Katapult Holdings, Inc. (KPLT): Marketing Mix Analysis [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're digging into the financials of the lease-to-own space as of late 2025, and honestly, the strategy for this non-prime fintech is crystal clear, though not without risk. I've seen a lot of models, but what the numbers show for the company-like the app marketplace driving 61% of originations in Q3 and a projected 18% to 20% revenue growth for the full year-is a focused execution on tech and merchant integration. We need to look past the surface-level lease price, which often doubles the cash cost, to see how their omnichannel 'Place' and 80% year-over-year application growth in 'Promotion' are actually working together. Let's break down the four P's right now to see if this focused play in a tough market is set to pay off.

Katapult Holdings, Inc. (KPLT) - Marketing Mix: Product

The product Katapult Holdings, Inc. offers is a technology-driven lease-to-own (LTO) platform designed specifically for non-prime U.S. consumers. This platform facilitates the purchasing of everyday durable goods, such as furniture and electronics, through integrations with retailers.

You see a clear shift in how customers are engaging with the platform, moving toward owned digital channels. In the third quarter of 2025, the Katapult app marketplace drove 61% of gross originations. This channel is now the single largest customer referral source.

KPay (Katapult Pay) is a central feature of the product experience, and its adoption accelerated significantly. KPay originations grew 66% year-over-year in Q3 2025. This specific payment method accounted for 41% of total gross originations in that quarter, reaching $26.4M. Furthermore, the unique customer base using KPay expanded by about 76% year-over-year.

Customer loyalty is a key product attribute, evidenced by the high rate of return business. Approximately 55% of Q3 2025 originations came from repeat customers. This repeat business supports the overall volume, where total gross originations for Q3 2025 reached $64.2M, marking a 25.3% increase year-over-year.

The overall engagement metrics show the product is gaining traction with the target demographic. Total applications for Katapult grew approximately 80% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2025. The Net Promoter Score as of September 30, 2025, stood at 64. The company's total cash and cash equivalents at that date were $9M, which included $5.6M in restricted cash.

Here's a quick look at the key performance indicators for the product in Q3 2025:

The platform's design encourages deeper use, as cross-shopping activity-where a customer has two or more current leases with different retailers-continues to increase year-over-year. You can see the product's success in driving transactions through these specific figures:

• Katapult app marketplace gross originations grew 44% year-over-year in Q3 2025.
• Total Katapult applications increased 76% during the first nine months of 2025.
• Unique new customers grew 35% in the first three quarters of 2025 compared to 2024.
• Unique new customers grew nearly 47% in the third quarter alone.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Katapult Holdings, Inc. (KPLT) - Marketing Mix: Place

Katapult Holdings, Inc. deploys a distribution strategy centered on making its lease-to-own (LTO) financing accessible across the consumer journey, which is inherently omnichannel. This means you can find their offering integrated into various shopping environments, from online checkouts to physical store locations. The platform is a technology-driven LTO solution that integrates with omni-channel retailers and e-commerce platforms, powering purchases through point-of-sale (POS) integrations and their mobile application.

The direct integration with a growing network of merchant partners is key to this placement strategy. While the exact total is not explicitly stated as a single number, the expansion is evident; for instance, during the second quarter of 2025, Katapult Holdings, Inc. expanded its merchant ecosystem by adding 48 new direct or waterfall merchants. This continuous onboarding effort supports the goal of having a network that spans hundreds of retailers across the US, providing broad consumer reach.

Strategic merchant partnerships are continually evolving, with significant additions enhancing the direct-to-consumer channel. Notably, in the third quarter of 2025, the company launched Apple as a KPay-enabled merchant. This integration suggests a deepening of the distribution footprint into major digital ecosystems.

The mobile app has become the most critical single point of distribution and customer acquisition. The data clearly shows the app marketplace driving the majority of new business volume. The mobile app serves as the single largest customer referral source, a fact supported by the following recent metrics:

• ~60% of second quarter 2025 gross originations started in the Katapult app marketplace.
• 61% of third quarter 2025 gross originations started in the app marketplace.
• Total app marketplace gross originations grew 56% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2025.
• Total app marketplace applications grew approximately 39% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2025.

