Fortunate One saw a reduction in buy now pay later (BNPL) use during the height of the pandemic, operations manager Anya Stoliar has revealed to Ragtrader.
The Hello Molly sister brand saw customers pull back their BNPL usage during the height of the pandemic, Stoliar said.
"We saw a specific reduction in BNPL use during April and May and saw some pullback which later recovered from June onward.
"We imagine this might have something to do with the type of shoppers BNPL users are, and that they might have had to pull back spend in the short term due to uncertainty.
"If true, this might indicate that users aren’t changing their payment method based on external conditions, and that any fluctuation in the distribution is a symptom of the type of users that shop with our store," she said.
While contending with the shift in consumer behaviour, the business is also contending with the challenge of moving marketing algorithms and changes.
Stoliar said that brand's can't get too confident with their marketing mix at the moment.
"As soon as you think you’ve 'cracked the code' so to speak and figured out what gets you the best results in terms of engagement and subsequent return on investment on social media, the algorithm changes and you’re back to square one.
"Keeping up with these changes and acting quickly to re-optimise is definitely one of our biggest challenges.
"Also with the iOS updates comes a complete overhaul in the way brands are able to track users.
"This has a huge impact on marketing.
"When we can’t rely on data and personalised targeting, we have to get more creative than ever with our content to keep all eyes on Fortunate One," she said.