Klarna and Stellar Debut Virtual Shopping Tool for eCommerce Merchants

Klarna and retail experience agency Stellar Global have teamed to debut a virtual shopping solution for eCommerce brands.

The tool, announced in a news release provided to PYMNTS Monday (July 3), combines Klarna’s online tech integrations with Stellar’s product demonstration teams and studio space to provide new buying experiences and help brands boost conversions.

“Since the COVID-19 pandemic, D2C brands have been investing heavily in their omnichannel retail strategies,” the companies said in the release. “This has enabled them to deliver better, more refined shopping experiences, however customers choose to use them.”

At the same time, it has also underscored the need for more dynamic, live experiences that let customers connect quickly with a brand, “make buying decisions and secure a purchase — bringing the in-store experience online,” the companies added.

The partnership is happening at a time when consumers now expect the same level of retail service across channels, as PYMNTS noted in May in an interview with Erica Savka, senior vice president of enterprise payments and merchant services product strategy at Bank of America.

She stressed the importance of a seamless consumer journey, which requires merchants of all sizes have a strong omnichannel presence with consistency across all channels.

“For example, I shop at Home Depot, both online and in-store,” Savak told PYMNTS. “I prefer to shop at Home Depot online for the heavy stuff that I cannot carry from the store … and I still go to the store to get things like plants or decorations. If the retailer knows that, if they know my preferences, they can target specific offers and curate that experience for me as a consumer.”

She added that while many retailers are scaling back their physical presence, shoppers still “want the full experience.”

Earlier this year, Klarna launched a personalized shopping feed powered by artificial intelligence (AI), part of a suite of new products for shoppers, creators and retailers from the Swedish payments company.

“Our new AI-powered discovery shopping feed is the next evolution of the Klarna app becoming the starting point for every purchase,” Klarna Co-founder and CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said in a news release.

According to the release, the tool uses Klarna’s in-house AI product recommendation engine, providing shoppers with a “feed of highly personalized product recommendations” that grows tailored to them as it discovers more about consumers’ preferences.