Online retailers that fail to accept digital wallets are losing younger customers, according to a PYMNTS Intelligence study reported by Engadget. The study found that 36 percent of Gen Z shoppers abandoned an online purchase in the past 30 days because their preferred payment method was unavailable — 1.7 times the overall average. Millennials followed at 31 percent, while only 15 percent of Gen X and 8.3 percent of baby boomers and seniors did the same.
Together, 40 million Gen Z and millennial consumers walked away from intended purchases in a single month. The stakes are likely to grow: the study notes Gen Z's spending power is projected to reach $12 trillion by 2030, and digital wallets are expected to handle $4.1 trillion in U.S. spending by that year, a 64 percent increase from 2025.
Financial pressure appears to play a role. Consumers living paycheck to paycheck abandoned carts at nearly three times the rate of those who do not, and 42 percent of Gen Z report living paycheck to paycheck. The study also found strong demand for buy-now-pay-later options: 20 percent of consumers preferred PayPal Pay Later over Klarna's 12.4 percent, and 11.1 million people cited the lack of PayPal Pay Later as the reason for a failed purchase.
Overall, 21 percent of U.S. consumers had abandoned an online purchase in the prior 30 days, with 26.3 million lost customers attributed to missing digital wallet support. Nearly half of Gen Z digital wallet users said they would switch merchants or skip the transaction if their wallet wasn't accepted. The Engadget article relies on a single study and presents no conflicting findings.