styling appliances, home furnishings or tech gadgets, interest free credit is creating a real service differentiation for retailers that is attracting more customers. It’s a win-win situation for consumers and businesses alike.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sam Allsopp .