Klarna expands Ads Manager and Creator shops in UK, Sweden, US

Buy-now-pay-later shopping giant Klarna has expanded its growth tools for retailers and creators via the further rollout of its Ads Manager and Creator Shops with the former now live in the UK and Sweden and the latter live in the US.

The tools are designed to help retailers “engage with their audiences in more effective ways and enhance the shopping experience for consumers” with Klarna saying its new marketing and ad solutions “open new revenue channels for large and small retailers, especially during times when they’re looking for extra support to grow their businesses, drive traffic and increase sales” as well. 

So how do the new tools actually work? The company said that Ads Manager (which was already available in the US and has been a success, we’re told), is based on Klarna’s 150 million high-intent shopper audience who “willingly share their information with Klarna in order to receive a more personalised shopping experience”. 

Ads Manager “ensures relevant content is being shown to consumers by enabling retailers to reach the shoppers who are actively seeking brands and products similar to their own. The platform offers brands an easier and more efficient way to advertise, from ad creation and audience targeting, to in-platform reporting for campaign optimisation”.

Klarna added that unlike platforms such as Google, Facebook and others, “where consumer intent is on general search queries, interacting with friends, listening to music, or finding a job, consumer intent on Klarna is laser-focused on shopping, making the Ads Manager a highly effective platform for retailers to reach shoppers at the point of purchase”.

And contrary to equally-shopping-focused marketplaces like Amazon, “retailer ads on Klarna drive traffic and engagement directly back to the retailer with no intermediation between brand and consumer”. Klarna said retailers in the US running ads with it have seen click-through-rates up to 25 times those of industry averages. 

Ads Manager will roll out to all of Klarna’s global markets over the next few months. 

As for Creator Shops, following its success in Europe, it’s now available in the US. According to a recent US survey conducted by Klarna, 68% of Gen Zers (age 18-26) and 59% of Millennials (age 27-42) get their shopping inspiration from social media, “yet finding products remains a challenge and the journey from browsing to buying is unpredictable”. 

Klarna said it’s giving its “growing network of over 500,000 creators the ability to launch their own storefronts on Klarna.com and the tools to power a consistent shopping experience. This allows shoppers to easily find and shop all their favourite creators’ product recommendations in one place”. 

Through the platform, creators “can recommend products from thousands of retailers, share shoppable videos and photo content, and share their personal shop across their social channels, while creating increased revenue opportunities for retailers. 

Klarna’s network of active creators on the Creator Platform has grown five-fold year on year in the US, highlighting the value for creators to expand their reach through new channels. Shoppable videos uploaded to the Creator Shops page will soon also be automatically shared directly into the Klarna app, enabling creators to reach Klarna’s extended network of 27 million monthly app users.

The company’s CMO David Sandstrom said the two features “continue to transform the company beyond BNPL into a growth partner and retail media network within the industry. Our combined network of over one million retail partners and creators globally now have even more powerful ways to reach Klarna’s high-intent shoppers, while consumers can enjoy a more relevant and personalised shopping experience.”