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Brand Marketing
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Why Is Klarna Growing So Fast?

Mae Rice
•
November 16, 2021
Why Is Klarna Growing So Fast?
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This is an excerpt from MarketerHire's weekly newsletter, Raisin Bread. To get a tasty marketing snack in your inbox every week, subscribe here.

The entire buy-now-pay later sector is growing, but one platform — Klarna — is growing far faster than the rest.

Monthly spend on Klarna 14.6Xed from January 2020 to July 2021, according to a Cardify report. 

Source: Cardify

5 tailwinds helping Klarna 

  1. It’s already stood the test of time. Founded in Sweden in 2005, Klarna is the most established BNPL provider.
  2. Snoop Dogg endorsed it. He starred in an epic 2019 campaign highlighting Klarna’s “smoooth” checkout— and briefly changed his name to Smoooth Dogg.
  3. It had room to grow Stateside. In the U.S., Klarna started 2020 with 5% market share, Protocol reports. In April 2021, its share had grown to 24%.
  4. Its huge retail partners boost awareness. Shein, Wayfair and Sephora all offer interest-free BNPL options through Klarna. Its logo is everywhere. 
  5. It’s investing in growth. In other words, it was operating at a $200M loss in August — though its $46B valuation dwarfs that. 

Our takeaway?

Klarna is seeing hockey-stick growth in an industry that could disrupt credit cards. But growth isn’t revenue.

Among BNPLs, Klarna sits in second to last place on average spend per user, according to Cardify.

Mae RiceMae Rice
Mae Rice is editor in chief at MarketerHire. A long-time content marketer, she loves learning about the weird and wonderful feedback loops that connect marketing and culture.
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Explainers

Why Is Klarna Growing So Fast?

September 8, 2023
November 16, 2021
Mae Rice

The whole buy-now-pay-later sector is growing, but Klarna’s on another level. Since January 2020, monthly spend on the platform more than 14Xed. Why?

Table of Contents

This is an excerpt from MarketerHire's weekly newsletter, Raisin Bread. To get a tasty marketing snack in your inbox every week, subscribe here.

The entire buy-now-pay later sector is growing, but one platform — Klarna — is growing far faster than the rest.

Monthly spend on Klarna 14.6Xed from January 2020 to July 2021, according to a Cardify report. 

Source: Cardify

5 tailwinds helping Klarna 

  1. It’s already stood the test of time. Founded in Sweden in 2005, Klarna is the most established BNPL provider.
  2. Snoop Dogg endorsed it. He starred in an epic 2019 campaign highlighting Klarna’s “smoooth” checkout— and briefly changed his name to Smoooth Dogg.
  3. It had room to grow Stateside. In the U.S., Klarna started 2020 with 5% market share, Protocol reports. In April 2021, its share had grown to 24%.
  4. Its huge retail partners boost awareness. Shein, Wayfair and Sephora all offer interest-free BNPL options through Klarna. Its logo is everywhere. 
  5. It’s investing in growth. In other words, it was operating at a $200M loss in August — though its $46B valuation dwarfs that. 

Our takeaway?

Klarna is seeing hockey-stick growth in an industry that could disrupt credit cards. But growth isn’t revenue.

Among BNPLs, Klarna sits in second to last place on average spend per user, according to Cardify.

Mae Rice
about the author

Mae Rice is editor in chief at MarketerHire. A long-time content marketer, she loves learning about the weird and wonderful feedback loops that connect marketing and culture.

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