Klarna launches Virtual Shopping, bringing the physical shopping experience to online shoppers everywhere
Virtual Shopping from Klarna connects online shoppers directly with experts in brick-and-mortar stores via live video and messaging to deliver a highly personalized experience that helps consumers shop online with confidence.
By putting human interaction at the heart of the online shopping experience, Virtual Shopping enables retailers to create immersive experiences proven to increase customer engagement, reduce returns, and drive loyalty.
Virtual Shopping was already live at 300 brands, including Hugo Boss and Longchamp, and is now available as an offer worldwide at the more than 400,000 affiliated retail partners.
Brussels, 12 May 2022 - Klarna, the world's leading banking, payments and shopping services provider, today announced the launch of its Virtual Shopping offering, bringing the best of in-store to the online experience. With Virtual Shopping from Klarna, consumers can browse and buy online with confidence by connecting them directly with in-store experts via live chat and video calls to receive product advice and inspiration. For retailers, Virtual Shopping enables in-store teams to bring their expertise beyond the walls of brick-and-mortar stores to millions of shoppers online. Using the new retailer-focused Klarna Store app, store teams can share photos and videos of items and showcase products live, right from the store floor, from home or even from emerging dark store retail concepts. This, in turn, boosts brand engagement and loyalty and reduces returns. The launch builds on the successful acquisition ofHero last year, a social shopping platform and leader in virtual shopping services.
While online shopping has soared to new heights in recent years, brick-and-mortar shopping remains the dominant channel, accounting for nearly 80% of global retail sales by 2021. Klarna's Shopping Pulse Reportrevealed that consumers prefer shopping in brick and mortar stores because of the social interaction and level of customer service. Unlike in-store shopping, the online experience doesn't always allow consumers to see, touch, or try on a product up close, making it difficult to determine if products are the right size, fit, or color. Consumers today are looking for the same level of help when shopping online, with three quarters (74%) of Belgian shoppers saying that retailers should invest in new technology, while more than a third of them think offering more personalized services ( 35%) and product recommendations (42%) should be a priority for retailers.
Klarna's Virtual Shopping tool is already live today with more than 300 brands, including Levi's, Hugo Boss and Longchamp. The tool allows online stores to transform their shopping experience into a true omnichannel experience. Consumers can buy everything from sneakers to sofas without ever setting foot in the store, but still receive expert guidance from teams in the brick-and-mortar stores to help them with their purchasing decisions. Through live video and messaging, consumers can take a closer look at photos and videos of items and follow live product demos right from the store floor - from the fit of a garment off the rack to the color of a cosmetic product or the dimensions of a piece of furniture.
Klarna is now making Virtual Shopping available to collaborating retailers around the world. It serves as the ultimate online shopping partner for consumers and strengthens Klarna's position as a global growth partner for retailers. By giving consumers more confidence in their purchasing decision, the service significantly improves performance for merchants, with consumers up to 21x more likely to make a purchase after speaking with a shopping expert online compared to when they are not helped* , while also increasing customer satisfaction.
David Sandström, Chief Marketing Officer at Klarna: “At Klarna, we want to provide the best shopping experience in the world – whether online or in-store. In the past, online shopping was missing an important element: human interaction. With Virtual Shopping, we replicate the physical experience of receiving personalized advice from a shopping expert and bring it to the online domain. This enables our partners around the world to bring their online stores to life and build lasting customer relationships.”
How does virtual shopping work?
For Shoppers: Shoppers connect with a shopping expert when they click the Virtual Shopping icon on the website of affiliated stores. Once connected, they can chat, receive photos and videos, follow product recommendations, and even have a video chat, mimicking the experience they would get in-store.
For retailers: Retailers integrated with Klarna can easily add Virtual Shopping to their online stores to provide a true omnichannel experience. Once enabled, they can gain clear insights into customer interactions and sales, enabling them to improve overall performance. To connect with online shoppers, in-store experts can now use the new Klarna Store App, developed for retailers, on iOS or Android. Once connected, they can contact consumers via SMS, chat and video, making it easy to provide personalized recommendations, schedule in-store appointments and stay in touch.
Klarna's Virtual Shopping offering is available today in 18 markets, including US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Denmark, France, Poland, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Sweden. The offer will be expanded to other markets in 2022.
* Conversion among shoppers using virtual shopping services through Hero was up to 21x higher than those who did not in 2020.
