Key Highlights:
- E-Careers sought a new solution to reduce cart abandonment, boost user experience and increase acceptance rates
- Its partnership with DivideBuy was launched in 2019, with E-Careers taking on a tailored interest free credit solution
- Since then, DivideBuy has supported E-Careers in tackling the UK skills gap by helping increase student numbers whilst boosting company revenue
The E-Careers and DivideBuy partnership: a tale of two innovators
A firm with innovation at the heart of everything it does, E-Careers is a leading provider of industry-recognised courses and upskilling solutions for individuals and organisations. With multiple awards and over 10 years’ experience, it’s a leader in its field, and encourages users to #learnaliving by delivering online courses in various sectors, from financial services to football.
Launching to the market in 2011 to capitalise on the UK’s lucrative ed-tech space, it now works with over 50 colleges, government bodies and unions with 600,000 people enrolled across the globe. Far from having a one-size-fits-all approach, the company delivers courses through eLearning, mobile learning, game-based learning and face-to-face training.
E-Careers is certainly similar to DivideBuy in its forward-thinking nature. The firm sees learning as something that should be available to everyone and not a privilege. Two of its main beliefs are that progress needs change, and that technology is here to stay.
Where did the partnership start – did E-Careers need an interest free credit solution?
It all began when E-Careers’ top team decided they wanted to provide greater opportunities for people looking to upskill themselves by allowing them to spread the cost, rather than paying for training in one lump sum.
The brand had worked with another consumer finance company previously but wanted greater accessibility and affordability, and to collaborate with a payment provider that had a similar ethos to its own. Among the items on its wish list for a new partner were a payment solution that would allow the company to accept a wider range of students for training and wouldn’t penalise ‘risky’ applicants. That was alongside a way to reduce cart abandonment rates and boost user experience on the site, and of course, greater repayment flexibility.
An interest free credit solution that works for eLearning
In 2019, E-Careers was introduced to the DivideBuy team, and what followed was an exercise for us to understand the needs of the organisation and the challenges they faced. James Bradley, our Director of Sales and Business Development, was key in setting up the partnership.
He said: “During our introduction with E-Careers, we proposed a tailored interest free credit solution that would allow E-Careers to attract a wider variety of customers without punishing applicants deemed to be more ‘risky’.
“Our 24/7 solution covered all their needs; is fully industry compliant and offers students that greater flexibility and affordability.
“By actively promoting the interest free finance option on-site to help retain the customer’s interest in the sale from the start, we helped the brand improve its conversion rate and achieve an increase in student numbers.”
The switch to DivideBuy also meant E-Careers was able to offer more extensive and higher-priced courses, giving students the option to spread the cost over a longer period.
The DivideBuy application criteria takes a more rounded view of an applicant and their circumstances compared to some other providers, which means we generally have a higher acceptance rate. This allowed more people to take advantage of instalment-based payments, increasing their customer base. That’s as well as the pre-approval facility, allowing students to check their eligibility for credit before making a full application. The new process ensured E-Careers could closely monitor the customer journey on its eCommerce website, helping to discourage cart abandonment and providing a better user experience in the process. It also did not involve manual underwriting as this was all taken care of by DivideBuy, with repayments running automatically.
E-Careers said the integration process, offering 24-hour services over the phone and website, was extremely simple – one of the easiest it had ever offered.
Business growth, increased student numbers and addressing the skills gap: a great result for the ed-tech market in the UK
As well as “vastly improved” student numbers within six months of go-live due to the more attractive payment option, it also meant business growth for E-Careers – increasing revenue and providing a better ROI from marketing activity.
Varun Bhatt, Co-CEO at E-Careers, said: “Our partnership with DivideBuy provides opportunities for even more people to better their careers and improve their prospects. We’ve found their team and services to be knowledgeable and informative, very easy to work with, and always around to help.
“I’m delighted to report that the partnership is helping us with one of our key goals – to address the UK’s skills gap.”
James Bradley added: “We are delighted we were able to help E-Careers drive business growth, which is exactly what we set out to achieve for all our partner retailers. With our industry-leading, interest free credit solution, we are seeing more and more turn to us to help them do just that.”
If you’d like to know more about DivideBuy and how our interest free credit solution can help increase your conversion rates and boost growth for your eCommerce site, get in touch with our team today.