Buy now pay later consumer web traffic continued its weakening trend in June, as rising interest rates and weaker spending took their toll.

Using data from a variety of sources, Macquarie Research tracked the global web traffic of Afterpay, Klarna, Affirm, Clearpay, Zip and Sezzle, and found total traffic of 67.1 million visits in June – down 1.3 per cent compared with June 2021.

It is the second time web traffic has suffered a year-on-year fall this year. There were 63.8 million global BNPL website visits in March, which was 1.4 per cent below the number of visits in March 2021.

“We think this highlights our view that the BNPL industry is beginning to show signs of normalisation. The industry backdrop remains uncertain,” Macquarie said in its report, BNPL app snapshot.

Afterpay’s June traffic was down 13.9 per cent year-on-year, Clearpay’s was down 16.7 per cent and the combined Zip and Sezzle traffic was down 34.5 per cent.

Klarna and Affirm recorded higher web visits.

Macquarie also noted that Afterpay’s merchant acquisition has moderated. 

It said that overall merchant attrition was around the long-term average of a 12 basis points rolling 12-month average.

“If merchant drop-offs accelerate, it could be a leading indicator for the consolidation of the sector,” Macquarie said.