Online luxury firm Yoox Net-A-Porter has signaled an exclusive global partnership with ‘pay later’ provider Klarna, allowing shoppers to access the business’ luxury pieces while paying in installments.

The new payment option is already being made available across the Yoox Net-A-Porter portfolio, with shoppers currently able to shop own-brand Mr Porter and pay in three or four installments through Klarna in a number of the marketplace’s international territories, with more to be opened up as 2021 continues.

The implementation will be spread across The Outnet and Yoox over the next 12 months, the business said.

The move should make it easier for customers to access Net-A-Porter’s luxury goods, as spending in the fashion sector continues to recover from the spending collapse it experienced during the initial wave of Covid-19. Just three months ago Bain Consultancy said it expects global luxury spending to mostly recover by the end of this year, though a full recovery is more likely to take place in 2022.

Luxury goods sales fell by 23 per cent to US$264 billion last year, the largest-ever drop and the first decline since 2009, as the pandemic forced shop closures and brought international tourism to a virtual halt.

And while handbags, leather goods and jewellery have been driving the recovery, spending on clothes, make up and perfumes is expected to pick up too as lockdowns ease and people resume going out.