dlocal Payments Report · 2026

The Next Wave of Global Consumers

Payment localization is the single lever with the most leverage over purchasing behaviour

93% of respondents said being able to use their preferred local payment method (such as Pix, a bank transfer, or a mobile wallet) on an international site would make them more likely to buy from a foreign brand, including 55% who said "much more likely." That figure reaches 97% in Nigeria and 96% in Brazil, both markets where mobile money and Pix, respectively, are already the default way people pay.

97%

96%

93% of consumers

are more likely to buy from a foreign brand when their preferred local payment method is accepted

Combines "somewhat more likely" and "much more likely"; 55% said much more likely. Source: original online survey fielded on behalf of dLocal, July 2026. n=1,358.

Payment localization is already changing behaviour — whoever removes friction first, wins

Asked which recent payment development has had the biggest impact on their shopping over the past year, most respondents pointed to some form of payment localization. Loyalty will be gained by whichever brand removes friction first.

When asked what would make them more likely to purchase from U.S. eCommerce brands, only 2% selected "nothing would change my likelihood." In other words, 98% of respondents have at least one concrete, addressable reason they aren't already buying more from foreign brands. This is a solvable problem, not an entrenched preference for local retailers.

This mirrors a shift already visible in how the region's biggest platforms compete. Amazon has disclosed spending more than $100 billion over roughly fifteen years building out its fulfillment and last-mile delivery network. Mercado Libre planned $13.2 billion in regional infrastructure investment in 2025 alone, with 95% of what it sells moving through its own logistics network. That decade-long arms race in delivery spend is a large part of why fast, reliable shipping is already the single biggest purchase driver in this survey. Nevertheless, the same intensity of investment hasn't yet been matched in payments, which is exactly where the next behaviour change is coming from.

Credit Innovation vs. Basic Access

Asked how likely they'd be to buy from a site that didn't accept their local currency or an alternative payment method, 71% said they'd be unlikely to (30% "very unlikely," 42% "somewhat unlikely"), versus just 15% who'd purchase anyway.

Resistance was highest in Argentina, where 82% said they'd be unlikely to buy without local payment support, showcasing the strongest reaction of any market surveyed. The most flexibility was found in Brazil and Thailand, where roughly 1 in 5 shoppers said they'd still buy regardless of payment methods offered.

Likelihood of buying from a site that does not accept local currency or an alternative payment method

Source: original online survey fielded on behalf of dLocal, July 2026. n=1,358. Countries: Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Thailand, the Philippines, Kenya, Nigeria.

Credit Innovation vs. Basic Access: Why One Payments Roadmap Won't Fit All Markets

Payment localization is the dominant story across these markets, but the specific mechanism changing behaviour isn't the same everywhere. In Latin America and Africa, the developments respondents cite as most impactful are still foundational: more sites accepting local currency or local payment methods. These markets are still closing the basic access gap.

Southeast Asia tells a different story. In the Philippines, BNPL is the single most-cited driver by far, at 35%, roughly double the seven-market average of 18%. In Thailand, BNPL (30%) and wallet integrations such as cross-border Pix linking (30%) together account for 60% of responses, dwarfing local-currency and local-payment-method acceptance (10% each), which dominate everywhere else. A single global payments roadmap will underserve at least one region.

Payment development with the biggest impact on shopping in the past year

Bars scaled to a 60% axis. Source: original online survey fielded on behalf of dLocal, July 2026. n=1,358. Countries: Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Thailand, the Philippines, Kenya, Nigeria.

Brand perceptions: China, the U.S., and Europe

Chinese eCommerce brands enjoy a clear net-positive reputation across these markets, though a less dominant one than in dLocal's 2025 LATAM-only research. 55% view Chinese brands favorably or extremely favorably, versus just 5% negative. Favorability is strongest in Brazil (25% "extremely favorable"), Kenya (22%) and Nigeria (20%), and softest in Thailand and the Philippines, where neutral responses dominate and negative sentiment is highest (9% and 8%).

