The garage founder is a staple for many tech companies. But for Harold Hunt, the garage environment actually matched the product and business he ended up building.

Hunt wanted more ground clearance for his all-terrain vehicle (ATV) while driving through the backcountry creeks of Indiana, so he built an accessory in his garage to give him the lift. When all his friends wanted one, he built those in his garage, too. Since then, SuperATV has become a thriving aftermarket auto e-commerce business that still keeps to its garage roots.

“We design, engineer, test and manufacture anything you can think of for utility task vehicles (UTVs) and ATVs right here in Indiana,” SuperATV’s director of marketing and technology Josh South said (pictured left).

For 15 years, SuperATV has ensured the highest quality products.  Hunt and his daughter use their Friday afternoons to test-drive the UTV gear so they know their customers are getting peak-performing products. And when the next generation of UTVs is released that requires slightly different accessories, SuperATV is often ready with bumpers, windshields, and lift kits soon after the new models hit the market.

SuperATV knew a pay-over-time option was important to its customers. Most brick-and-mortar dealerships give enthusiasts an opportunity to finance, and SuperATV sought to do the same for its online business by working with Affirm.

“Not having [financing]  was only a disadvantage for us,” South said. “Once [a customer] buys the machine, they are less likely to spend a couple extra thousand dollars accessorizing it if they can’t finance.”

Product page messaging provided the key to success for SuperATV

The game changer for SuperATV was Affirm’s "as low as" messaging on the product pages.

“At first, [Affirm] was hidden on the site,” South said. “You really only saw it when you went to check out, and it was really just another payment option. Just a little button that said ‘pay with Affirm’ and didn't give you any more information besides that.”

In late December 2018, SuperATV made a change. South and his team implemented the Affirm modal and its customizable "as low as" messaging on the site's product pages. The very next month ended as the best January ever for SuperATV, with over 1,000 percent more sales with Affirm than January 2018.

“The integration on the product pages was a piece of cake. It probably took a day with my developer,” South said. “We're experiencing tremendous, tremendous growth in our business right now.”

In early 2019, SuperATV’s average total amount of sales with Affirm per month was 333 percent higher than its average sales per month for all of 2018. Even when compared to the busy holiday season in November and December, implementing the product page messaging resulted in 144 percent higher sales volume with Affirm in early 2019.

The driving force behind this dramatic increase in volume was visibility and interest, leading to a spike in Affirm applications. While SuperATV’s average order value increased 14 percent after the change, the company saw a 184 percent surge in applications. Putting Affirm earlier in the customer journey and providing more context about the pay-over-time plans significantly increased consumers’ interest in exploring Affirm as an alternative payment option.

SuperATV made the most of the Affirm partnership with off-site marketing and special options

After the fantastic results from the product page integration, SuperATV wanted to incorporate Affirm into more parts of the business. It invested in Prequalification and longer terms up to 36 months. These features help consumers understand their credit limits before they even start shopping and allow for lower monthly payments on expensive carts.

“A few of our premier products are in the price range of $3,000 plus,” South said. “So I think the option to go up to three years is going to be a big benefit to our customers.”

Most importantly SuperATV started using Affirm in marketing material. SuperATV’s creative manager Adam Cole crafted a three-part abandoned cart email series that highlights Affirm from the first communication. The email to the right is sent one hour after a shopper abandons a cart. The team plans to put a larger emphasis over the next couple of months on crafting the message to the customer that financing options are available for nearly the whole product offering from SuperATV.

“The ease of use really surprised us,” South said. “[Affirm] sounds really complex when you look at it from the 30,000-foot view, but it was just a matter of putting the options available to our customers and sitting back and watching them use it.  I was a software engineer for 15 years. It's a pleasure to see tools that are so easily integrated that work right from the beginning.”

*Photos courtesy of Josh South and SuperATV