Financing Availability Determines Where Consumers Shop

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Consumers use financing far beyond the checkout aisle. They often factor it into where they choose to shop. This data book shows how the availability of BNPL and installment plans affects a consumer’s choice of merchant in categories where shoppers can compare options, delay a decision or weigh a bigger purchase. It’s far weaker in routine spending shaped by habit or necessity.

Financing Availability Influences Where Consumers Shop

Consumers are more likely to shop with a merchant that offers point-of-sale options.

Financing has the most pull where consumers still have options for how to pay. Nearly four in 10 consumers say BNPL availability influences where they shop for travel and food delivery, versus roughly one in five for groceries and restaurant purchases.

Older generations are less likely to choose where to shop based on whether a merchant offers financing.

Younger consumers are far more likely than older ones to let BNPL shape their choice of merchant. For travel, 62% of millennials say BNPL availability influences where they book, compared with 37% overall and just 5% of baby boomers and seniors.

Consumers who already use BNPL are more likely to choose merchants that offer it.

BNPL gets sticky with shoppers. Across all purchase categories, 57% to 87% of consumers who already use the financing method for both everyday and discretionary purchases say its availability is either very or extremely influential on where they shop.

The availability of credit card installment plans primarily influences shoppers who already use them.

Merchant-offered installment plans also influence shopping decisions, but that’s mainly among engaged users. More than 60% of consumers who use installments for both everyday and discretionary purchases say the availability of financing shapes where they shop for travel and events. Fewer than one in four non-users say the same in any category.

Financing options determine where Gen Z consumers seek medical or dental care.

For Gen Z, access to financing influences their healthcare choices. More than half of Gen Z consumers say merchant-offered installment plans affect where they seek medical or dental care. Nearly half (49%) say the same about BNPL availability.

Methodology

“New Data Shows How BNPL and Installments Shape Where Consumers Shop” is based on findings from the April 2026 edition of the Pay Later Ecosystem, a PYMNTS Intelligence exclusive series. The report is based on a survey of 2,763 U.S. consumers conducted between from Feb. 10–March 2, 2026, and examines how BNPL and merchant-offered installment plans affect merchant choice across 10 purchase categories. The sample was balanced to match the U.S. adult population by age, gender, education and income.

About

PYMNTS Intelligence is a leading global data and analytics platform that uses proprietary data and methods to provide actionable insights on what’s now and what’s next in payments, commerce and the digital economy. Its team of data scientists includes leading economists, econometricians, survey experts, financial analysts and marketing scientists with deep experience in the application of data to the issues that define the future of the digital transformation of the global economy. This multi-lingual team has conducted original data collection and analysis in more than three dozen global markets for some of the world’s leading publicly traded and privately held firms.

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