The Swedish-based ‘buy now, pay later’ provider may require the help of new agencies as it launches new products and build relationships with its customers in new ways. Klarna recently unveiled a new “Pay in 4” payment option on a physical Visa card which will bring the flexible payments experience to in-store payments. The card has only just been released in the UK and we will see Klarna’s advertising spend increase as it launches its new service.

The BNPL provider has reported considerable losses driven by its rapid expansion into new markets, creating a rise in the number of credit defaults. This was expected as the number of customers acquired ballooned, a percentage of which defaulted on payments. Nevertheless, Klarna’s plans to grow its market share as fast as it could has worked out as we have seen the BNPL sector becoming more and more competitive with PayPal launching a similar service and rivals such as Zilch, NewDay and Clearpay ramping up their advertising spend and marketing activities. High street banks such as Santander have also entered the sector. The bank launched Zinia across its European markets it looks to boost revenues and fight off fintech competition.

Last year, Klarna acquired social shopping platform Hero which is reportedly designed to provide consumers with ‘inspiration, advice and immediately shoppable content produced directly from retailers’ physical stores’. Klarna said the acquisition would allow in-store teams to become content creators ‘instantly’, offering reviews, real-time advice and richer, more engaging and informative content’ around products, helping its community building ambitions.