Back to Resource Center
From checkout button to full-funnel: The case for omnichannel BNPL strategy
July 31, 2026
Share article
A checkout button is not a buy now, pay later (BNPL) strategy.
It offers shoppers another way to pay, but only after they have reached the final step and are ready to complete the purchase. By then, many of the decisions that determine whether they buy have already happened.
Customers compare prices on product pages, explore options in an app, visit stores, and return later from another device. When BNPL appears only at checkout, it is absent when shoppers are deciding whether a purchase feels manageable.
Nearly 74% of shoppers3 cancel a purchase when the payment experience does not meet their needs. Many make that decision before checkout ever loads.
An omnichannel BNPL strategy extends payment flexibility across web, app, and store so it can support the full buying journey, not only the final transaction.
Checkout is one stop in a longer buying journey
Shoppers engage with a brand an average of 11 touchpoints4 before completing a purchase. Those touchpoints are spread across days and devices, and the buying decision forms gradually across all of them.
Consider a shopper looking at a $400 item. They find it on social media, tap through to the product page, and pause at the price. The page shows no way to break that cost into smaller payments, so they close the tab without buying.
A few days later, they walk into a store to see the item in person. A sales associate mentions a payment plan, which sends them to the retailer's app that evening to compare configurations. Only after seeing a flexible payment option does the purchase happen, the next morning, online.
The sale nearly ended on the product page. That first pause was the moment payment friction showed up, three touchpoints and two days before checkout ever entered the picture. Most shoppers who hit that same wall don't come back to find the payment option a store associate happened to mention.
If shoppers encounter payment questions across the journey, merchants need payment visibility that follows that journey.
What payment flexibility looks like across channels
An omnichannel BNPL strategy makes payment flexibility visible where shoppers are weighing a purchase. That happens across three environments:
1. In-store: That can mean signage near the entrance, shelf, fitting room, or register so shoppers know flexible payment options exist before they ask. QR flows or app-based payment paths can help shoppers start from the aisle instead of waiting until the final payment step.
2. In-app: The payment experience (PX) should stay inside the retailer’s app. An embedded mobile software development kit (SDK) can support that flow without pushing shoppers to an external site right as they are ready to pay.
3. Online: Product display page (PDP) messaging can help shoppers understand payment options as they review the item. Cart visibility catches shoppers while they are looking at the full order, and Express Checkout can help at the payment step.
That is what omnichannel BNPL is meant to solve. Shoppers should not have to figure out a new payment path every time they move from screen to store and back again.
How an omnichannel BNPL strategy impacts your bottom line
Merchants that expand BNPL beyond a single checkout placement have seen gains across order value, customer growth, retention, and transaction volume. The impact can show up in order value, cart completion, customer lifetime value, and transaction volume.
1. Average order value (AOV)
Omnichannel customers spend 16% more4 per order than customers who shop through a single channel.
BNPL can build on that behavior by giving shoppers another way to manage larger purchases. Cato added Zip alongside an existing BNPL provider and saw a 50% lift in AOV, while Follett saw an 18% increase after implementing flexible payments.
That makes payment visibility worth evaluating beyond the checkout page.
2. Cart abandonment
Payment friction can cause shoppers to leave before a purchase is complete. BNPL has been shown to reduce cart abandonment by 20% for orders over $100 and by 29% among shoppers ages 18 to 34.5
The broader commerce experience matters too. Retailers implementing unified commerce see 18% lower cart abandonment,5 reinforcing the value of creating a connected payment experience across web, app, and store.
That can translate into more completed purchases across every channel.
3. Customer lifetime value
Omnichannel shoppers have 30% higher customer lifetime value4 than single-channel shoppers.
A consistent payment experience can support that long-term value by making it easier for customers to return and complete purchases across channels without having to navigate a different process each time.
That can turn a single purchase into a longer, more valuable customer relationship.
4. Customer growth
Alternative Airlines added Zip Pay in 8 and saw a 158% month-over-month lift in customer share.
That lift points to the value of making payment options easier to find when eligible shoppers are still deciding where to buy.
5. Retention
Brands with strong omnichannel engagement retain 89% of customers year over year,6 versus 33% for those with limited omnichannel reach.
Consistency matters because returning customers should not have to relearn the payment experience every time they switch channels.
6. Transaction volume
After expanding its BNPL offering with Zip, GameStop reported a 196% increase in BNPL transaction volume, doubled AOV, and generated more than $1.35 million in BNPL transactions.
The opportunity comes from coverage. BNPL can only influence revenue, conversion, and repeat purchases in the places where eligible shoppers can see and use it.
Questions worth asking any BNPL provider
These outcomes depend on where BNPL actually appears. Before counting it as part of an omnichannel strategy, merchants should confirm whether their provider supports it across web, app, and store.
A checkout integration can look complete in a platform dashboard and still leave major parts of the customer journey uncovered.
Ask any provider:
Can eligible shoppers use BNPL in-store, online, and in-app?
Does the in-app experience stay inside your app through an embedded mobile SDK?
Can payment options appear on product display pages and in the cart?
What does in-store launch require from your team?
Will in-store activation require POS hardware replacement?
How will reporting and reconciliation work across channels?
What can realistically launch before peak-season timelines tighten?
The weak spots usually show up quickly. You may find strong online checkout support, limited app support, a redirect flow, or an in-store path that requires more operational lift than your team can take on before the holiday build is locked.
For merchants seeing those gaps, Zip is a strong option to include in the evaluation. Its flexible payment experiences can extend across online, in-app, and in-store environments, with support for online placement, mobile SDK experiences, Express Checkout, and in-store activation through virtual card-enabled and POS-compatible paths.
An omnichannel BNPL strategy should not require every team to rebuild its commerce stack before it can expand beyond checkout.
Where to start your omnichannel BNPL journey
Start with an audit of where BNPL appears today, then mark the places where shoppers compare products, check store availability, open the app, talk to store teams, or decide to come back later. The gaps will show whether your BNPL strategy matches the way customers actually shop.
And when you're ready to speak with an omnichannel BNPL expert, our team is here to assess your current payments solutions stack and provide recommendations to optimize and improve.