What moved (Sep '25 – Aug '26)
| Metric | Sep 2025 → Aug 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness | 16% → 21% | +5pp |
| Consideration | 8% → 13% | +5pp |
| Investigation | 8% → 13% | +5pp |
| Claimed Usage | 6% → 11% | +5pp |
| Preference | 2% → 5% | +3pp |
What's behind the growth
Sezzle has been spending heavily on marketing, retail partnerships and new products.
Quarterly marketing and advertising costs climbed from $8.8 million in Q2 2025 to $19.4 million in Q2 2026, a 121% year-on-year rise, after full-year 2025 spend rose 231% to $32.2 million.
It also signed on more well-known retailers: Cato Fashions and SCHEELS in October 2025, David's Bridal in November 2025, and by September 2026, Gymshark, the Debenhams Group and Follett's 1,000+ campus stores.
On the product side, it launched the Sezzle Balance digital wallet in June 2025 and a $29.99 unlimited 5G mobile plan in February 2026.
Sezzle called Q2 2026's subscriber growth "the largest YoY subscriber gain in the Company's history," with active subscribers up 76.4% year-on-year to 854,000.
