Nordbaby: flexible payment options help families plan larger purchases

When expecting a baby, families need to make several important and often costly purchases within a short period of time. Nordbaby’s experience shows that buy now, pay later payment options help spread these expenses and give customers the confidence to make purchasing decisions when the need arises.

Nordbaby offers high-quality, carefully selected baby and children’s products from pregnancy through the toddler years. Its range includes prams, car seats, children’s furniture, textiles, toys and everyday baby essentials that help make family life more comfortable and safe. In addition to its online store, Nordbaby also values the personal experience offered in its physical stores, where parents can explore and try products and ask for advice.

“Our main customer is a family expecting a baby or raising young children, most commonly a woman aged 25–40 who makes the family’s everyday purchasing decisions and values product safety, quality, practicality and design,” says Nordbaby CEO Ats Piirmets.

Larger purchases require careful consideration

According to Piirmets, purchases in their sector are usually planned, as families need to make several significant purchases within a short period while expecting a baby.

“During pregnancy, families often make larger purchases, such as a pram, car seat or baby furniture. Later, shopping baskets become smaller and repeat purchases become more common, covering everyday baby essentials and needs related to the child’s development,” he explains.

A Kantar Emor consumer behaviour survey conducted at the end of last year found that Estonian residents mainly use buy now, pay later payment options for necessary purchases rather than emotional or luxury spending. In addition, 85% of respondents said they already consider paying in instalments during the purchase planning stage. This confirms that the decision is not made impulsively at checkout, but that people consider their financial commitments in advance.

“The right financing option can help preserve both financial stability and flexibility,” says Hanno Ladvas, Head of the Inbank Estonia business unit. “Responsible consumption does not simply mean paying for every purchase immediately with the money available in your bank account. It is equally important to be able to plan the family budget, preserve savings for unexpected expenses and avoid a situation where one major purchase disrupts the balance of the entire household budget.”

This is why buy now, pay later payment options are most commonly used for larger and essential purchases, as spreading payments provides noticeable flexibility for the family budget.

“Responsible consumption does not simply mean paying for every purchase immediately with the money available in your bank account. It is equally important to be able to plan the family budget, preserve savings for unexpected expenses and avoid a situation where one major purchase disrupts the balance of the entire household budget.”

Flexible payment options support purchasing decisions

Nordbaby’s experience shows that making customers aware of buy now, pay later options can make purchasing decisions easier.

“When we actively introduce flexible payment options to customers, it helps reduce the pressure associated with making a purchase. Customers do not need to compromise simply because paying the full amount at once is not convenient. This gives them the opportunity to choose the products their family genuinely wants and needs,” says Piirmets.

A recent customer experience illustrates this impact well: an expectant father came to purchase a pram and infant car seat he had already selected, but after seeing the buy now, pay later option, he decided to add furniture for the baby’s room to his shopping basket as well. “This allowed the family to purchase everything they needed at once, without having to spread the purchases over several months,” he says.

According to Piirmets, consumer payment behaviour has changed in recent years. While bank payments previously dominated, customers are now increasingly using card payments, buy now, pay later solutions and instalment payments.

“Compared with 2025, the use of buy now, pay later solutions and instalment payments has increased by approximately 15%,” he notes. “When the monthly payment is visible at an earlier stage of the customer journey, customers are more open to completing the purchase.”

“Compared with 2025, the use of buy now, pay later solutions and instalment payments has increased by approximately 15%. When the monthly payment is visible at an earlier stage of the customer journey, customers are more open to completing the purchase.”

MakeCommerce brings payment options together on one platform

For Nordbaby, it is important that different payment solutions are easy to manage. The integration of its online store with MakeCommerce brings all the main payment options together in one place and reduces the need for multiple separate technical integrations.

“It simplifies online store management, reduces the number of separate integrations and provides a single overview of all transactions and payments,” says Piirmets.

Nordbaby advises merchants considering buy now, pay later solutions to first evaluate their industry and customers’ buying habits.

“It depends on the nature of the business, but our experience shows that flexible payment options give customers more freedom when making purchasing decisions and help them plan necessary purchases more effectively,” Piirmets concludes.