Sezzle Grows Merchant Network: Can New Brands Drive Wider Adoption?

Sezzle, Inc. SEZL expands its merchant network with three additions: Gymshark, Debenhams Group and Follett Higher Education. Gymshark now offers Sezzle at U.S. checkout, while Debenhams Group has enabled Sezzle across five brands, including Debenhams, boohoo, MAN, PrettyLittleThing and Karen Millen. Follett has rolled out Sezzle across its campus retail network, with online availability coming soon.

The Follett deal gives Sezzle exposure to more than 7.5 million students across over 1,000 college retail stores, an important channel for back-to-school spending. Debenhams broadens Sezzle's reach among fashion, home and beauty shoppers, while Gymshark adds exposure to a large fitness-focused audience.

For investors, the question is whether recognizable brands can turn checkout visibility into wider consumer use. These additions adress a range of spending needs, from activewear and fashion to textbooks and technology. That mix creates more entry points for shoppers who may not have encountered Sezzle at checkout.

The expansion follows an active second-quarter 2026. Sezzle had already added Poshmark, Gymshark, Debenhams, Brookshire's Food & Pharmacy and RockAuto.com as enterprise merchants. Active subscribers reached 854,000, up 76.4% year over year, while average purchase frequency rose to 7.2 times from 6.1 times in second-quarter 2025.

Management said On-Demand is helping Sezzle offer more competitive pricing to cost-sensitive merchants, contributing to a stronger enterprise sales funnel. Separately, the company reported strong company-wide growth in the second quarter, with gross merchandise volume rising 37.9% to $1.3 billion and revenues increasing 51.7% to $149.7 million. Management also said case studies indicate that adding a second or third BNPL provider can generate incremental sales for merchants.

How Are Its Competitors Faring?

Block XYZ expanded its Cash App merchant network in June 2026 as Afterpay and Cash App Pay were added at new retailers, including Instacart, Sweetgreen, Shoe Carnival, Monday Swimwear and GlassesUSA. The rollout broadened Block’s checkout presence across grocery, fashion, dining, mobility and services.

Affirm AFRM expanded its Shopify partnership to Australia merchant in August 2026, launching Shop Pay Installments for eligible Australian Shopify merchants. Powered exclusively by Affirm, the service marks the company’s return to Australia and expands its international distribution. As of June 30, 2026, Affirm reported approximately 571,000 active merchants globally.

SEZL’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of Sezzle have outperformed in the past six months compared with the broader industry and the S&P 500 Index.

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From a valuation standpoint, Sezzle’s shares have a Value Score of D. In terms of forward 12-month P/E, SEZL stock is trading at 18.48X, which is at a discount to the Zacks Financial Transaction Services Market industry’s 18.89X.

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Sezzle’s estimate revisions reflect a positive trend. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for full-year 2026 EPS has been revised upward to $5.24 in the past month. The consensus estimate for the metric indicates a year-over-year increase of 45.96%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Sezzle currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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