Klarna Lands Big Retailer For US M-Commerce Launch

Electronic payments solutions company Klarna announced Overstock.com will be its first major retail partner as the U.K.-based business brings its commercial operations to the U.S.

The company will support Overstock’s mobile buying experience, enabling the eCommerce site’s customers to shop from their smartphones and tablets.

“We’re incredibly excited to launch Klarna in the U.S. To do so together with a partner of such a massive scale as Overstock gives us a huge boost into the market,” Brian Billingsley, CEO of Klarna North America, said in a company release yesterday (Sept. 1).

“U.S. consumers are looking for a simpler and safer way to buy and retailers are looking for better ways to engage their consumers and increase their checkout conversion. The early success we’ve had with Overstock show the massive opportunity to turn more browsers into buyers,” Billingsley added.

With the launch, Overstock customers will have the ability to use Klarna Checkout for mobile Web guest purchases, but returning users who have used Klarna before can complete a purchase with one tap, the company confirmed.

“Klarna removes the friction from the checkout process. During testing, Overstock’s mobile customers responded with increased conversion rates, thanks to Klarna’s sophisticated technology,” Overstock.com CEO Patrick M. Byrne stated. “We look forward to our partnership with Klarna.”

The demand for mobile commerce is evident in the continued surge of its use.

PayPal’s recently released a report about global mobile commerce, finding that between 2013 and 2016, the multi-country average compound annual growth rate for mobile commerce is projected to be 42 percent.

“We are on the cusp on the mobile-first era,” said Anju Nayar, senior director of global initiatives for PayPal said when the report was released earlier this year. “One thing is evident: Mobile shopping is on target for meteoric growth. Mobile commerce is growing at three times the rate of eCommerce.”

In the U.S., mobile commerce is anticipated to grow from $54.6 million in 2014 to $96.3 million in 2016. Compared to the roughly 9-11 percent increase eCommerce is expected to see each year, m-commerce in the U.S. has a projected growth rate of between 32-26 percent each year through 2016. Globally, mobile commerce across the 22 markets is estimated to grow from roughly $102 billion in 2013 to roughly $291 billion in 2016.

For more on omnichannel trends, click here to take a look at our Vantiv OmniCommerce Tracker powered by PYMNTS, a monthly recap of the developments within the omnichannel ecosystem.

[vc_row full_width=”” parallax=”” parallax_image=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”” parallax=”” parallax_image=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_separator color=”grey” align=”align_center” style=”” border_width=”” el_width=””][vc_single_image image=”148412″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow_3d” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”” img_link_target=”_blank” css_animation=”left-to-right” img_size=”full” link=”http://www.pymnts.com/whats-hot-today/”][vc_column_text css_animation=””]

To check out what else is HOT in the world of payments, click here.

[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”grey” align=”align_center” style=”” border_width=”” el_width=””][/vc_column][/vc_row]