Klarna Teams With Nift to Thank Its Customers With Gifts

Pay-later network Klarna has launched a partnership with gift platform Nift.

This arrangement, the two companies announced Thursday (June 12), is designed to enhance Klarna’s customer experience through gift offers from Nift.

“Under the partnership, Klarna is increasing brand sentiment and customer loyalty with personally tailored gifts that customers can use toward fashion, jewelry, restaurants, music, home goods and more—and unlocking new, recurring revenue through its commerce media network in the process,” the companies said in a news release.

According to the release, the collaboration works like this: When Klarna thanks customers with an exclusive gift, Nift matches that person with options according to their preferences and interests, letting them sample products and services from brands including Chewy, HelloFresh, NatureMade and SiriusXM.

“The partnership addresses a growing need among retail, payments, streaming and fitness platforms for more meaningful, nonintrusive ways to engage customers,” the release said.

“As the [return on investment] on traditional advertising declines and consumers become conditioned to ignore irrelevant ads that interrupt their user experience, consumer-facing platforms are looking to create more positive customer experiences, which ultimately support increased revenue.”

Since teaming with Nift, the release added, Klarna has seen early results exceeding its benchmarks, such as a 30% click-through rate and a 40% gift activation rate in the U.S.

Also Thursday, card issuing platform Marqeta said it would power the recently announced Klarna Card debit card that will allow Klarna customers in the U.S. to use the same card to pay immediately or pay later.

That card, now in a trial phase in the U.S. and is expected to be rolled out more widely throughout the country later this year.

In other news from the buy now, pay later (BNPL) sector, PYMNTS wrote last month about Klarna and other companies in that space have moved beyond the “pay in 4” model.

“In recent months, new announcements surrounding flexible credentials and BNPL provider-issued cards have been instrumental in broadening short term credit’s reach,” that report said.

Research by PYMNTS Intelligence has found that 46% of Gen Z and 47% of millennials have used BNPL within the last year. Upwards of 40% of consumers that were surveyed have reported that if BNPL options were not offered, they would just not make a purchase.

“The initial appeal of BNPL, a decade ago, may have resided with small-dollar transactions and lower-income consumers; now 6 in 10 of all U.S. consumers who use the payment method for convenience make at least $100,000 a year,” that report said.