Payment terms have always been part of B2B commerce, but their role has evolved. Today, net terms increasingly influence your growth, your buyer conversion, and how much your customers choose to spend with you. The real question now isn’t whether to offer net terms, but how to do it at scale for every type of buyer, from large enterprises to SMBs.
With new 2025 data from millions of transactions and more than 150,000 North American businesses, combined with industry research and emerging trends, you can see exactly how payment terms influence buyer decisions. The findings show measurable shifts in new buyer acquisition and monthly spend.
After unpacking these key insights, we’ll break down three best practices to help you scale net terms confidently, and share a customer highlight that shows what this looks like in action.
1. Net terms increase new buyer acquisition by 38%
Checkout continues to be a point of unnecessary loss in B2B ecommerce. With cart abandonment rates between 71% and 73%, many buyers fail to complete a purchase simply because they cannot pay upfront or need an invoice before releasing funds. When merchants offer pay by invoice with net terms, new buyer acquisition increases by 38% across industries. This shows that buyers are not abandoning due to lack of intent, but because the payment flow does not align with how they actually pay.
2. 40% of business buyers increase monthly spend after gaining access to trade credit
According to the report, once buyers receive trade credit, their purchasing capacity changes significantly. After gaining access to net terms, 40% of buyers increase their monthly spend. Another 10% increase spend by 50% to 100%, and 15% double their monthly purchasing. This pattern shows that buyer demand is often constrained by cash timing rather than product need. Payment terms allow businesses to purchase in alignment with revenue, production cycles, and inventory requirements.
3. 84% of buyers spend more after a credit limit increase
Static credit limits restrict purchasing power for reliable customers. When companies use dynamic credit management that adjusts limits in real time, revenue expands quickly. After receiving a credit limit increase, 84% of buyers raise their spend, and average monthly spend rises 56% within three months. This demonstrates how much revenue is left uncaptured when credit limits are not optimized continuously.
How to Scale Net Terms: Best Practices
Offering net terms is only the starting point. The real challenge is scaling credit in a way that supports growth without introducing friction, operational strain, or unnecessary risk.
Typically, as volume increases, complexity follows. Different buyer segments behave differently and expect different payment and invoicing experiences. SMBs often rely on credit to manage cash flow, while mid-market and enterprise buyers operate with formal approval processes, strict billing requirements, and more complex reconciliation.
Scaling net terms successfully requires an approach that can handle this variability. Credit and invoicing must adapt to buyer segments, AI should be used to manage risk and automate AR, and the underlying infrastructure must be built to support growth behind the scenes.
1. Tailor invoicing and credit strategies to buyer segments
Not every buyer behaves the same, and your invoicing and credit processes shouldn’t treat them as if they do. By understanding how each segment operates, you can make smarter credit decisions, reduce friction at onboarding, and support growth without taking on unnecessary risk.
Table: Different buyer segments’ invoicing requirements
| Sole Proprietors and Micro Businesses | Small and Midsize Businesses | Mid-Market Businesses and Enterprise | |
| Primary Payment Related Challenges | Cash flow constraints Lack of established credit history Limited financial documentation | Increased cash flow complexity Simple reconciliation requirements Operational processes that must be scaled | Strict billing cycles and budget management Sophisticated procurement processesInvoicing and net terms are essential requirements |
| Credit Behavior | Typically involves a single financial decision maker | Buyer may be separate from financial authority | Complex Accounts Payable (AP) processes with multiple stakeholders Buyer typically separate from financial decision maker Typically require large credit limits |
| Credit Evaluation / Management Challenges | Higher default risk due to business volatility Difficulty verifying creditworthiness using traditional credit processes and data sources | Assessment difficulty due to evolving business modelsInitial credit limits may be outgrown quickly | Evaluation might be challenging due to complex corporate structures (e.g. franchise) Longer payment cycles, may demand customized terms, higher administrative costs to service |
| Recommended Best Practices | Leverage alternative data sources that go beyond traditional credit bureau scoring to increase approval rates Leverage AI to implement continuous risk monitoring | Automate limit increases based on credit utilization and payment performance to drive spend Support integration with basic accounting systems Enable to combine trade credit with instant payment at checkout for max flexibility | Streamline processes to shorten supplier onboarding Support API integrations with buyers’ existing AP and ERP systems Support consolidated billing |
2. Leverage AI-driven systems to scale credit and AR with confidence
Manual reviews and static credit processes can’t keep up with the pace of modern B2B commerce. By using AI-driven systems, you can ensure that credit decisions are accurate, risk is under control, and AR workflows move with less manual effort.
