Talkwalker Market Pulse - Apple takes a big bite out of buy now pay later

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Industry Insights - Apple takes a big bite out of buy now pay later

Trending now, and later? One of the most popular purchase models in the last few years is the “buy now pay later” (BNPL) service. This new fintech trend grew into prominence during 2020, and has not stepped out of the spotlight since. Consumers are interested in this payment model, as it allows them to enjoy their purchases now, and pay in comfortable installments over time. Looking at different shopping categories, we found that they buy now and pay later for electronic goods and fashion items - two categories where keeping up with the latest trends matters. Over the last 6 months BNPL has amassed over 273K online results, with its highest spike in mentions coming last week.

Electronics and fashion emerged as top categories when it comes to BNPL, while conversations spiked in the last week after the announcement of Apple Pay Later.

What happened? The conversations swelled when Apple announced its entry into the market during its annual Worldwide Developers Conference early last week. With 27K mentions since the announcement, “Apple Pay Later” was engaged with more than 120K times. Fintech was the focus of the event, with #ApplePayLater being the highlight - one of the most prominent hashtags only slightly overshadowed by the event hashtags. Apple fans and content creators immediately picked up the news and added to the buzz as shown in the Virality Map of a tweet from Apple Hub, an Apple news aggregator. With this, BNPL has definitely become a payment concept that is a must-have for fintech players across the globe.

Apple news aggregator, Apple Hub’s tweet regarding the tech giant’s leap into BNPL goes viral around the world with over 10K engagements.

Learn more about financial services and its shift into the digital world.

Consumer Insights - Pepper shortage affects hot sauce production

No peppers, no Sriracha. Last week Huy Fong confirmed that production of its products, including Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce, Chili Garlic, and Sambal Oelek, would be affected due to a shortage of chili peppers. The pepper shortage caused a stir of over 4.2K mentions last week with Huy Fong’s announcement driving the conversations. Image analysis showed that the brand was the most prominent one when it came to conversations about pepper scarcity. The brand explained that the crisis was out of their hands, as high temperatures and drought took a heavy toll on agriculture in the US.

Image analysis shows Huy Fong being the most prominent brand in the conversations around pepper shortage, attributed to its announcement of ceasing production of Sriracha sauce.

Fiery sentiment. We saw a different kind of red among hot sauce lovers - more than half of the conversations from individuals had negative sentiment associated with it. Consumers not only expressed their disappointment, they also warned fellow consumers of the imminent Sriracha shortage. However, Huy Fong was not a major driver of negative sentiment. Consumers were actually more sad than angry at the thought of not having their favorite condiment from the beloved brand.

While the brand itself was not perceived with negativity, sentiment analysis shows that consumers were saddened by Huy Fong’s news rather than angry, warning others about the impending shortage of Sriracha.

Learn more about love brands in our latest Brand Love report.

Movers & Shakers - Canada to warn smokers with every cigarette

Another groundbreaking policy. Canada is set to become the first country in the world to require a warning to be printed on every cigarette. Two decades ago it was also the first to start the international trend to include graphic warnings on packaging, and the latest move will look to build on a message that has perhaps lost its impact. With nearly 3K mentions about the proposal, news propagated swiftly through the internet. The Virality Map below of Global News’ story shows how it traversed into forums and became viral on Twitter, with engagement amounting to nearly 2K so far.

The Virality Map of Global News’ article spread quickly into discussions in forums and blew up on Twitter, generating nearly 2K engagements along the way.

Nipping it in the butt. One of the main focuses of the mandate is to bring awareness to young people, who often access cigarettes one at a time, making the information printed on a package irrelevant. Theme clouds around the topic reinforces the attention toward young people, as experts dubbed the step as a powerful intervention to safeguard public health.

The new policy’s focus on creating awareness among the youth about the effects of smoking is seen in theme clouds as well, with experts predicting it to be a powerful method of intervention.

Read more about how today’s consumer connections will shape tomorrow.