of coursethe AI-powered global payment network and shopping assistant, announced strong growth across Europe, up 14% year over year in the second quarter, outperforming e-commerce, which grew just 1% over the same period. As of 2020, Klarna has been launched in 11 European markets, most recently in Romania and the Czech Republic. Klarna has reached 100 million European consumers and works with more than 470,000 merchants, including recently new multi-market deals including TIER, MandMDirect and Deichmann.
While smaller BNPL providers exit the market due to difficult economic conditions, Klarna remains committed to investing, continuing to grow and nurturing relationships with new customers, building trust and loyalty to keep them coming back to Klarna. A recent Klarna survey revealed that 74% of European customers use Klarna at least once a month, with trust being the top reason they choose to shop with Klarna, followed by ease of payment.
“It is fantastic to see this phenomenal sustained growth across Europe with VGM up 14% in the region. As other smaller players reduce their commitment or leave the region, we are doubling our commitment and further strengthening our position in Europe and the US.” said Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna.
Best known for its products “Buy now, pay later” Klarna’s “Pay Now” instant debit option has been introduced in all European markets and accounts for around a third of all transactions. This means consumers now have the option to pay instantly in full or in installments – all without interest – when selecting Klarna at checkout in store. Merchants, in turn, benefit from providing consumers with a seamless checkout experience and offering their customers more choices according to their needs.
AI based product recommendation engine
Klarna is driving the shift from search-based to recommendation-based shopping. The Klarna app now features an artificial intelligence powered product recommendation engine to help consumers find and buy the items that matter most to them. The feed is updated in real-time with a range of products and offers and is becoming more personalized as it learns more about user preferences. This builds on our recent collaboration with OpenAI to provide product recommendations to users who consult ChatGPT through their plugin for shopping tips and inspiration.
In addition to new consumer products and services, more and more retailers are using Klarna’s marketing solutions, which are proven to drive growth, loyalty and conversion. Klarna’s suite of marketing services enables brands to access Klarna’s extensive network of millions of loyal consumers through premium placements in the Klarna app, engaging CRM campaigns and more. So far this year, Klarna has delivered more than 280 million clicks from Klarna’s European customers to merchants.
In addition, Klarna offers retailers additional growth tools, including the Klarna Creator Platform, which enables creators and retailers to scale and optimize campaigns. Influencers like Lydia Tomlinson, Lovisa Barkman and NISI have already signed up as Klarna makers and numerous brands are seeing triple-digit sales growth following the campaign. Klarna’s innovation in the omnichannel experience is also helping merchants transform e-commerce.
