More Americans are turning to buy now, pay later plans to cover grocery bills as food costs climb, a survey showed. The payment method, long used for big-ticket purchases such as electronics and furniture, is spreading to everyday staples including eggs, milk and fruit.
Of consumers who use buy now, pay later, or BNPL, services, 29% said they had used them to buy groceries, according to a 2026 report from U.S. loan marketplace LendingTree released on the 16th. That is up from 25% a year earlier and 14% two years ago. Groceries ranked third among BNPL purchase categories, behind clothing and footwear at 39% and electronics at 34%.
The shift goes beyond payment habits. In the same survey, 54% of BNPL users said they would struggle to make ends meet without the service. Some 47% said they had been late on at least one BNPL payment in the past year, and 25% said they were carrying three or more BNPL loans at the same time.
Approval of President Donald Trump's handling of the economy stood at 36%, the lowest of either of his terms, with 57% of respondents saying they disapproved of his economic management.
Analysts warn that the spread of BNPL could push prices higher. Research by Professor Panos Kouvelis of Washington University in St. Louis found that wider BNPL use increases the likelihood that retailers pass merchant fees on to consumers through higher prices.
Grocers, which operate on thin margins, are especially unlikely to absorb those fees and may instead raise prices or cut inventory, the research found. That could leave even shoppers who do not use BNPL paying more.
LendingTree cited ease of use, at 31%, and low approval hurdles, at 27%, as the biggest reasons for BNPL's popularity. For consumers with tight budgets, the appeal of deferring costs is hard to resist.
While the Trump administration touts what it calls historic economic results, low- and middle-income Americans are filling their grocery carts on installment plans.
