One in Three Online Shoppers Now Pays With a Digital Wallet

One-third of American online shoppers now pays with a digital wallet, and merchants that do not accept them are watching ready buyers walk away at the register.

A PYMNTS Intelligence report published Oct. 14, produced with PayPal, found that 21 percent of shoppers abandoned an online cart in the previous 30 days because their preferred payment method was not available. That represents nearly 56 million consumers, with missing digital wallets accounting for the largest share.

The numbers are based on a June survey of 2,179 adults. About 36 million shoppers abandoned a cart or said they would have because their preferred wallet was not accepted. PayPal was the most used wallet at 18.1 percent, followed by Cash App at 9.7 percent and Apple Pay at 9.4 percent, according to eMarketer’s summary of the data.

The generational split is stark. Among Gen Z shoppers, 36 percent abandoned a cart over a missing payment method, compared with 8 percent of baby boomers. Nearly half of Gen Z shoppers who paid with a digital wallet said they would have switched merchants or abandoned the purchase without it.

Financial pressure raises the stakes. Shoppers living paycheck to paycheck were nearly three times as likely to abandon a cart when their preferred method was missing, at 29 percent versus 11 percent for those not living paycheck to paycheck.

For holiday shoppers, the practical advice is to check payment options before falling in love with a cart. With the season compressed by a late Thanksgiving, deals are starting earlier, and a missing Apple Pay or PayPal button at checkout is a preventable reason to lose one.

The report also points to what comes next. About 43 percent of consumers say they would likely link a digital wallet to an AI shopping agent within two years, which could make wallet acceptance part of the coming wave of automated buying.