On broad favorability, U.S. and European brands beat China everywhere. But on the strongest form of endorsement, "extremely favorable," China leads the U.S. in Nigeria (20% vs. 18%), Brazil (25% vs. 24%) and Kenya (22% vs. 19%), and leads Europe in those same three markets plus Argentina.

Favorable opinions don't automatically convert into frequent purchases

Despite roughly comparable favorability for U.S. and European brands, 44% of respondents say they buy from Chinese brands often or all the time, compared with 32% for U.S. brands and just 21% for European brands; a gap almost certainly tied to more aggressive localization of pricing, payments and logistics. However, when asked how often they purchase from Chinese eCommerce sites specifically, the answer was more conservative at 29%, suggesting a difference between Chinese goods and Chinese retailers for consumers.

Table — Brand favorability and purchase frequency, by region of origin

"Favorable" combines "favorable" and "extremely favorable". Source: original online survey fielded on behalf of dLocal, July 2026. n=1,358. Countries: Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Thailand, the Philippines, Kenya, Nigeria.

What it would take to win these shoppers over

The attributes that would make consumers more likely to buy from U.S. and European eCommerce brands are nearly identical, which suggests companies don't need a region-by-region playbook so much as a universal one.

Shipping remains the single biggest lever, with cost and speed combined cited by roughly 6 in 10 respondents for both U.S. and European brands. However payment localization sits close behind at roughly half, and it's the second-largest gap between what brands typically invest in and what shoppers say actually moves them. While fast, affordable shipping is an expectation, payments can no longer be treated as an afterthought.

Local customer support ranks last for both regions (31% for U.S. and 30% for European brands), well behind every operational factor. By contrast, checkout localization and reliable delivery rank higher, suggesting that consumers place greater priority on being able to pay in their preferred currency and through their preferred payment method, as well as receiving their orders on time.

Factors that would increase likelihood of purchase from U.S. and European eCommerce brands

• U.S.
• Europe

• Lower shipping costs
  63%

  62%
• Faster shipping
  57%

  56%
• Preferred local payment method accepted
  51%

  49%
• Prices in local currency
  48%

  46%
• Local customer support
  31%

  30%

Multi-select; totals do not sum to 100%. Source: original online survey fielded on behalf of dLocal, July 2026. n=1,358. Countries: Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Thailand, the Philippines, Kenya, Nigeria.

These markets are already a growth lever, not an afterthought

Unlike mature markets, these markets of the future are a growth lever for retailers. Amazon and Walmart both posted their weakest sales growth in years in early 2025, barely outpacing inflation — yet Walmart's Mexico and Central America division kept growing well ahead of that pace, and its China business faster still.

Amazon posted 3.7% growth in the same period; Walmart's China business grew 18%. Source: company earnings reports, early 2025.

Where the playbook diverges further

• 

  Latin America

  Latin America doesn't move as one market. Argentina and Mexico are the two most rigid markets in the study, where only 6% and 5% respectively would buy without local payment support, the lowest figures recorded. Brazil, by contrast, is among the most forgiving, likely reflecting how thoroughly Pix has already normalized frictionless local payment there. A single Latin American strategy risks under-serving Argentina and Mexico while over-investing in a market that has largely already solved this problem for itself.

• 

  Southeast Asia

  Southeast Asia has moved past the basic-access question and onto credit and payment innovation specifically. The Philippines shows a related but distinct wrinkle: 64% cite affordability as a barrier to buying online, far higher than any other market (next-highest is Argentina at 46%), and it's the only market where accepting a preferred local payment method beats shipping entirely as the top driver for European brands (64%). For Filipino shoppers specifically, the binding constraint is less about logistics and more about whether they can pay at all.

