Research from Citi has highlighted how app downloads fell off a cliff in March for both Klarna and Zip,while bigger rival Afterpay's app downloads continued to rise 13 per cent month-on-month.
Yet despite the lull,Klarna has managed to build a beach head in Australia with 160,000 downloaded apps being used on a regular basis,which included"significant support through the Commonwealth Bank channel"despite the massive distraction the big four bank had with the pandemic.
Just as importantly as the download number is the fact that Klarna is seeing a high level of engagement by users,who are spending an average of 30 minutes on the app.
Klarna announced plans to launch in Australia last year in partnership with CBA,which had spent $US100 million on a 2 per cent stake in the business and said it would be its exclusive partner for the launch in Australia and New Zealand.
“What we’re really looking forward to doing post-June is to really ramping up how both of us talk to consumers in this market,"Ms Ereira said of the new campaign launch.
She said the COVID-19 lockdown around the globe had led to a clear shift in consumer spending from apparel to homewares,which has been reflected in Australia.