Missing Prime Day this July, and can’t wait until October? Never fear. Global buy now and pay later platform Klarna has teamed up with media partner Cosmopolitan to create a new shopping event called Hauliday over the weekend of Aug. 8-9, with deals aplenty aimed at millennial and Gen Z shoppers.
The event also fits in with Klarna’s objective to move beyond its installment payment roots to be known as an end-to-end shopping service. Its updated app, with 1 million monthly active users in the U.S., lets shoppers create wish lists, get price-drop notifications and access exclusive deals.
Concocted shopping holidays have grown more popular in recent years. The granddaddy is Alibaba’s Singles Day, which dates to 1993 and in 2019 hauled in a record $38.4 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV), a metric some analysts look askance at but still an eye-popping sum. Amazon’s Prime Day 2019 drove a relatively paltry jingle of $6 billion to $6.2 billion over two days, analysts estimated, but it did lead to “me too” drafting events from Target, Walmart, Best Buy and others.
Brands that have signed on to join from among Klarna’s 4,200 U.S. retail customers include Adidas, Sephora, H&M, ModCloth, rue21 and Rhone, with more being added. The exclusive deals will range across fashion, apparel, footwear and beauty, the companies reported.
On the payment side, shoppers can opt for four equal, interest-free installments through Klarna with each brand by using a unique code.
Matthew Suraci, head of commercial for Klarna U.S., said Cosmopolitan and Klarna share the same target demographics – younger women and girls who love to shop – so the partnership was a natural.
“The event was in the works long before COVID-19 struck, and while we considered putting it on hold, we realized more people than ever were looking online to get what they needed,” Suraci said. “There has been a lot of pent-up consumer demand these last few months, and we’re meeting customer expectations with a focus on fashion and financial flexibility.”
The desire for a fall wardrobe refresh and the back-to-school shopping season – although physical classroom learning is still up in the air at this point – were also considerations in the timing of Hauliday, Suraci said.
Cosmopolitan has a massive U.S. audience of 72 million monthly readers who spent more than $9 billion on ecommerce in 2019. shopping online last year, Suraci said. He added the magazine’s editorial team will be curating and recommending products across all channels in the days leading up to Hauliday, with deals featured on retail sites and across Klarna’s channels as well.
“We’re really excited for how big this event is already turning out to be, and would love to make Hauliday an annual event moving forward,” he said.
Klarna recently came under fire in the UK, with critics alleging it enabled younger shoppers to spend more than they can afford, even as it boasts higher AOV to retail prospects. This led the company to launch an ad campaign warning against impulse buying.
Klarna says it works to encourage responsible spending, for one by acting as a budgeting tool vs. a credit card that lets users easily spend up to the limit. “We provide a variety of options and flexible tools that help consumer shop in a smart way,” Suraci said.