The Klarna Creator Platform is expanding to match retailers with influencers, complete with performance metrics.

Built on the back of the acquisition of APPRL in 2021, the Creator Platform launched in the US in October 2022 and is now available in all of Klarna’s 45 regions, including Ireland.

Klarna claims that c.40% of Irish shoppers who buy from social media shop directly from influencer pages. Among Gen Z shoppers, the proportion is higher at 51%.

Instead of signing individual contracts for each new partnership, with Klarna influencers gain direct access to brands using the Klarna payments system and can choose from thousands of products to recommend to their social media followers.

Retailers meanwhile can search a pool of thousands of influencers globally and when collaborating track their performance in real time - including traffic, sales, and conversion rates, all segmented by creator, channel and product.

In Association with

Martin Landen, founder of APPRL and head of social shopping at Klarna commented: “By providing access to affiliate partnerships, brand campaigns and gifting activations with the world’s leading brands, Klarna empowers creators to monetise their influence at scale and turn their attention to producing quality content.

"At the same time, Klarna helps retailers take the guesswork out of influencer collaborations by identifying which talents fit their brand and which channels drive the best results.”

Corina Gaffey, fashion journalist and stylist, is using her influence to endorse Klarna’s Creator Platform (possibly for a fee).

“I love how fast it is, to search for products or paste retailer URLs to create affiliate links whether you are on a desktop or in the app,” she said.

“Not only does it let me showcase some of my favourite high-street stores across beauty, fashion and homewares, but it also has brands that are new-to-me that I love introducing to my followers.

“Insights are in-depth and easy to understand and allow me to figure out product recommendations for my followers. I get instant feedback on what stores and particularly which items my followers are loving, clicking on and purchasing.”

The Klarna platform has a News page that highlights retailer sales, special offers, promotions, and new drops. Influencers can also use the app to request products.

Retailers who want to try the platform first have to connect their e-commerce page with Klarna. Then they select the products they wish to promote and set the preferred commission level at which they want to reward creators.

Influencers can then generate affiliate links to add to their social media content and immediately start earning.

To work with specific influencer creators, the retailer can also filter through Klarna’s global database or select from Klarna’s recommendations for a suitable brand fit.

Retailers can also browse different creators’ profiles for data such as reach, conversion rates, audience location and their best-performing products. The platform includes a direct messaging function where influencers and retailers can chat and manage gifting requests.

Klarna’s dashboards display the content driving traffic to the retailer’s page and allows them to follow the clicks and the sales generated by individual creators in real time.

Billing is handled by the Creator Platform, and influencers receive their payments in one monthly invoice.

Klarna claims 150 million global active users and 2 million transactions per day. The aim of Creator Platform is to entice more retailers to sign up for the Swedish company’s payment services.