Yesterday, I ran across an article about a “90 day same as cash” program launched for Blue Nile. Blue Nile claims to be the world’s largest online vendor of diamond engagement rings by the way.
Essentially, if you are a consumer in the market for a diamond ring costing between $250 - $25,000, you can elect to use Blue Nile’s “Bill Me Later” option.
What is pretty slick is how efficient the “Bill Me Later” option is at checkout. All a customer needs to enter is their date of birth and the last four digits of their Social Security number and presto - you get an approval notice in seconds.
The “Bill Me Later” approach is sure attractive to those who don’t want to mess with revolving credit card payments from a large diamond ring purchase. At the same time, I bet the Generation Y demographic, making up a good percentage of typical Blue Nile customers, is not afraid to use their credit card online.
For me, it has been over 11 years since I had to learn about color and clarity. If I was making a purchase today for a new engagement ring, I would go for the credit card payment to earn the miles. Overall, it will be interesting to see how the “Bill Me Later” ecommerce tactic impacts overall sales for Blue Nile relative to the economy.
In closing, you have to wonder if there could be a better online payment approach to stretch sales.
Steve C. Kahle - Managing Principal - White Lion Internet Agency