March 10 marks the beginning of another Consumer Week, and in retailers’ pursuit of better results, more flexible commercial terms can be the decisive difference between closing a good deal and losing the opportunity to competitors. Customers of Barte, a fintech that offers a modular payment solutions system for medium and large companies, have a powerful weapon to boost sales during this crucial period for retail: installment plans of up to 24 months.
This convenience has been delivering significant results, with sales growth of over 12%, especially in businesses with higher average ticket sizes (though demand for terms exceeding 12 months is already being noticed for products and services starting at R$2,000). Often, the purchase only fits the buyer’s budget because the total cost can be spread over a longer period. An example is Cidadania4U, a Barte client since the first quarter of 2024, which offers support services for obtaining European citizenship.
“We are approached by families who want to emigrate to Europe. Since the service contracts are made for multiple people within the same family group, facilitating payment is important so that a portion of our clients can realize this dream,” explains the company’s commercial director, Jeferson Santos.
Since starting to offer 24-month installment plans in the third quarter of 2024, Cidadania4U has seen a 12.8% increase in sales. “We were able to serve a larger portion of the clients who approached us,” says Santos.
Another company that benefited from extended installments was Stanley’s Hair, which specializes in male hair transplants and has been a Barte client since 2023.
“Our audience is primarily from classes B and C and very focused on price and payment terms. When we started selling with up to 24 installments, about 10% of our clientele was already requesting this extension,” says Gláucio Melo, commercial director of Stanley’s Pay, the company responsible for Stanley’s Hair payments. “With this, we saw our sales grow by about 3%.”
For Consumer Week, both Cidadania4U and Stanley’s Hair have prepared special promotions where extended installments will take center stage. “It will certainly be a strong ally for the success of our campaign,” predicts Santos from Cidadania4U.
Barte began offering installment plans of up to 18 months in August of last year; the following month, it extended terms to up to 24 months—the only one enabling this number of installments in the multi-acquirer market. By the end of 2024, sales with terms over 12 months reached R$67 million, while transactions above 18 installments totaled R$21 million. Within this total volume of R$89 million, the average ticket was R$12,200 per transaction. “This convenience, rare to find in the market, is just one of the ways we’ve found to support our clients and help businesses achieve the best results,” says Rafael Milaré, Revenue Director at Barte.
