BNPL is no longer just a checkout feature: it’s a customer expectation

Buy Now Pay Later often has a perception problem. Some see it as a workaround for consumers who can't pay upfront, or a niche product with limited relevance outside electronics, fashion and furniture.  Our 2026 Consumer Payments Report tells a different story.

Among credit-active South African consumers, 71% now use Buy Now Pay Later at some frequency, with groceries entering the top five BNPL categories. As well, 48.7% of consumers want BNPL available both online and in-store, a level of demand that very few South African merchants currently meet. These point to a mainstream expectation that most of the enterprise retail sector is still treating as optional.

Who's using BNPL? It isn't who you might expect

The highest BNPL engagement in our research sits with the Realised Middle, households earning R25,000 to R50,000 a month, at 69.6%. This is the segment our research participants consistently described as under growing financial pressure: less liquidity, more deliberate spending and greater sensitivity to payment flexibility.

The Elite segment shows 62.9% engagement, but with notably higher "rarely" rates, suggesting occasional and strategic use rather than habitual adoption. The Mass Market shows the lowest engagement, at 54.1%.

This indicates that BNPL in the South African context is not primarily a tool for financially excluded consumers. More often, it's a tool for mid-market consumers looking to better manage cash flow, making deliberate purchase decisions and looking for flexibility without committing to a credit agreement. That's a segment that enterprise retailers should be designing for explicitly.

BNPL's expanding footprint, from big tickets to everyday purchases

Electronics remains the leading BNPL category by response volume, followed by clothing and fashion at 45.4%. Health and beauty ranks third and home and furniture follows close behind.

Groceries entering the top five is the more important story here: BNPL is no longer reserved for the large, considered purchase. It's being applied to routine spending, which means it's becoming a default payment behaviour rather than a tool for specific occasions.

The South African BNPL market is expected to reach $1.11 billion in 2026, according to GlobeNewsWire, with the broader Africa-wide market projected at $16.8 billion by 2029. That growth is being driven directly by the demographic and behavioural shifts this data captures.

The trust barrier, and how to address it

Among the 29% of credit-active consumers who never use BNPL, the leading barrier is a desire to avoid debt, cited by 37%. This reflects a specific framing of BNPL as a form of borrowing that many consumers are either uncomfortable with or ideologically opposed to.

The second most cited barrier is a preference to pay upfront, at 32%. Lack of availability and lack of trust follow at 10% and 8% respectively. For merchants, this means the language used to present BNPL at checkout matters as much as the offering itself. Framing BNPL as a payment flexibility tool rather than a credit product, making the absence of interest on core instalment options explicit and keeping terms visible upfront are all practical ways to reduce debt aversion among consumers currently on the fence.

The omnichannel BNPL gap is a first-mover opportunity

The most immediate commercial opportunity in the 2026 data is about offering BNPL in the places consumers already want to use it.

48.7% of consumers want BNPL available both online and in-store, against only 15% who prefer online-only access. Yet for most South African enterprise retailers, BNPL remains an online-only feature where it's offered at all. In-store BNPL is rare, and true omnichannel BNPL, where a customer starts an instalment plan in-store and manages it digitally, barely exists at enterprise level.

This is a first-mover gap. Merchants who close it, by integrating BNPL into both their online payments and in-person payments flows, stand to capture a conversion advantage among the sizeable share of consumers who currently only encounter BNPL at the online checkout. The desire for omnichannel consistency expressed by consumers in the 2026 report extends directly to BNPL.

BNPL's deeper role in South African financial inclusion

There's a dimension to BNPL in South Africa that goes beyond the conversion argument at checkout. Speaking on the Stitch Between the Seams podcast, Junaid Dadan, President and Co-founder of Stitch, described BNPL as something that "bridges a critical gap in consumer trust and affordability at the exact moment of intent."

Ashish Aggarwal, Partner at PayPal Ventures, made a related point on the same episode: a successful first BNPL transaction effectively verifies the consumer for other financial products, positioning BNPL as an entry point into formal credit rather than just a way to split a payment. For South African merchants, that means BNPL integration does two jobs at once. It increases conversion now, and it helps build a financially included customer base over time.

To learn more about how Stitch supports BNPL and flexible collections for enterprise businesses, explore our recurring collections capabilities or get in touch.

FAQs

How many South Africans use Buy Now Pay Later?‍

Among credit-active South African consumers, 71% use Buy Now Pay Later at some frequency, according to Stitch's 2026 Consumer Payments Report. In the broader population, 55% said in the 2025 report that they never use BNPL, which suggests adoption is concentrated among digitally active, credit-engaged consumers, a segment that continues to grow quickly.

Which income group uses BNPL the most in South Africa?‍

The Realised Middle, households earning R25,000 to R50,000 a month, shows the highest BNPL engagement at 69.6%, followed by the Elite segment at 62.9% and the Mass Market at 54.1%.

What are consumers using BNPL to buy?‍

Electronics leads by response volume, followed by clothing and fashion, health and beauty, home and furniture, groceries and travel and experiences. Groceries entering the top five signals that BNPL is shifting from an occasional big-ticket tool to a routine payment behaviour.

Why do some South Africans avoid using BNPL?‍

The most common reason, cited by 37% of non-users, is a desire to avoid debt. A further 32% prefer to pay upfront. Smaller shares cite unavailability or a lack of trust in the product. These are largely communication challenges: transparent terms and clear framing at checkout measurably reduce avoidance.

Do South African consumers want BNPL available in-store as well as online?‍

Yes. 48.7% of consumers want BNPL available both online and in-store, compared with 15% who prefer it online-only. This represents significant unmet demand, and a first-mover opportunity for enterprise retailers that integrate BNPL across both channels.

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