Americans increasingly use buy now, pay later services for groceries, with 25% now financing food purchases through installment plans. While 63% feel confident about making payments, a whopping 41% missed payments last year. Gen Z leads this concerning trend, with over half using BNPL for food shopping. What started as a luxury convenience has morphed into a survival strategy – and the numbers tell a troubling story.
While Americans once reserved buy-now-pay-later services for splurges like electronics and designer clothes, they’re now using these payment plans for something far more basic: food. The numbers tell a stark story – 25% of BNPL users reported buying groceries with these services in 2025, up from 14% just a year earlier. Food has climbed to become the fourth most popular category for BNPL purchases, right behind clothing, tech, and home goods.
Gen Z leads this trend, with over half of them turning to BNPL for their food shopping. It’s not because they’re splurging on organic quinoa and artisanal cheese. No, this shift reflects something more troubling: people simply can’t afford groceries anymore. Rising inflation and sky-high interest rates have turned even basic shopping trips into financial puzzles. Food-at-home prices increased 0.5% in March 2025, continuing the upward trend.
The confidence of BNPL users is almost tragically misplaced. A whopping 63% feel “very confident” they’ll pay back their loans on time. Reality check: 41% missed payments in the past year alone, up from 34% the previous year. Even worse, more than half have paid late at least once. Turns out buying milk on an installment plan isn’t the brilliant budget hack some thought it would be. Over three-quarters of those who missed payments were late by no more than a week.
Major grocery retailers are jumping on the bandwagon, adding BNPL options both online and in stores. The share of grocery BNPL orders shot up 40% in early 2023. What was once a way to finance that shiny new iPhone has morphed into a tool for covering Tuesday night dinner.
Many users mistakenly believe managing these loans will boost their credit scores. Spoiler alert: most BNPL services don’t even report to credit bureaus. Meanwhile, late payments keep climbing, especially among those financing necessities.
It’s a troubling signal when people need installment plans for basic nutrition. BNPL has evolved from a luxury shopping convenience into a survival strategy – and not a particularly successful one, given the rising tide of missed payments.
