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WHILE at University, Nick Molnar was the biggest seller of jewellery on eBay in Australia. No easy feat, considering the site is the most popular online shopping destination in the country, with jewellery being one of the biggest sellers.
Molnar, now 27, runs one of Australia's fastest growing businesses and was named one of Forbes' 30 Under 30 this year as the CEO of Afterpay Holdings Limited (ASX: AFY).
Afterpay was founded in 2014, went public in May 2016 and raised $25 million from its IPO which allowed Molnar to take his system offline and into stores.
The Afterpay system is described by Molnar as one of the only "win-win" options in the market currently, delivering positive returns for both customers and merchants.
Retailers can elect to allow the use of Afterpay as a payment option online and in-store and customers, instead of paying the entire price of an item upfront, instead pay fortnightly instalments.
Customers walk away with the product instantly, and retailers receive the money instantly from Afterpay. The differentiating factor from traditional layby solutions: Afterpay doesn't take a single fee from the customer.
Instead, retailers pay a small fee for the use of the service. Molnar says this is the win-win scenario because customers are more willing to pay these smaller instalments over a period of time rather than hundreds of dollars upfront, meaning retailers see a higher rate of customers shopping with them over their competitors.
Molnar has led Afterpay through rapid expansion, which he describes as "almost vertical", with the company now at a market cap of around $500 million. Their most recent market figures, released in May 2017, show underlying retail sales of approximately $165 million for the months of April and May.
Afterpay estimates its annual sales will crack the magic $1 billion mark. They very recently attracted huge retail players to the platform, including Myer, Premier Investments, Big W and Officeworks, demonstrating a sharp departure from their initial business model which focused exclusively on Australian fashion sites.
It now has over 5,000 retailers live on the platform and more than 700,000 customers using Afterpay which is a growth of more than 2,500 customers per day since the end of Q3 FY17.
Growth in Afterpay will only continue now that the company has taken its first cautious steps outside the safety of the Australian market. Last week it announced its new partnership with New Zealand e-tail site Trade Me (effectively New Zealand's answer to Gumtree). The partnership will allow Afterpay to tap into Trade Me's 650,000 customers and 4,300 retail merchants.
Business News Australia spoke with Nick Molnar about Afterpay's plans for international expansion, and the challenges that go with trying to grow a business.
How did the company grow so fast in just a short amount of time?
When starting Afterpay what gap in the market did you see?
Why did you make the decision to list in the first place?
You've started expanding internationally where to next? Or will you continue focusing on New Zealand?
Day to day what are some of the biggest challenges you face operating the huge company?
Personally, what are your highlights since starting the company since you began in 2014, what have been some milestones?
Discussing your position in the market in terms of payment services, do you consider yourself and Afterpay a credit card killer?
What would be some tips you'd have for budding tech entrepreneurs?
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