How Lease-to-Own Consumers Are Approaching Holiday Shopping in 2025

While the holidays bring excitement and celebration, they also bring challenges for shoppers managing tight budgets and for merchants working to drive sales.

As the holiday season approaches, Koalafi asked lease-to-own consumers about their holiday shopping plans, the challenges they face, and what helps them. The findings reveal a clear picture of today’s non-prime shopper: one who wants to spend meaningfully but needs budget flexibility to do so. For merchants, understanding this mindset can be the key to turning wish lists into sales.

Shoppers are planning to spend, but finances are tight

Lease-to-own consumers are planning to spend big this holiday season:

• Nearly half expect to spend $500+

• 1 in 6 plan to spend over $1,000

• Still, 3 out of 4 say their budgets will be tight. Inflation (30%) and staying on budget (27%) are top concerns.

Lease-to-own helps these customers take advantage of deals and reduce the stress of big purchases. 22% of these customers already know they’ll need financing this holiday season.

Holiday shopping starts early and spans channels

Holiday shopping now begins well before Black Friday, with 41% of leasing shoppers starting as early as October.

Omnichannel continues its strong momentum with 63% of lease customers shopping both online and in-store. If financing isn’t visible online, in ads, and in stores, many shoppers may never even consider a merchant.

Lease-to-own makes holiday shopping possible

When asked directly, consumers were clear about the role lease-to-own plays in their holiday spending:

• 71% say lease-to-own makes holiday shopping more accessible

• 50% would consider using lease-to-own if it helped them afford a desired item

• 41% rank financing among their top merchant decision factors, second only to discounts

For big-ticket items, lease-to-own isn’t just a nice option; it’s often the deciding factor between browsing and buying.

What merchants should consider this holiday season

Merchants can stand out this holiday season and better meet the needs of all their customers by offering non-prime financing options. Lease-to-own can turn holiday shopping wish lists into real purchases, and help merchants capture sales that might otherwise slip away.

To win this season, merchants should:

1. Promote financing early: shoppers start as early as October; don’t wait until Black Friday to showcase your financing options.

2. Pair financing with promotions: Discounts attract consumers, but flexible payment options are also important to attract these shoppers and help close the deal.

3. Make financing visible across channels: Place it front-and-center online, in ads, and on in-store signage to capture the leasing customer early in their shopping journey.

The 2025 holiday season will reward merchants who embrace flexible financing to make shopping simpler, more inclusive, and help customers turn holiday wishes into reality. Koalafi can help make that possible. Contact us to get started.

Koalafi proprietary research conducted in September 2025, surveying Koalafi customers.