Michaela Weber on why flexible payment is moving to the till

Lululemon has introduced Klarna as an in-store payment option across its UK stores. Buy now, pay later grew up online, but around 70 per cent of UK retail sales still happen in physical stores, and one in four UK adults has now used BNPL, up from 14 per cent in 2023.

Michaela Weber is SVP product, payments and financial services at Commerce, and previously led partnerships at the payment service provider Mollie and enterprise partnerships at Worldpay. In written answers to Disrupts, she explained what the Lululemon move signals, what the adoption data does and does not say, and why adding a payment method at the till is harder than adding one online.

Weber reads the move as a signal about choice rather than about BNPL in particular. "It shows that retailers continue to recognise the importance of offering flexible payment options, both in-store and online. Lululemon is bringing payment choice to the till, which is where around 70 per cent of UK retail sales still happen."

She resists the idea that in-store instalments become an expectation overnight. "The approach will differ category by category, starting with considered purchases where spreading the cost changes whether someone buys at all. We saw the same pattern with contactless, then Apple Pay and Google Pay. They were optional, then mainstream, then conspicuous by their absence." The real question, she said, "is whether a retailer can offer the methods their customers already use, wherever the purchase gets completed".

Stacking, not switching

On the data, Weber cited research finding 65 per cent of Gen Z shoppers have used BNPL this year, up from 55 per cent in 2025. "Adoption moving that quickly usually tells you the product is solving a real problem, not just that the marketing is good."

She is cautious about reading that as BNPL replacing cards. "Shoppers are not switching, they are stacking. The payment method changes with the basket value, the category and how planned the purchase was. Same person, same week, different payment method." For retailers, the useful question "is which method is missing at the moment a customer decides not to buy".

Why the shop floor is different

Online, adding a payment method is largely a configuration decision, Weber said. "In-store it is an operational one. It has to work with the existing point-of-sale system and payment providers, and it has to work for the staff running the till."

Then there is everything after the sale. "Refunds, exchanges, reconciliation, and a colleague who needs to explain the terms accurately to a customer with a queue behind them. That is the part that gets underestimated. More choice should not mean more friction. If a new payment method adds seconds at the point of sale, it undermines the convenience it was introduced to provide."

Where it makes commercial sense follows from basket size. BNPL is more likely to be used on higher-value, considered purchases; in low-value, high-frequency categories such as grocery, customers will prioritise speed over flexibility. "Adding a payment method because the category is growing overall is style without substance. Start with how your customers actually pay and what they typically spend per visit, then add the options that change the outcome. The goal is the right payment methods, not the most."

What regulation changes

With the FCA's BNPL regime now in force, Weber said the diligence becomes more specific. Compliance obligations sit with the lender, "but customers do not see that distinction. If a provider handles an affordability decline badly, it happens in your store, in front of your staff and could be damaging to customer perception of your brand."

The questions to ask a provider have changed as a result: whether it is fully authorised or operating under the temporary permissions regime and what happens if that status changes, what approval rates look like under proportionate affordability checks, and how a decline is communicated at the till. She sees the regime as good for the category. "Consumer Duty and access to the Financial Ombudsman make BNPL a more predictable thing to put next to your brand." Retailers, she added, will need partners who can meet the standard without putting friction back into the checkout.

Looking two or three years out, Weber expects the payment mix to look familiar. "Most of what gets described as a new payment method is really a new interface sitting on top of a card. Wallets are cards at their core. A lot of BNPL is funded by a card." She expects wallets to keep taking in-store share and BNPL "to settle into being an ordinary option on high-value purchases rather than a category in its own right". Pay by bank, she noted, drew a great deal of attention as a way to disintermediate cards at the till, but implementation has been slow and limited.

The bigger change, in her view, is who initiates the payment. "Agentic checkout is not a 2026 volume driver but I expect it to drive more volume in 2027, and retailers should be building for it now. I expect the payment mix to look broadly familiar for the next three years, and the route to the checkout to look quite different."

The FCA's regulatory regime for buy now, pay later products is now in force, bringing the products within Consumer Duty and giving customers access to the Financial Ombudsman Service.