AI enables you to analyze transaction data instantly, identify risk signals early, adjust credit limits in real time, and automate tasks like reminders, dispute management, and cash application. This turns credit and AR into continuous, scalable processes that support growth while maintaining strong oversight.
3. Build efficient infrastructure that supports growth behind the scenes
Even the strongest credit strategy won’t deliver results without the right infrastructure around it. When systems are fragmented or manual, credit decisions slow down, invoicing becomes inconsistent, and teams end up chasing information instead of driving growth.
By building an infrastructure that is highly automated, well-connected, and free of operational silos, you create a foundation that supports real scalability. When credit, payments, and AR systems work together, approvals move faster, buyer experiences improve, and operational costs stay under control.
Efficient infrastructure turns net terms from a resource-heavy process into a seamless engine for growth, one that supports your teams, your buyers, and your long-term scalability.
Customer Highlight: How Instacart Business Unlocked Growth with Balance’s Financial Infrastructure
Instacart Business is a clear example of what scalable net terms can unlock. Many of their prospective enterprise customers couldn’t place orders simply because their procurement systems required invoicing and net terms. It was a barrier to conversion.
By partnering with Balance, Instacart Business launched a fully integrated Pay by Invoice experience.
- It fits seamlessly into enterprise procurement systems.
- It supports both SMBs and enterprise customers.
- It requires minimal lift from Instacart Business’s internal teams.
Balance handles credit decisions, risk, and AR operations end to end, allowing Instacart Business to offer invoicing and net terms without taking on operational overhead.
The impact was immediate. It drove retention of existing customers and new customer growth that Instacart Business was able to quickly see and get signal on in a short period of time.
As Priya Monga, GM & Senior Director of Go-to-Market Strategy, put it: “For us, the results really speak for themselves—it’s retention of our existing customers, but it’s also new customer growth that we’ve been able to really quickly see and get signal on in such a short period of time.”
Instacart Business’s experience shows how the right infrastructure turns net terms from a bottleneck into a growth engine. Watch the case study to learn more about our work with Instacart Business.
Where Net Terms Become a Growth Engine
The 2025 data makes one thing clear: payment terms have become a meaningful driver of growth in B2B commerce. They shape how efficiently you acquire new buyers, how quickly customers expand their purchasing, and how much pressure your finance teams face as volume scales.
The companies that succeed are the ones that treat net terms as strategic infrastructure, not a back-office task. When you combine data-driven risk assessment, AI-powered credit and AR, and connected systems, you create an approach that supports growth, protects cash flow, and reduces operational strain.
Balance’s partnership with Instacart Business shows what this looks like in practice: with the right infrastructure, net terms stop being a constraint and start becoming a catalyst.
All of the insights in this blog come from The B2B Ecommerce Report 2025. To explore the full dataset and emerging trends in depth, we encourage you to download the complete report.
FAQ
1. Why do net terms matter in B2B commerce?
Net terms directly and increasingly influence buyer acquisition, AOV, and overall spend. Many business buyers can’t pay upfront or require invoicing for procurement, so offering net terms removes a major barrier to completing transactions.
2. How do net terms increase new buyer acquisition?
Offering pay by invoice at checkout helps buyers who can’t use credit cards or need invoices before releasing funds. According to Balance’s report, merchants saw a 38% lift in new buyer acquisition when they offered net terms.
3. Do net terms actually lead to higher customer spend?
Yes. Once buyers gain access to trade credit, 40% increase their monthly spend, with many expanding their spend significantly. Access to credit removes cash-flow constraints and enables buyers to purchase in line with their revenue or inventory cycles.
4. Why are dynamic credit limits important?
Static limits can restrict reliable buyers. When limits increase in real time, 84% of buyers increase spend, and average spend grows rapidly. Real-time credit management ensures your buyers have the purchasing power they need without increasing risk.
5. How can I scale net terms without adding operational burden?
Scaling requires: tailored invoicing and credit strategies for each buyer segment, AI-driven systems for real-time credit and AR, and connected infrastructure that removes silos and manual work. These components let you grow volume without increasing back-office overhead.
