If society and social media are to be believed, women are frivolous spenders who are more likely to spend all their money on handbags and shoes, with little regard for the household budget. According to the latest figures from local Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) provider PayJustNow, nothing could be further from the truth.

Overall, the data suggests that women are not only more conservative with their finances, but have better credit behaviour than men, says PayJustNow chief executive Craig Newborn.

Make no mistake, women certainly seem to be doing most of the shopping. Fully 72% of all PayJustNow orders are from women, accounting for 68% of the gross merchandise value. But while women tend to shop more often, it’s the men who tend to make the bigger purchases, averaging R1,681 per basket, compared to R1,342 for women.

The numbers also suggest that women shop smarter. Where men use an average of 34% of their available credit at any given time, women only use 29%. At the same time, the average Prism score – which predicts a consumer's credit risk using real-time financial transaction history – shows that females are trumping males when it comes to having a healthy credit score.

“South African women are more likely than men to take career breaks or reduce their working hours to take care of their families and children, which affects their income and long-term financial prospects. But our numbers show clearly that they’re still keeping their financial wellbeing in check, with healthier overall credit behaviour than men,” says Newborn.

The PayJustNow statistics highlight four key trends and insights that retailers should be taking note of, says Newborn.

One, women have primary care-giving responsibilities – and as such, they find themselves buying on behalf of everyone who they are responsible for in their lives. Secondly, women always evaluate how their purchases impact the people they care about the most. Thirdly, their purchasing decisions often carry more emotional weight than men's. And four, women tend to be the gateway to everybody else.

“Every time you deliver great service to a woman, she has a multiplier effect because she represents a broad range of other potential customers, and will likely tell people about the great service she received,” says Newborn.

Most of PayJustNow’s users are female, aged between 27 and 42. According to Compuscan’s Financial Affluence Segmentation (FAS), which classifies South African customers’ level of affluence and financial utilisation, they tend to fall into the so-called ‘upmarket professionals’ and ‘happy singles’ categories, followed by ‘Double income, mid-life aspirations.

Upmarket professionals are typically in their thirties and forties, educated and earn good salaries. They tend to spend their money on luxury products, designer wardrobes and high-end cars. Happy singles are typically under 40. While they use credit to fund their lifestyle requirements, most are sensible with their spending and affordability habits. Double income mid-life aspirations are mostly married, in the 30–55 age group and with school-age children. They like to stay abreast of the best credit options available.

“The data is clear: women are creating their own financial independence and financial security. And using BNPL is empowering them to budget better and improve their financial wellbeing, while still making the purchases they want and need,” says Newborn.