Survey: BNPL Shoppers Have No Store Loyalty – This Is All They Care About

Store loyalty may soon be a thing of the past. This holiday season, shoppers are using Buy Now, Pay Later apps to find stores and deals, reveals a new Credello survey.

Credello conducted an online survey in collaboration with Pollfish and gathered 1,000 responses from men and women aged 18 and over who plan on using BNPL for holiday shopping. The results showed that BNPL shoppers care more about being able to finance purchases with BNPL than turning to specific brands and retailers.

Key highlights from Credello’s 2022 survey on BNPL holiday spending:

• 43% of BNPL shoppers will use apps such as Klarna to hunt for bargains this holiday season
• 23% of BNPL shoppers strongly agree that if a store or online shop doesn’t offer BNPL, they would be less likely to shop with them
• 40% of BNPL shoppers plan to do most of their holiday shopping through BNPL
• 31% of BNPL shoppers agree that they would be willing to stretch their budget when paying for a purchase with BNPL
• The younger the age group, the bigger the BNPL loyalty. The opposite is also true: Older respondents still gravitate towards specific retailers for their holiday shopping.

BNPL shoppers are redefining holiday shopping

High inflation and soaring prices may be to blame for this holiday shopping shift, as BNPL provides a way to spread out payments interest-free over several months.

It’s also a generational thing: Millennials and Gen Zers favor BNPL more than bargain hunters when it comes to finding gifts. They don’t care about shopping at a specific store – they just want to know that they can use BNPL to finance their purchase. 23% of BNPL shoppers strongly agree that if a store or online shop doesn’t offer BNPL, they would be more likely to shop elsewhere. Interestingly, 21% women disagreed versus 9% of men that if a store didn’t offer BNPL they wouldn’t shop there.

For older BNPL shoppers, the store is still a factor. They’ll turn to their retailer of choice and then use whatever BNPL platform is available at checkout to pay.

How holiday shoppers will be using BNPL

While 83% of BNPL shoppers will be using the payment method to shop for gifts for others, BNPL comes in handy for covering other holiday expenses, too. For example, 50% of respondents will use it to shop for clothes, 23% will finance home improvements with it, and 26% will use BNPL for hosting and entertaining.

Travel is also a top concern. 21% of BNPL shoppers will be using BNPL to finance travel. This is especially true for 18- to 24-year-olds, who are more likely to use the payment method to pay for travel, home improvements and holiday parties than older age groups.

Nothing kills holiday cheer like blowing your budget

The enthusiasm for BNPL may be shaping the way people shop during the holidays, but it’s also bringing up fears and concerns. Nearly 50% of BNPL shoppers are concerned about spending more than they normally would while using BNPL, and that worry increases with age.

It’s a legitimate worry: 31% of BNPL shoppers agree that they would be willing to stretch their budget for a specific purchase if BNPL is available. Going overboard is easy when you buy now and pay later, after all.

Methodology

This survey was conducted online in partnership with a third-party platform, Pollfish. The total sample size was 1,000 adults in the United States aged 18 and over who plan to use BNPL as one of their payment methods for holiday shopping in 2022. The results have been weighted to balance responses to census statistics on the dimensions of age and gender.

 For complete survey methodology, please contact?[email protected].