Online retailers that don't support digital wallets are losing Gen Z customers
A study suggests younger people are more likely to walk away if their preferred payment option isn't supported.
Cart Abandonment Trends
Gen Z is particularly choosy when it comes to online purchasing, a new study has found. Online shoppers frequently browse sites, fill their carts and head to checkout — only to abandon the purchase if their preferred digital wallet is not available, according to a recent study from global data and analytics platform PYMNTS Intelligence. This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in the Gen Z demographic.
More than one-third (36 percent) of Gen Z shoppers abandoned a cart in the last 30 days because they couldn't pay the way they wanted, followed closely by millennials at 31 percent. Collectively, 40 million consumers in those two age groups walked away from intended purchases in a single month, resulting in profit losses for online retailers. These cart-abandonment rates are significantly lower for Gen X, at 15 percent, and baby boomers and seniors, at 8.3 percent.
Growth of Digital Wallets
Digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay are becoming increasingly common for both online and in-store purchases. Digital wallets were used in 40 percent of online purchases in 2025 and 17 percent of in-store spending, according to a study from payment technology firm Global Payments.
Meanwhile, the PYMNTS study found 87 million consumers, or one-third of US shoppers, had used a digital wallet online in the prior 30 days. Gen Z remains the most likely demographic to use digital wallets, at 47 percent, followed by millennials at 44 percent.
These digital natives are driving a global shift to digital wallets, particularly in the US, where $4.1 trillion of total spending is expected to take place via digital wallet by 2030 — a 64 percent increase from 2025. Companies that don't adapt risk being left behind as consumer behavior shifts.
Financial Pressures and BNPL
Financial precarity has major effects on how people spend: the PYMNTS study found that when their preferred method was missing, 29 percent of consumers living paycheck to paycheck abandoned a cart, compared to 11 percent of those who do not live paycheck to paycheck.
This issue is pronounced for Gen Z, which has an unemployment rate of double the national average. Even young people who are employed struggle with the cost of living, with 42 percent of Gen Z living paycheck to paycheck.
With many young people facing financial pressure, preference for Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services supported by online wallets are on the rise. Such short-term financing options let users make a down payment and split the remaining balance into subsequent payments.
The PYMNTS study found 17.7 million customers abandoned a purchase in the last 30 days because PayPal wasn't available, and 11.1 million of those cited the lack of PayPal Pay Later as a specific reason. PayPal Pay Later was more popular than other leading BNPL services, with 20 percent of consumers preferring the service compared to Klarna at 12.4 percent.
Retail Impact
The bottom line is that missing digital wallet options result in lost profits. Thirty-three percent of digital wallet users overall said they would have delayed a purchase, switched merchants, or skipped it entirely if their wallet hadn't been accepted, with nearly half of Gen Z stating they would have changed merchants.
Overall, 21 percent of consumers in the US had abandoned an online purchase in the 30 days before being surveyed, 47 percent of whom wanted to use a digital wallet, amounting to 26.3 million lost customers.
Every unsupported payment method represents a potential lost sale, and retailers targeting younger demographics face the highest risk.
