Meet Elyn, a brand new French startup that not too long ago raised a $2.7 million (€2.5 million) pre-seed funding spherical led by Headline and Sequoia Arc. The corporate needs to supply some flexibility in the case of e-commerce on-line funds. As a substitute of paying for objects earlier than they’re even shipped, Elyn lets clients strive before you purchase one thing.
This expertise could sound acquainted when you’ve got purchased objects on Zalando, a preferred e-commerce clothes retailer in Europe that has turned its try-before-you-buy choice into certainly one of its key promoting factors. Primarily, when it’s time to pay for objects in your on-line cart, Zalando clients get a number of fee choices. They’ll enter their card particulars or use PayPal like on some other web site.
However in addition they have the choice to pay later. This isn’t a Klarna-like ‘purchase now, pay later’ choice with the power to unfold a big fee over a number of installments. Customers enter their fee card particulars and their card will get charged a couple of days after receiving the objects.
This fashion, in case you modified your thoughts and wish to return an merchandise, you possibly can block the fee earlier than it even happens. That is significantly vital while you’re promoting garments as a result of it may be exhausting to select the correct measurement. Gadgets may look totally different when you possibly can really see them in particular person.
There are greater than 300 individuals working for Zalando Funds particularly. That offers you a way of the significance of the corporate’s in-house fee resolution. If you will discover the identical T-shirt on Zalando or on one other clothes retailer, you could resolve to purchase on Zalando based mostly on this characteristic alone.
Making ‘try-before-you-buy’ mainstream
Many corporations may gain advantage from this sort of fee expertise. That’s why Elyn needs to supply try-before-you-buy to smaller retailers and types. That is significantly vital in France and different European markets the place bank cards are nowhere as widespread as within the U.S. The product at the moment works with Shopify with different e-commerce platforms coming quickly.
When you begin fascinated with try-before-you-buy, you notice that it’s intrinsically related with returns. That’s why Elyn not solely presents try-before-you-buy, but additionally handles the return system.
“With try-before-you-buy, you solely pay for what you resolve to maintain,” Elyn co-founder and CEO El Mehdi Hachad instructed me. “We’re additionally serving to retailers with their returns in order that return requests are changed into exchanges straight within the return interface that we offer.”
When a buyer needs to return an merchandise, Elyn asks you a few inquiries to slender down the explanation why you wish to return one thing. Is it the unsuitable measurement or the unsuitable coloration? Do you wish to get your a reimbursement? Would you like the identical merchandise in a special measurement? Would you like one other merchandise? Would you like a present card?
If individuals simply wish to be reimbursed, Elyn will give you a present card with a bit extra money than what you initially spent in order that retailers don’t should spend cash from their money stability.
If clients need the identical merchandise in a special measurement, Elyn can look within the retailer’s stock straight and set the merchandise apart if it’s out there. Relying on the choice that you choose, Elyn can seamlessly regulate the upcoming card transaction. It is a smoother expertise for the tip buyer as they don’t must ship one thing again, look ahead to the reimbursement and purchase one thing else every week or two later.
By default, Elyn provides you 5 days to resolve whether or not you wish to maintain one thing or not. The startup tracks packages in order that it might probably ship you an electronic mail when your package deal arrives to elucidate fee particulars and embrace a hyperlink to the return portal.
As a way to keep away from fee defaults, Elyn makes use of pre-authorization requests to confirm the validity of Visa, Mastercard and CB playing cards. The startup fees transaction charges based mostly on profitable gross sales internet of returns.
“The best way we see the number of fee choices and companies is that you just wish to provide one thing for each use case,” Hachad mentioned. Some clients simply wish to enter their card particulars and transfer on. Others solely wish to pay with PayPal. Some individuals wish to purchase now and pay later utilizing Klarna, Alma, Scalapay or one other BNPL fee choice. In some circumstances, clients just like the comfort of Apple Pay.
And now, Elyn believes it might probably add one other brand to the checkout circulation for individuals who wish to barely delay their on-line fee. All these fee corporations are tackling cart abandonment. Including extra choices can enhance the conversion price. And it’s true that bettering gross merchandise quantity is an efficient solution to persuade on-line retailers that they need to use your fee product.
Along with Headline and Arc, Motier Enterprise (Galeries Lafayette house owners’ household workplace), Financière Saint James, Marc Menasé (Founders Future) and Guillaume Princen additionally invested within the startup.
