Stitch Express adds BNPL flexibility for merchants
Stitch has expanded its e-commerce offering with the launch of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) on Stitch Express, enabling South African merchants to offer flexible instalment payments directly at checkout.
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The new BNPL functionality is available via plug-ins for Shopify and WooCommerce, as well as through Stitch’s self-serve API. Already live with several hundred merchants across the country, the solution is being used by brands including Lego, The North Face, Ben Sherman and Terbodore.
Making flexible payments more accessible
The addition of BNPL allows customers to split purchases into 2-to-6 installments, offering greater flexibility than many existing options in the South African market.
Crucially, the entire payment and KYC process happens within the merchant’s own site, maintaining a seamless and consistent checkout experience.
For merchants, activation is designed to be frictionless. Existing Stitch Express users can enable BNPL directly from their dashboard within minutes, while new merchants can integrate via plug-ins or API without requiring custom development.
This approach lowers the barrier to entry for smaller and mid-sized e-commerce businesses that have historically been excluded from offering advanced payment options due to cost and complexity.
Checkout experience as a competitive advantage
With South Africa’s e-commerce market projected to reach R133bn by the end of 2025, checkout optimisation is becoming a key differentiator for online retailers.
BNPL has emerged as a powerful tool to improve conversion rates, increase basket sizes and reduce cart abandonment — particularly for higher-value or considered purchases.
“Stitch Express exists to ensure every South African e-commerce business has access to the same quality of payments infrastructure as the largest retailers,” says Junaid Dadan, co-founder and president at Stitch.
“BNPL has proven commercial impact: higher conversion, bigger baskets and fewer abandoned carts. We’ve built it so any merchant can go live the same day, and we’re already seeing strong results.”
Scaling enterprise-grade payments
The launch of BNPL builds on Stitch Express’s broader mission to democratise access to high-performance payment tools. Since its launch in early 2025, the platform has enabled merchants to access a curated suite of payment methods designed to improve checkout performance and customer experience.
Stitch’s underlying infrastructure already powers payments for major South African businesses, including Takealot, MTN, Vodacom, TFG and Mr D — positioning the BNPL rollout as an extension of enterprise-grade capability into the broader merchant ecosystem.
Enabling growth across the e-commerce ecosystem
By embedding flexible payment options directly into widely used platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce, Stitch is aligning with a broader industry trend: enabling merchants to scale without increasing operational complexity.
The ability for customers to choose repayment schedules based on their credit profile further enhances the value proposition, giving shoppers greater control over how they manage spending — while helping merchants unlock additional revenue opportunities.
Looking ahead
As competition in South Africa’s e-commerce sector intensifies, payment innovation is becoming central to growth strategies.
With the introduction of BNPL on Stitch Express, merchants now have a powerful, accessible tool to enhance checkout experiences and drive performance.
For Stitch, the focus remains clear: building infrastructure that enables businesses of all sizes to compete — and win — in an increasingly digital retail landscape.