It wasn’t just shoppers with strapped budgets that boosted buy-now, pay-later services to a record-setting $1 billion in transactions on Cyber Monday. It was also the brands and fintech companies that pushed the services front and center. This holiday season, more brands deployed BNPL services with different payment options beyond the more familiar “pay-in-four” structure, whether a six-month payment plan at 0% interest or a 24-month installment loan with interest. And the services are showing up in more digital wallets. Apple Pay users, for instance, can now toggle a payment plan with Affirm and Klarna, while Afterpay has new integrations with its sister company Cash App. BNPL represented about 7.3% of all spending from Nov. 1 to Dec. 2 this year, according to Adobe, and it’s forecasted to account for around $20.2 billion between Nov. 1 and the end of the year.

While many consumers are attempting to curb spending amid stressful financial times, retail therapy is the answer for some — with the habit fueled by buy now, pay later options. Nearly half (47%) of consumers engage in retail therapy to improve their mood, with the most common purchases being food (63%), clothing and accessories (54%), and personal care or beauty products (42%), according to a new survey from LendingTree, Overall, 54% of Americans consider retail therapy a form of "self care." More than six-in-10 (63%) Americans admit that their emotions influence their purchases, with the percentage particularly high among six-figure earners (72%), those with children younger than 18 (70%) and Gen Z respondents ages 18 to 28 (69%).

Fast-growing grocery chain Sprouts Farmers Market has its sights set on opening stores from coast to coast, which would more than triple its location count. The Phoenix-based retailer surpassed 450 stores in 24 states this year and hopes to eventually reach 1,400 stores throughout the U.S, its CEO Jack Sinclair said Monday during a presentation at the Groceryshop conference in Las Vegas. Sinclair did not share how long it could take to reach that potential scale. Over the past few months, Sprouts opened new stores in Utah, Texas, Tennessee and Maryland, among others. It plans to open at least 35 new stores by the end of this year. The retailer is growing financially, as well, with an 18% increase in net sales to about $4.5 billion in the first half of the year, according to financial statements. Its net income grew from just over $209 million in the first half of 2024 to almost $314 million a year later.