American Shoppers Turn To BNPL For Groceries As High Costs Bite

American shoppers are increasingly using buy now, pay later loans (BNPLs) to buy groceries, and more people are paying those bills late, according to a spending intentions survey from Lending Tree released Friday.

The findings are just the latest in a long line of stories suggesting that consumers, already under the cosh from persistent inflation, are feeling the weight of an uncertain economy, high interest rates and worries over the impact of tariffs, are having trouble affording the basics such as their weekly groceries.

The survey was conducted between April 2-3 and took in the responses from 2,000 U.S. consumers aged 18-79-years-old. Around half reported that they had used BNPL loans and of those consumers, a quarter said they were using BNPL to purchase groceries, a figure up from 14% in 2024 and 21% in 2023.

Meanwhile, 41% of respondents said that they had made a late payment on a BNPL loan in the past 12 months, up from 34% in the year prior.

The loans, which allow consumers to split purchases into, typically, three smaller payments, have emerged as a popular alternative to credit cards because they often do not charge interest so long as the payments are paid on time and in full.

However, they have courted controversy as a financing option because consumers can be stung by high fees if they miss payments. In addition, there is less financial control from the authorities over the sector, which have also come in for criticism.

Multiple BNPL Loans Used

In Lending Tree’s survey, 60% of BNPL users said that they had used multiple loans at once, while nearly a quarter said that they have held three or more loans at one time.

Apparel, including shoes and accessories, is the item most commonly bought with a buy now, pay later loan, but technology devices and home decor is not far behind.

PayPal is the most commonly used BNPL lender, utilized by 56% of the BNPL users in the survey. However, three other services — Klarna, Affirm and Afterpay — are also popular.

“A lot of people are struggling and looking for ways to extend their budget,” Lending Tree’s chief consumer finance analyst, Matt Schulz, said of the findings. “Inflation is still a problem. Interest rates are still really high. There’s a lot of uncertainty around tariffs and other economic issues, and it’s all going to add up to a lot of people looking for ways to extend their budget however they can.”

He added: “For an awful lot of people, that’s going to mean leaning on buy now, pay later loans. I do think it’s going to get worse, at least in the short term. I don’t know that there’s a whole lot of reason to expect these numbers to get better in the near term.”

More Men Use BNPL

Men are more likely than women (53% versus 46%) to have used a BNPL loan. Also, the younger the consumer, the more likely they were to have used one: 64% of Gen Z (aged 18 to 28) said that they had used one, compared with 29% of baby boomers aged 61 to 79. That 64% included 16% who had used them six or more times.

Delivery service DoorDash recently announced that it would start to accept Klarna payments for takeouts, leading to concerns that American consumers were unwilling to give up their lifestyles and perceived home comforts, instead using payment management to maintain their standard of living.

Two-thirds of BNPL users told Lending Tree that they would consider using it for food delivery, and 16% of BNPL admitted that they had already used BNPL for restaurant food delivery or takeout.