Consumer Behavior

Nearly half of back-to-school shoppers will tap buy now, pay later option

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August 14, 2026

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Nearly half of consumers, 45%, shopping for back-to-school will rely on buy now, pay later options, up from 39% last year, according to an Omnisend survey.

The data also revealed 40% expect school shopping to be more financially stressful than last year.

Nearly one in three, 31%, expect BNPL to cover more than half of their back-to-school spending.

The survey polled 1,075 U.S. consumers, according to a press release.

Overall, 44% expect to spend more than $500 on back-to-school shopping this year, including 19% who anticipate spending over $1,000.

"Buy now, pay later used to be associated with discretionary spending. Now it's increasingly becoming a budgeting tool for predictable, everyday expenses. Back-to-school shopping isn't a surprise purchase, so the fact that so many parents still rely on BNPL suggests household budgets have less room to absorb even expected annual costs," Marty Bauer, e-commerce expert at Omnisend, said in the release.