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Survey evidence suggests that missing digital-wallet options can cost retailers Gen Z purchases, but it does not prove that every online store without Apple Pay or Google Pay loses customers. In a 2025 GoDaddy survey, 54% of U.S. Gen Z respondents said they had skipped a purchase because a business did not accept a digital wallet; the survey did not specify whether those purchases were online. Separately, a PayPal-sponsored report drawing on 2024 research found that 56% of Gen Z respondents had abandoned an online purchase in the prior six months because their preferred payment method was unavailable.
What the surveys say about Gen Z and digital wallets
The evidence points to a real checkout risk, but the figures measure different things. Wallet use, stated preference, reported abandonment and merchant acceptance are not interchangeable measures.
| Finding | What was measured | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 54% of Gen Z | U.S. respondents who said they had skipped completing a purchase because a business did not accept a digital wallet such as Apple Pay or Google Pay. | GoDaddy Consumer Pulse, a company-published survey of 1,500 U.S. consumers conducted in March 2025. It does not identify the purchase channel. GoDaddy’s May 14, 2025 release. |
| 60% of Gen Z; 38% overall | Respondents who said they used digital wallets online weekly. | 451 Research’s 2024 Voice of the Connected User Landscape study, reported in a 2025 report sponsored by PayPal. PayPal / 451 Research report. |
| 56% of Gen Z; 37% overall | Respondents who said they had abandoned an online purchase in the prior six months because their preferred payment method was not offered. | 451 Research’s 2024 consumer study, reported in the PayPal-sponsored 2025 report. This concerns any preferred method, not wallets alone. |
| 53% of merchants; another 39% | Surveyed merchants that offered digital wallets at checkout, or were exploring or planning adoption within the next 12 months, respectively. | 451 Research’s 2024 Voice of the Enterprise study. This is a study sample, not a census or a measure of retailer adoption in 2026. |
Why the headline needs a qualification
GoDaddy’s 54% figure is specifically about a business not accepting a wallet, but it does not say that the skipped purchase was online. The online-specific finding from 451 Research is narrower in a different way: it measures abandonment when a preferred payment method was missing, which may or may not have been a wallet. Together, the surveys support the conclusion that payment choice can matter to Gen Z shoppers; they do not establish that wallet absence alone caused every reported online abandonment.
These are self-reported survey results, not a controlled test of checkout changes. They do not tell an individual retailer how many sales it would recover by adding a wallet option. The 451 Research report also found that 57% of Gen Z respondents reported abandoning an online purchase because completing it was difficult, suggesting checkout friction extends beyond payment selection.
Wallet use and preferences differ by market
Digital wallets are not uniformly the leading payment choice. Visa’s 2025 Spending Shift survey, fielded October 14–16 among 1,000 adults in 12 markets, found that U.S. Gen Z respondents were nearly as likely to prefer physical cards as digital wallets: 34% preferred cards and 36% preferred wallets. Those U.S. results should not be applied to other countries. Visa describes meaningful regional differences, and its survey was sponsored by the payment network. Visa’s 2025 survey summary.
Federal Reserve Financial Services reported in May 2024 that 80% of surveyed younger consumers considered the ability to pay by mobile device important. Its summary also notes that the surveys and findings are not independent academic research, and that Federal Reserve Financial Services offers payment services. This is useful context for mobile payment interest, not a measure of online checkout abandonment. Federal Reserve Financial Services’ survey summary.
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What online retailers should take from the evidence
Wallet acceptance is best understood as one part of offering suitable payment choice and reducing checkout friction—not as a guaranteed conversion fix. The PayPal-sponsored report cautions that too many payment options can clutter checkout, so adding every possible method is not automatically better.
- Check your own checkout data. Compare abandonment and completion rates by device, country and payment step. Survey averages cannot predict your store’s results.
- Match methods to customers and markets. Consider the countries you serve, the devices shoppers use and which payment methods are available and familiar there.
- Evaluate the full operating trade-off. Compare provider availability, processing fees, integration effort, authentication and security requirements, and how refunds and disputes are handled.
- Measure a change rather than assume its effect. If you add a wallet, assess your own checkout outcomes against an appropriate baseline; survey findings do not establish the conversion lift for your site.
The evidence makes wallet support a credible issue for retailers to investigate, especially where customers shop on phones. It does not support a blanket claim that every online retailer without wallets is losing Gen Z customers.
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