58% of Durable Goods Buyers Use Financing or Leasing Programs

woman shopping for furniture

Sixty-two percent of consumers have purchased durable goods in the past 12 months, according to “The Lease-To-Own Secret,” a PYMNTS and Katapult collaboration based on a survey of 2,688 U.S. consumers.

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Durable goods are typically defined as consumer goods that do not wear out quickly and are used for over three years.

At least one-quarter of the consumers who were surveyed said they purchased each of four durable goods in the past 12 months. Thirty-three percent purchased home furnishings, 28% purchased consumer electronics, 27% purchased home appliances and 26% purchased auto parts.

Figure 1A

Consumers in the middle-income level are most likely to say they purchased any durable goods within the past 12 months, with 68% saying they had done so.

Among the two other income levels included in the survey, 61% of consumers in the high-income level said they purchased any durable goods within the past 12 months, as did 57% of low-income consumers.

Figure 1B

About two-thirds of the younger four generations included in the survey said they purchased any durable goods within the past 12 months.

Among the consumers in the oldest age group — baby boomers and seniors — only 44% said they purchased any durable goods.

Table 1

Fifty-eight percent of all consumers who bought durable goods within the past year used financing or leasing programs for at least one purchase, with 28% financing all their durable goods purchases.

Bridge millennials, millennials and Generation Z consumers are the age groups most likely to finance all their purchases, with just over one-third of each group saying they had done so.

Consumers living paycheck to paycheck with issues paying bills are the financial lifestyle most likely to finance all their purchases, with 38% saying they had done so.