US shoppers behind Klarna’s recent platform transaction boom
Swedish ‘buy now, pay later’ company Klarna has reported a jump in transactions using its platform in the January to March quarter, helped mainly by growth in the United States.
Klarna’s gross merchandise volume (GMV) – the value of transactions made using its payment platform – nearly doubled to $18.9bn in the first quarter from $9.9bn a year ago.
The number of US consumers using Klarna more than doubled to 17 million in April 2021, and app downloads in the country increased 125 per cent, the company said in a statement.
Klarna, which allows shoppers to buy online through its merchant partners and settle their debts in instalments, is reportedly close to raising a new round of funding that could lift the company’s valuation close to $50bn.
The company, which has over 90 million global active users and processes 2 million transactions a day, plans to launch in more markets this year, with New Zealand going live in May.
Klarna’s success has not been without its setbacks, however, the company has in the past found itself at odds with the advertising watchdog, which banned several of Klarna’s shopping adverts that appeared on Instagram and encouraged consumers to use the company to shop and ‘boost their mood’.