More than 93% of consumers already make online purchases spontaneously, without prior planning. This is according to a study by OKTO PAYMENTS, a payment service provider company, which analyzed consumer and merchant behavior during the first quarter of 2026. This trend is mainly driven by mobile shopping, which accounts for 80% of online transactions.
The study shows that unplanned spending happens within very short timeframes, triggered by external cues such as notifications, flash sales, or seasonal events. During peak periods such as Mother’s Day, 56% of operators report that part of their transaction volume occurs within the first five minutes of a specific event. In this context, 87.9% of users abandon a transaction if it takes longer than one minute, and nearly half of Brazilian consumers expect a response in under 30 seconds.
Turning this spontaneous spending into retaining clients depends on addressing three key issues that remain the main causes of abandonment in Latin America, according to the study: slow loading times or timeouts on the payment page (26.7%), lack of the preferred payment method (24.5%), and too many required fields during registration (24.2%).
“A consumer who makes an impulse purchase once can become a repeat customer, but whether they return depends on their first transaction experience. If the payment failed, if their preferred method was not available, or if the registration required more information than they were willing to provide at that moment, they will not come back. And the merchant rarely knows why,” says André Boesing, GM South Latam at OKTO PAYMENTS.
These are the same factors that, when addressed, build trust and encourage users to return. Among consumers who stay on a platform, 50.2% cite immediate access to funds and the availability of local payment methods such as Pix in Brazil, A2A CVU deposits in Argentina, and cards and digital wallets in Chile as the main reasons, outweighing brand reputation or previous experience with the platform.
The report outlines a path for merchants to play differently and move in this direction. The starting point is onboarding: nine out of ten users report frustration at this stage, and about 30% switch to a competitor that offers a simpler process. The report also finds that 42% of users choose a platform based solely on the variety and speed of payment methods.
Boesing concludes that there is also a less visible structural gap. “Many platforms lose users at these moments without understanding why. The issue is rarely the interface or the product offering. It lies in the ability to provide a fast payment infrastructure that holds up when demand reaches its peak,” he says.
About OKTO PAYMENTS
OKTO PAYMENTS is the next-generation Payment Service Provider – AI-native, precision-engineered, and relentlessly merchant-obsessed.
Built for merchants operating in the most complex and demanding eCommerce sectors, our platform does far more than process transactions. We solve for scale, compliance, and performance — with one unshakable focus: delivering outcomes that power merchants’ growth.
From payments and banking to treasury and settlement, we engineer the financial infrastructure that gives our partners an edge. The result? Faster onboarding, smarter operations, and resilient, real-time performance.
We enable merchants to Play Differently, transforming payments from routine transactions into genuine differentiators that create personalized, frictionless payment experiences for their customers. Our AI-native innovation harnesses data and insight to power every decision, while our proprietary, in-house engineering ensures precision and control. Combined with deep, trust-based relationships across the globe, we’re redefining what it means to build, scale, and win in complex and demanding digital commerce.
