Leading Canadian Retailer Altitude Sports To Offer Sezzle's 'Buy Now, Pay Later' Option At Checkout

- Canada's leading online retailer for technical apparel and urban fashion is partnering with the largest North America-based installments platform, providing shoppers with flexible payment options

- The leading Canadian multi-brand retailer of consumer favorites such as The North Face, Arc'teryx, Canada Goose, Patagonia, Osprey Packs and more than 400 other leading Canadian and international brands will now enable its customers the option of paying in installments over time;

- Altitude Sports chose Sezzle after a competitive 60-day head-to-head test trial; Sezzle won the business based on its overall performance, superior technology, focus on young consumers, and user experience;

- Sezzle's payments solution will be implemented across both Altitude Sports and its partner site, The Last Hunt, solely dedicated to selling discounted outdoor gear and apparel in Canada;

- 'Buy Now, Pay Later' -- the fastest growing trend in payments worldwide -- has exploded in popularity since online sales surged amid the pandemic;

TORONTO and MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 12, 2020 /CNW/ -- Sezzle Inc. (ASX:SZL) (Sezzle or Company) // Sezzle, the leading North American payments platform, is announcing that it has been selected as the official installment payments platform for Canadian sports retailer Altitude Sports. Sezzle's solution was chosen following a 60-day head-to-head trial period in which Sezzle and another installment payments company were evaluated based on a series of parameters, including ease of integration, user experience and financial performance. In setting up the pilot program, Altitude Sports wanted to both test the overall impact of adding the BNPL option to the checkout experience as well as identify the best long-term BNPL partner.

The Altitude Sports digital team was impressed with the immediate impact that the BNPL feature had on driving sales and pushing up average basket sizes, and identified Sezzle as the best platform for enabling that feature. Ultimately, Sezzle won the Altitude Sports contract based on the established performance parameters. Executives at the retailer also highlighted Sezzle's focus on young consumers, its deep understanding of the Canadian retail environment, and the company's purpose-driven corporate mission as being other key drivers that influenced their decision.

"We are excited to partner with such an influential Canadian retailer like Altitude Sports," said Patrick Chan, the Sezzle's General Manager for Canada. "Since Sezzle launched in Canada in mid-2019, we have been growing quickly, partnering with many of Canada's premier online retailers. It's so rewarding to see that many of the fastest growing companies in Canada are choosing Sezzle as its preferred BNPL solution."

"Today's announcement adds a powerful and influential Canadian brand to the Sezzle family, and we look forward to helping Altitude Sports expand their business now that they can offer their customers a new, more manageable way to pay -- a key differentiator in today's climate of economic uncertainty," added Chan.

Altitude Sports is known across the Canadian retail landscape as an organization with its finger on the pulse of the latest consumer trends, and it was this forward-thinking that initially inspired the company to set up a competitive process in search of the ideal 'Buy Now, Pay Later' solution.

"In finding an installment payments partner, Altitude Sports set a very high bar and Sezzle stepped up to the challenge," observed Altitude Sports' Co-CEO Alexandre Guimond. "We were pleased with Sezzle's technology and people. Sezzle is a real innovator and we are confident that this is the beginning of a long-term, fruitful relationship."

"Plain and simple our goal is to be the leading BNPL provider in Canada," said Sezzle President and co-founder Paul Paradis who oversees the company's international businesses. "We are pleased with the results of our successful pilot program with Altitude Sports and look forward to continuing to create value for our partner in the form of fewer abandoned shopping carts, increased average order size and ultimately, increased sales. We know we will deliver."

Earlier in July of this year, Sezzle, which is a publicly traded company on the Australian ASX, completed a USD $60 million capital raise that includes plans for doubling down on its efforts in the Canadian market. A portion of the funds from this latest raise will be directed towards hiring additional staff for Sezzle's Canadian headquarters in Toronto, bolstering its dedicated Canada sales and customer success operations, augmenting the Canada merchant acquisition team, and bolstering the company's national marketing efforts.

The consulting firm McKinsey & Co has estimated the burgeoning "Buy Now, Pay Later" space is valued at USD$1.9 Trillion ($2.6 Trillion CAD), and industry researchers have predicted that 95 percent of all direct-to-consumer retailers will be offering some form of installment-based payment solution for both online and in-store checkout by 2023. Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the industry as a whole has benefitted as shutdowns have driven customers to migrate to online shopping. By and large Sezzle has seen that these same global trends tilting towards BNPL are occurring in Canada as well.

In these tough economic times, Sezzle has made a concerted effort to support Canadian-based retailers. To this end, Sezzle recently unveiled the country's most complete Canada Store Directory where consumers can find merchants offering Sezzle's BNPL solutions featuring solely Canadian retailers.

About Sezzle Inc.
Sezzle is a public-benefit corporation and rapidly growing fintech company on a mission to financially empower the next generation. Sezzle's payment platform increases the purchasing power for nearly 1.5 million Active Consumers across the U.S. and Canada by offering interest-free installment plans at online stores and select in-store locations. Sezzle's transparent, inclusive, and seamless payment option allows consumers to take control over their spending, be more responsible, and gain access to financial freedom. When customers apply, approval is instant, and their credit scores are not negatively impacted.

This increase in purchasing power for end-customers leads to increased sales and basket sizes for the more than 16,000 Active Merchants that offer Sezzle in the U.S. and Canada. Sezzle does not break out individual statistics for its Canadian operations.

For more information visit sezzle.com.

Sezzle CDIs
Sezzle's CDIs are issued in reliance on the exemption from registration contained in Regulation S of the US Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act) for offers of securities that are made outside the US. Accordingly, the CDIs have not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act or the laws of any state or other jurisdiction in the US. As a result of relying on the Regulation S exemption, the CDIs are 'restricted securities' under Rule 144 of the Securities Act. This means that you are unable to sell the CDIs into the US or to a US person who is not a QIB for the foreseeable future except in very limited circumstances until after the end of the restricted period unless the re-sale of the CDIs is registered under the Securities Act or an exemption is available. To enforce the above transfer restrictions, all CDIs issued bear a FOR Financial Product designation on the ASX. This designation restricts any CDIs from being sold on ASX to US persons excluding QIBs. However, individuals are still able to freely transfer your CDIs on ASX to any person other than a US person who is not a QIB. In addition, hedging transactions with regard to the CDIs may only be conducted in accordance with the Securities Act.

Merchants and retailers interested in learning more about Sezzle can learn more here. Customers interested in signing up to use Sezzle can learn more here.

If you are interested in learning more about Sezzle consumer habits and buying patterns amid COVID-19, contact Sezzle media.

SOURCE Sezzle Altitude Sports