The distribution model also strategically utilizes a waterfall LTO offering to maximize capture rates for consumers who may not qualify for prime credit options at the initial point of sale. This is a layered approach where a customer might first be declined by a prime option and then automatically routed to Katapult's LTO solution. This pathway is explicitly defined as including new or existing merchant partners that launch a new website or an in-store experience with Katapult as a direct or waterfall LTO offering. The volume generated through these channels is substantial, as shown by the following breakdown from Q2 2025:

You'll notice the percentages in the table add up to more than 100%; this is because app originations can be consummated elsewhere, and the data reflects where the journey started versus the final transaction path. Still, the direct/waterfall segment alone accounted for approximately 61% of total second quarter originations. Excluding the home furnishings and mattress category, these direct and waterfall gross originations grew approximately 42% year-over-year in Q3 2025. This structure ensures that a significant portion of the customer base, those needing an alternative to prime credit, are served through a defined distribution pathway.

Katapult Holdings, Inc. (KPLT) - Marketing Mix: Promotion

Digital marketing strategy focused on top-of-funnel activity and customer segmentation.

Top-of-funnel activity saw significant acceleration, evidenced by the growth in initial consumer interest.

Total applications grew approximately 80% year-over-year in Q3 2025, showing strong acquisition. This influx of new customers is a key driver for future originations.

High customer satisfaction, maintaining a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 64 in Q3 2025.

This high NPS suggests that promotional messaging is resonating positively with the existing user base, which supports retention efforts.

Targeted promotional activity is used to drive conversion and repeat business.

The focus on existing customers through targeted efforts yielded strong results in the third quarter.

• Approximately 55% of gross originations for the third quarter of 2025 came from repeat customers.
• KPay conversion rate increased, leading to unique KPay customer count growth of 76% year-over-year.
• Total customer base grew a little more than 30% during the third quarter.

Focus on enhancing app functionality to boost consumer engagement and retention.

The Katapult app marketplace is the single largest source of originations, indicating successful channel promotion and feature adoption.

• Katapult app marketplace accounted for 61% of gross originations in Q3 2025.
• Total app marketplace gross originations grew 44% year-over-year in Q3 2025.
• Since the beginning of 2025, the app has been opened more than 11 million times.

The KPay conversion rate improvement is directly linked to enhanced app functionality and targeted engagement campaigns.

Katapult Holdings, Inc. (KPLT) - Marketing Mix: Price

You're looking at how Katapult Holdings, Inc. prices its lease-to-own (LTO) product, which is defintely central to its revenue model for non-prime consumers. The core structure is set up so that over the course of a 12-month lease, customers will typically pay about double the cash price of the item to Katapult Holdings, Inc.. Honestly, that translates to what is effectively a 100% yield on their principal, which is a key component of the pricing strategy. The company actively refines this pricing strategy, using its data-driven AI model to approve leases and price them for different customers based on risk, all to optimize for both risk exposure and conversion rates. Still, they offer customers different outs, like buying out the remaining lease early at a discount, or ending the lease by returning the goods.

The pricing strategy is clearly tied to the company's forward-looking financial expectations for the full year 2025, reflecting management's view on market conditions and their risk tolerance. Here's the quick math on what they are projecting for the full year:

The write-offs percentage is a direct reflection of how the pricing and underwriting models are balancing accessibility with credit risk. For the third quarter of 2025, write-offs as a percentage of revenue landed at 9.9%. That result was right within the stated 8% to 10% target range management uses to gauge the health of their pricing and credit decisions. Management noted they tightened underwriting late in Q3, aiming to drive write-offs down in future quarters.

The overall pricing approach supports the following strategic elements:

• Lease-to-own model where customers typically pay about double the cash price over 12 months.
• Pricing strategy is actively refined to optimize for both risk and conversion rates.
• Full-year 2025 revenue growth is projected to be between 18% and 20%.
• Write-offs as a percentage of revenue were 9.9% in Q3 2025, within the 8% to 10% target range.
• Full-year 2025 Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $8 million and $9 million.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.