• 

  Africa

  In Africa, the constraint is speed and credit, not cost. Nigeria and Kenya are the only two markets where faster delivery beats cheaper shipping as the top purchase driver, whereas everywhere else cost wins. The same pattern holds for payments: Kenya's single biggest cited barrier is the unavailability of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), at 59%, nearly 14 points above any other market. Yet when Kenyans are asked what recent payment development has actually changed their shopping, BNPL expansion barely registers (10%), while broader local-payment-method access dominates (42%). This points to unusually strong demand that supply hasn't caught up to yet.

Shifting habits, in shoppers' own words

Two open-ended questions asked respondents to describe, in their own words, what has changed most about their online shopping habits and whether they'd still buy from a foreign brand that didn't accept their preferred payment method despite a significantly lower price. Because these were free-text responses in four languages, the figures reflect a careful thematic reading rather than a fixed-choice tally.

On the price-versus-payment-friction tradeoff specifically, sentiment splits close to evenly three ways. The data reveals there is no single dominant consumer mindset on this tradeoff, which means brands can meaningfully move the needle in either direction depending on how much friction they remove. Respondents in Nigeria (55%) and Kenya (50%) were the most willing to push through payment friction for a lower price, often citing specific workarounds like moving money through mobile wallets or crypto, while the Philippines (49% said no, only 22% said yes) showed the strongest resistance, frequently tied to distrust of foreign-currency conversion and unfavorable exchange rates.

What has changed most about online shopping habits in the past year

• More price-conscious, comparing prices More price-conscious, comparing prices 21%
• More careful, research-driven shopping More careful, research-driven shopping 16%
• Shopping online more often Shopping online more often 14%
• Shipping cost or speed Shipping cost or speed 11%
• New local payment or currency options New local payment or currency options 10%
• Nothing has changed Nothing has changed 9%

Open-ended responses in four languages; approximate thematic codings, directional rather than precise. Bars scaled to a 25% axis. Source: original online survey fielded on behalf of dLocal, July 2026. n=1,358.

Would you buy at a significantly lower price if your preferred payment method were not accepted?

No, would not buy — 37%

Resistance is strongest in the Philippines (49% said no), often tied to distrust of foreign-currency conversion and unfavorable exchange rates.

Yes, would find a way to pay — 36%

Willingness peaks in Nigeria (55%) and Kenya (50%), often citing workarounds like mobile wallets or crypto.

Depends / conditional — 27%

Bars scaled to a 50% axis. Source: original online survey fielded on behalf of dLocal, July 2026. n=1,358.

How these findings compare to past research

dLocal's prior research, The dLocal LATAM Retail & Payments Report 2025, surveyed 1,050 respondents across five Latin American markets (Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Colombia, together representing roughly 80% of the region's GDP) in early 2025. Comparing the two studies, while keeping in mind they are separate surveys with different country mixes and sample sizes, shows both striking consistency and a few meaningful divergences.

Chart — 2025 vs. 2026

Consistent with prior LATAM research.

The core finding holds across both studies: accessible, localized payment options are a baseline requirement for online purchase, not a differentiator. That the numbers hold up so closely across a much broader and more diverse set of markets is itself a strong signal that this is a structural feature of shopping in high-growth economies, not a quirk of any one region. Purchase frequency from Chinese eCommerce sites is similarly stable: the previous report found 52% of LATAM respondents shopped "sometimes" and 7% "all the time"; in this year's report it's 55% and 5%.

Where the new markets diverge: affordability is a bigger barrier in this expanded sample than in the LATAM-only study. The unavailability of BNPL is also somewhat more of a sticking point, while the absence of alternative payment methods is a slightly smaller issue than before. Read together, this suggests that as more markets adopt alternative payment methods, the constraint shifts from "can I pay at all" toward "can I afford it"; a maturing, but still very real, friction point. Sentiment toward Chinese brands is also meaningfully nuanced, driven largely by Thailand and the Philippines, likely reflecting a more competitive, more mature eCommerce landscape in Southeast Asia, where regional and hyperlocal platforms already compete hard for the same shoppers.