While the vast majority of consumers are highly satisfied with their buy now, pay later (BNPL) experiences, PYMNTS Intelligence research finds that many Gen Z users believe that there is still room for improvement.
For the report “Tracking the Digital Payments Takeover: What BNPL Needs to Win Wider Adoption,” created in collaboration with Amazon Web Services, PYMNTS Intelligence surveyed a census-balanced panel of more than 3,100 consumers in June about their usage of and experiences with deferred payment plans.
The results reveal that, when it comes to BNPL, Gen Z is the least likely to feel their expectations are being met. Nearly three-quarters of consumers across age groups using BNPL reported that they were very or extremely satisfied with their BNPL options, while only 56% of Gen Z said the same — a significantly lower share than any other generation.
This finding is especially notable given that Gen Z is a key demographic for BNPL providers.
In fact, the PYMNTS Intelligence report “The Credit Accessibility Series: BNPL’s Wide-Ranging Impact on Consumers and Merchants,” created in collaboration with i2c, found that if BNPL were unavailable for a given purchase, 27% of Gen Z would opt not to buy the item
Plus, PYMNTS Intelligence’s study “The Credit Economy: How Younger Consumers Make Credit Decisions” found that Gen Z consumers primarily use BNPL for practical, smaller purchases, such as clothing, which accounted for 39% of BNPL use among Gen Z consumers, followed by groceries and restaurant purchases. On the other hand, baby boomers and seniors are more likely to use BNPL for big-ticket items, such as furniture purchases.
Indeed, for these young consumers, using BNPL is a key way to being able to afford nice-to-haves, and a significant share, if not given the option, would rather go without these discretionary purchases.
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