Modern Retail x Attest Research: Nearly a quarter of Gen Z shoppers are planning to use BNPL this holiday season
This story is part of an editorial research partnership with Attest.
With many people’s holiday shopping beginning in earnest this week, a big question will be: how will they finance these purchases?
According to Credit Karma, 49% of Americans are feeling stressed about affording holiday shopping this year. And, per Deloitte, shoppers are likely to spend 8% more on gifts this year than a year ago.
A recent Modern Retail+ survey done in partnership with Attest sheds light on how many consumers are expecting to pay for their gifts.
We asked nearly 2,000 consumers about the ways they expected to finance the holidays. More than half (58%) said they expected savings or a debit card. But 41% said they planned on using credit and 18% reported that they would rely on buy now, pay later services.
It turns out Gen Z is also keen on using alternative payments methods for holiday shopping. According to the survey, 22% of Gen Z respondents said they were planning on using BNPL for holiday purchases.
Another big question has been whether or not early sales this year made people buy their gifts before Black Friday. According to the research, big events like Amazon’s second Prime Day may not have swayed most shoppers.
Nearly half (45%) of respondents said they began their holiday shopping in November. Meanwhile, 12% said they started in October, the same month that Amazon kicked off its big Prime Day sales event.
Still, some people say they aren’t even beginning their buying on Black Friday. Nearly a quarter (22%) said they would start shopping the first week of December.
It throws into question whether early holiday marketing has been working on shoppers. With a shorter time period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, many retailers and brands have been trying to push for early sales. But the data shows some people may still end up waiting until the last minute.