Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT) share price bulls hardly need any encouragement, but news that its UK doppelgänger Clearpay has signed blue-chip UK department store and supermarket player Marks and Spencer will add to their confidence.
The deal will help M&S meet its goal of lifting online sales as competition in the buy-now-pay-later space in the UK heats up with Clearpay actually operating as a challenger to incumbent Klarna.
Clearpay also recently signed Aussie jewellery retailer Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX: LOV) as a client.
Of course like the US the UK market is large enough for a couple of successful players with even Australia able to comfortably accomodate both Afterpay and Z1P Co. Ltd (ASX: Z1P) given the ubiquitous takeover of the sector.
For investors the key risks remain valuation (given it's not profitable valuation remains subjective) and the potential for a 'race to the bottom' as competitors offer retailers lower and lower fees in a bid to win market share.
In fact it's possible we could end up seeing some consolidation in the industry, as we're now starting to see in the aggregated food delivery platform industry.
This morning the Afterpay share price is down 2.5% to $28.73.
