Buy now, pay later has exploded in grocery stores in the first months of 2023. As consumers feel the burden of inflation and high interest rates on credit cards, many are opting to order their groceries online and choose to delay that payment through BUY NOW, PAY LATER services. During the first 2 months of 2023 the percentage of online grocery shoppers who opted to delay payments, grew 40%. This is the fastest pace among the retail categories. By comparison apparel grew 8% and home furnishing rose by 38%.
As the economy keeps getting more turbulent, consumers are looking for ways to delay payment, take advantage of special online promotions, and are likely making bigger purchases online to stock up on the necessities to try and manage living expenses in more flexible ways. Grocery transactions are also grabbing a bigger share of retail sales across all sectors and online sales have rose 26.7% in February.