Swedish buy now pay later offer Klarna has wasted no time in its pursuit of the Australian market, having signed up Appliances Online as its first retail partner, while working with Australia Post to bring buy now pay later to the logistics provider’s e-commerce offer.

Klarna’s offer allows customers to purchase from any online retailer, and pay in four equal instalments without interest and fees. Backed by the Commonwealth Bank, the Klarna app will create a single-use, prepaid ‘ghost card’, which will be used to purchase the goods – appearing as a regular payment to the merchant, but allowing the customer time to pay goods off. 

While Appliances Online already offers ZipPay and After Pay, chief executive John Winning said the online furniture business and Klarna shared several synergies. 

“We [both] have a passion to innovate and provide customers with an efficient, streamlined and convenient shopping experience,” Winning said. “We are delighted to partner with Klarna to offer our customers further convience to experience our legendary service and products from the world’s best brands.”

According to Klarna general manager of ANZ Fran Ereira the business already partners with over 200,000 retailers globally, and is confident it will be able to help both Appliances Online and Australia Post with a customer-first payment experience. 

“We know what it takes to boost consumer loyalty and help retailers compete effectively,” Ereira said. 

“With shoppers today demanding a frictionless buying experience from browsing to checkout to post-purchase, we look forward to bringing new innovative services to Australian consumers and adding real value to all merchant partners to further help them grow.”

Australia Post general manager of payments and financial services Deanne Keetelaar said that due to the acceleration of buy now pay later adoption in the Australian market, the logistics business was looking at a number of ways it can offer buy now pay later options to its merchants, and that this partnership was a great first step.

“Our latest research suggests as many as 86 per cent of Australian customers using buy now pay later payment options purchase something online at least once per month,” Keetelaar said. 

“Today’s announcement further builds on our longstanding partnership with Commonwealth Bank by working with Klarna to make these new online payment services available to our e-commerce customers.”

According to Klarna chief executive Sebastian Siemiatkowski, businesses such as AusPost and Appliances Online that partner with Klarna will be charged a fee but will receive data based on opt-in customer wish lists in order to better personalise their offering. 

“At the core of this is the privacy of the consumer,” Siemiatkowski told Inside Retail. 

“If a customer says they want to buy something we can try to get an offer from a merchant. It makes the offer better, and it’s a win for everybody.”