Buy now, pay later company Afterpay on Wednesday (Sept. 1) announced that its DROPSHOP virtual shopping experience will morph into a physical experience amid New York’s Times Square. Afterpay will offer a two-day experience on Sept. 7 and Sept. 8, featuring two limited-edition items from Crocs and JD Sports. The in-person drop allows customers to virtually try on items via Snapchat’s augmented reality (AR) technology, according to the Australia-based BNPL company.
As part of the Times Square kickoff, Crocs, in collaboration with social media star Bretman “Da Baddest” Rock, will unveil an exclusive limited-edition five-pack collection of Jibbitz™ charms, available in pre-release quantities. Beginning Wednesday, shoppers can virtually try on the charms using a new Afterpay Snapchat lens.
JD Sports partnered with artist Glassface (Josh Goldenberg) to create a unique digital art non-fungible token (NFT) offered to the public for the first time. Fifty NFTs of the piece, titled “Enter New Worlds,” will be available.
Also beginning Wednesday, Afterpay and Snapchat will illuminate recognizable New York images – a taxi, a fire hydrant and a food truck – in Afterpay’s signature mint hue and scatter them around locations in Manhattan. Each object will include a Snapcode that will unlock an augmented reality 3D map to uncover the DROPSHOP location.
The popularity of BNPL has continued to grow at a fever pitch, as reported by PYMNTS. As of last week, Afterpay’s revenues had surged by 78 percent. Active customers jumped by 63 percent to 16.2 million and customers in North America increased 88 percent to 10.5 million. The number of total active merchants had grown by 77 percent year over year to 98.2 million. Afterpay is available in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.S. and the U.K., France, Italy and Spain, where it is known as Clearpay.
Read more: Afterpay, Klarna Ride BNPL Momentum, Spend Big to Add In-Store, Online Customers
And last fall, Afterpay announced that its BNPL service is being offered by major retailers across the country.
Related news: Afterpay Goes In-Store Nationwide With Major Retailers
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