Kiwi business Laybuy set to launch in UK

Laybuy founder Gary Rohloff is taking his business to the UK. Photo / File

Kiwi start-up Laybuy, which allows consumers to defer payments over six weeks, is set to launch in the UK.

Run by father-and-son duo Gary and Alex Rohloff, Laybuy was first launched in 2016 and is now available at 2750 retailers around New Zealand.

The company does not charge interest but does charge default fees if a buyer fails to make payments online. It is one of four local companies offering buy-now-pay-later options to customers.

Following rapid growth in New Zealand, Gary Rohloff recently told UK publication Business Leader that it would soon launch with a yet-to-be-named UK-based retailer.

Rohloff told the publication that 200,000 New Zealanders had already signed up to the platform in its first 18 months in business.

The company has also spread its wings to Australia, but Rohloff and his son have ambitions beyond the Southern Hemisphere.

Rohloff said he was eyeing the UK market because it leads the world in the retail space.

Rohloff is an experienced business executive, having spent much of his career in banking and finance roles before shifting to the retail space.

Before starting Laybuy, Rohloff worked as the CEO for Number One Shoes between 2009 and 2016, the CEO of Warehouse Stationery between 2006 and 2009 and as the managing director of Ezibuy from 2000 to 2006.

In September last year, Rohloff told the Herald that the company continued to enjoy strong growth with as many as 60 to 100 new merchants signing on each week.

This ranged from clothing and footwear retailers through to travel agents and ticket sellers.

"We have two groups of consumers using Laybuy," Rohloff said at the time. "We have the millennial group which is a bubble in our database from about 22 to 32 years of age and then we have another bubble that is aged over 45 years."

While Laybuy has emerged as the dominant player in this market, the company has faced competition from Afterpay, PartPay and Oxipay.

Although popular, the growth of buy-now-pay-later schemes has sparked concerns about the impact they may have on consumers.

Consumer NZ head of research Jessica Wilson said these schemes could potentially lead to consumers getting into debt and then having to fork out extra fees.

She said although they look attractive, they do come with a risk.