High food costs continue to strain household budgets across the country, forcing many families to rethink how they pay for essential goods. According to the Urban Institute’s 2025 Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey, many families rely heavily on credit and savings to afford basic groceries, with nearly 1 in 10 working-age adults using buy now, pay later, or BNPL, services specifically to purchase food.
However, this safety net comes with risks: The same survey shows that 34.8% of adults who used BNPL for food missed at least one payment.
This broader trend of deferred payment stress is echoed in recent data from LendingTree’s BNPL Tracker, which found that nearly half of all BNPL users have made a late payment in the past year — marking a second straight year of rising delinquency. As installment loans transition from large-ticket impulse buys into daily necessities, consumer debt strain continues to build.
Yet for consumers who utilize these platforms, BNPL is becoming deeply embedded into daily shopping habits. Marieke van der Poel, chief forecasting strategist at Proef & Company, notes that 30% of consumers who use BNPL are now using it to buy groceries — a significant shift in how people view basic spending.
“Consumers are always following their desires,” van der Poel says. “It’s an interesting development because we work with large grocery retailers and retailers that sell groceries. ... America is such a credit-driven society. Everything is very much about the culture that you spend money to spend money.”
Coping Strategy or New Aspiration for Health?
While installment payments for essentials can indicate financial strain, van der Poel says the motivation behind BNPL grocery spending is two-sided. Beyond basic cash-flow management, it offers shoppers access to higher-quality, healthier foods, such as fresh produce, fish and Mediterranean diet staples that might otherwise feel cost-prohibitive in a single transaction.
“It is a worrisome development because it basically shows that people don’t have the money to pay for their groceries,” says van der Poel. “I also think it has to do with accessibility. We want to eat healthier, and that kind of accessibility can be created by using BNPL.”
She highlights how splitting a checkout bill changes consumer perception at the register, making fresh ingredients feel immediately reachable.
“If there is an aspiration to buy a tomato instead of a can of tomatoes, or a more expensive grocery, because you can pay it over time, there’s also, from a commercial aspect, a really interesting opportunity there,” she says.
The Hidden Cost: How BNPL Merchant Fees Inflate Shelf Prices
While BNPL offers consumers immediate flexibility at checkout, it creates a hidden economic ripple effect across the store. Unlike traditional credit card processors that charge merchants around 2% to 3% per transaction, BNPL providers often charge retailers fees as high as 6% to 8%.
In an industry like retail grocery, where profit margins typically hover at a razor-thin 1% to 2%, grocers cannot absorb these hefty transaction fees. To protect their margins, retailers are forced to adjust their overall baseline pricing. As first reported by Fortune, a study from Washington University in St. Louis found that stores adopting BNPL frequently raise baseline sticker prices across the board. Consequently, even shoppers paying with cash, debit or standard credit cards end up subsidizing the cost of installment financing every time they walk down the produce aisle.
Long-Term Impact on Retailers and ‘Affordability’
As to whether this trend is temporary, van der Poel thinks installment purchasing for everyday necessities represents a lasting behavioral shift rather than a short-term coping mechanism for inflation.
“In general, because of the American culture being so credit-driven, I would see it as a longer-term shift,” van der Poel says. “I don’t think that if people are doing it, they will get away from it. The problem is also that it’s cumulative, of course.”
For those stuck in that credit loop, it almost keeps them in that loop, she adds.
For retailers navigating this evolution, van der Poel stresses that offering BNPL must align with a brand’s core positioning and consumer expectations.
“If you are a retailer, it’s always important to see what fits with your brand and your customers,” she says. “If you are about ease and accessibility, a payment method like this makes sense. If you are positioning yourself as high-end, it’s not as good an option because BNPL is increasingly associated with lower-wage buying cycles.”
Ultimately, as consumers increasingly measure affordability by today’s installment rather than the total sticker price, brands must thoughtfully balance payment flexibility, consumer trust and product value in an evolving retail landscape.
