With Afterpay, premium Christmas brand Balsam Hill made shopping more accessible, and in return saw faster growth, higher conversions and new customers.
Balsam Hill is synonymous with Christmas magic. Known for its ultra-realistic trees and festive décor, the brand helps customers create lasting holiday memories.
But the company also knows the festive season isn’t just about celebrating; it also comes with added expenses. That’s why Balsam Hill partnered with Afterpay, giving customers the flexibility to spread costs in installments.
What began as a way to ease holiday budgets has since become a powerful driver of customer acquisition.
“We’ve seen meaningful growth in terms of both revenue and orders,” says Jennifer Howard of Balsam Hill, which saw $1 million in sales with Afterpay within the first five weeks of the partnership, during the crucial festive period.
“Balsam sees Afterpay as more than a payment method. It’s a way to broaden our reach, deepen engagement and help new customers bring home joy during the holiday season.”
A tradition reimagined
Today, Balsam Hill trees stand in millions of homes worldwide. But the brand began nearly 20 years ago when founder Mac Harman spotted a gap in the market for artificial Christmas trees designed to look like trees found in nature, but without the challenges that come with a cut tree.
Balsam Hill went on to pioneer True Needle technology to create highly realistic, artificial trees. Today, the brand’s collections – spanning trees, wreaths, garlands and other festive décor products – are sold across the U.S., Canada, Australia, U.K. and Europe.
“Balsam Hill is about creating joy,” says Howard. “Christmas trees are quite often at the center of family photographs – so it should be as beautiful as you want it to be.”
“Christmas trees are quite often at the center of family photographs – so it should be as beautiful as you want it to be.”
Jennifer Howard, Balsam Hill
Spreading joy, spreading payments
When Balsam Hill first launched with Afterpay, the primary goal was clear: make the brand’s premium products more accessible.
“We are the premium artificial Christmas tree brand in the category,” says Howard of Balsam Hill trees, which start at $499 and retail for up to $9,299 for its tallest trees.
Offering Afterpay allows customers to choose flexible payment solutions that match their purchase size – from splitting payments into four installments to extending them over several months. This flexibility is particularly valuable for premium purchases at Balsam Hill.
During the holiday season, when household budgets are stretched, these payment options become even more crucial. A striking 52 per cent of Balsam’s Hill’s Afterpay sales come through the Pay Monthly option, and these customers make larger purchases – spending 156 per cent more on average compared to Afterpay’s Pay-in-4 transactions1.
This festive season, a quarter of shoppers will spend $1000 or more, up from 18 per cent in 20242, making flexible payment solutions increasingly important for high-ticket seasonal purchases.
“A lot of our customers shop during the Christmas-time period, when there are a lot of expenses. Afterpay lets them figure out how they want to achieve their look, their goal, their family ambience, but be able to space out their payments in a way that fits their budget."
That accessibility fuels business results. “We have seen tremendous growth year over year in conversion, as well as a reduction in cart and checkout abandonment in the US. We absolutely think Afterpay had a large part in that.”
"We have seen tremendous growth year over year in conversion, as well as a reduction in cart and checkout abandonment."
Jennifer Howard, Balsam Hill
Seamless experience, smarter payments
Exceptional customer service is core to Balsam Hill’s brand. From premium products to thoughtful post-purchase experience, every detail is designed to feel special. “The entire Balsam Hill experience is what really sets us apart.”
Afterpay enhances that promise. A recent survey found that convenience (65%), reliability (59%) and better budget management (39%) were the top reasons for paying with Afterpay3.
“Our customers value quality and ease, and Afterpay offers another layer of flexibility,” says Howard. With demand for pay-later options only accelerating, she adds, offering them has become even more important.
Growth at speed
For Balsam Hill, the benefits went beyond customer satisfaction. Adding Afterpay alongside another Buy Now, Pay Later service, quickly translated to growth.
“In year one, we brought in new customers and were able to expand our brand. Our numbers show we grew the pay-later business, and drove incremental revenue.”
Expanding into new markets
Afterpay has also helped Balsam Hill expand into new markets and reach new customers, including Australia.
Balsam Hill worked closely with Afterpay’s local team to craft a strategy to grow the Australian customer base. “I said, ‘I want to grow customers in Australia’. That was the number one goal. And so the Afterpay team sat down with us and helped strategize on what we could do to grow that market.”
Together, Balsam Hill and Afterpay refined the brand’s search strategy, to capture customers looking for Christmas décor, and promoted Afterpay on its site. It paid off.
Today, more than one in 10 Australian sales is made using Afterpay – and of those the vast majority (85%) are new customers to Balsam Hill.
“There’s no doubt about it. The penetration of Afterpay sales in Australia was exactly what we were looking for.”
"The penetration of Afterpay sales in Australia was exactly what we were looking for.”
Jennifer Howard, Balsam Hill
Reaching new audiences
Alongside elevating the customer experience and expanding its global footprint, Balsam Hill set out to connect with a new generation of shoppers.
“Globally, our mission is to spread joy. A lot of people celebrate Christmas. A lot of people celebrate holidays. We want to be part of those celebrations - and that means opening the door to a wider audience. “
With more than 70 percent of Afterpay customers falling into the Gen Z or Millennial4 brackets, the partnership with Afterpay offered Balsam Hill a natural way to reach a younger audience.
A true growth partnership
From the beginning, Afterpay was “unbelievably responsive” and the initial integration was “straightforward from a tech standpoint.”
But the partnership went beyond responsiveness, says Howard.
“Balsam looks for long-term partners that have a similar DNA and culture to our business. We want to work with businesses that offer candor, transparency, strategic partnership and care about our business – and that’s what Afterpay has delivered.
“Afterpay has always supported our business goals to make it the best partnership possible.”
1 Afterpay internal data; 2 Holiday Insights Unwrapped, 2025; 3 Holiday Insights Unwrapped, 2025; 4 Source Afterpay, Internal Customer Demographics as of Q1 2025; Behaviors metrics U.S. averages from full year 2024
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