Europe turns pink: Klarna announces huge growth in key European markets

Klarna, the AI-powered global payments network, and shopping assistant, today announced strong growth across Europe, with GMV up 14% YoY in Q2 – outpacing e-commerce, which grew by just 1% in the same period*. Since 2020, Klarna has launched in 11 European markets, most recently in Romania and the Czech Republic. Klarna has amassed 100 million European consumers and has partnered with over 470,000 merchants, with recent new multi-market deals including TIER, MandMDirect, and Deichmann.

As smaller BNPL providers leave the market due to challenging economic conditions, Klarna remains committed to investing, continuing to grow and foster relationships with new customers, and building trust and loyalty that sees them using Klarna again and again. A recent Klarna survey revealed 74% of European customers use Klarna at least once a month, with trust coming out as the top reason why they choose to shop with Klarna, followed by ease of payment.

“It’s fantastic to see this sustained, phenomenal growth across Europe, with GMV up 14% in the region. While other, smaller players dial back their commitment or leave the region altogether, we’re doubling down, further strengthening our position in Europe, as well as the US,” said Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO, Klarna.

Best known for its Buy Now Pay Later products, Klarna has been rolling out Pay Now, the company’ instant debit option, across all European markets – this accounts for around a third of all transactions. This means consumers now have the choice to pay in full immediately or pay over time – all without interest – when selecting Klarna at a retailers’ checkout. Retailers, in turn, benefit from offering consumers a seamless checkout experience and giving their customers more choice according to their needs.

Klarna is a driving force behind the shift from search-based to recommendation-based shopping. The Klarna app is now powered by an AI-product recommendation engine to help consumers find and shop items most relevant to them. The feed updates in real time with a range of products and deals, and it becomes increasingly personalized as it learns more about the user’s preferences. This is in addition to our recent collaboration with OpenAI to bring curated product recommendations to users who ask ChatGPT for shopping advice and inspiration via its plugin.

In addition to new consumer products and services, more retailers are adopting Klarna’s marketing solutions that are proven to drive growth, loyalty and conversion. Klarna’s suite of marketing services enables brands to tap into Klarna’s extensive network of millions of loyal consumers through premium placements in the Klarna app, engaging CRM campaigns, and more. Klarna has delivered over 280 million clicks from European Klarna customers to merchants so far this year.